Passages

Claudia Spence Jack, public defender for Tennessee’s 22nd Judicial District, died Nov. 9, 2018. She was 75. A native of Columbia, Tennessee, she graduated from Auburn University in 1965 with a bachelor of science degree in English education, then earned her master’s degree in education from Auburn… Read More

Ronald Hoffman, former director of the Omohundro Institute of Early American History and Culture and professor of history at William & Mary in Williamsburg, Va., died Sept. 4. He was 77. He earned his Ph.D. from the University of Wisconsin in 1969 and joined the history department at… Read More

The only female member of the School of Engineering’s 1967 graduating class, Jo Ann Eddy Somers of Huntsville, Alabama, died July 11, 2018. She was struck by lightning while inspecting a seawall under construction in Huntsville’s Hampton Cove neighborhood and died two weeks later. Somers, 73, was a… Read More

James Sandlin, a former Sarratt Student Center director who worked tirelessly to expand cultural offerings on campus and to improve the quality of life in Middle Tennessee, died Sept. 19. Sandlin, 77, passed away at his home in Unionville, Tenn., after a brief illness. Sandlin, who earned… Read More

Virginia Maxwell George, professor of nursing, emerita, and an early champion of nurse practitioners, died of natural causes July 26 in Nashville. She was 94. George was founding director of Vanderbilt’s Family Nurse Practitioner program, one of the first in the Southeast. A 1947 VUSN graduate, she taught… Read More

Photo by Anne Rayner Colleen Conway-Welch, who during her 29 years as dean of the Vanderbilt University School of Nursing transformed nursing education at Vanderbilt and nationally, died Oct. 12 following a battle with cancer. Linda D. Norman, current dean of the School of Nursing, knew Conway-Welch for… Read More

Carr Payne Jr., Edwin Mims, Vanderbilt professor of English, and Carr Payne Sr. at the dedication of Payne Hall in 1953, with the painting of former Peabody president Bruce R. Payne behind them. Photo courtesy of Vanderbilt University Special Collections Maxwell Carr Payne Jr. of Franklin, Tenn., grandson… Read More

Camilla Dietz Bergeron, an emerita trustee whose passion for collecting jewelry led to her founding a noted estate jewelry firm, died May 20 after a long illness. She was 76. Bergeron was president of Camilla Dietz Bergeron Ltd., a New York–based purveyor of fine antique, period and estate… Read More

An expert on new product development and strategic planning, Gary D. Scudder, James A. Speyer Professor of Production Management and professor of operations management, died June 13 in Nashville. He was 65 years old. Scudder came to Owen in 1990 from the Carlson School of Management… Read More

Thomas Floyd “Tommy” Howe Jr., who served as the scientific glassblower for Vanderbilt’s Department of Chemistry for 30 years, died June 29 in Nashville. He was 76. During his three decades at the university, Howe made major contributions to the chemistry department’s teaching and research programs as well… Read More

Frank F. Drowota III, BA’60, JD’65, who served on the Tennessee Supreme Court from 1980 to 2006, died April 15. He was 79. Drowota served on the Davidson County Chancery Court and the state Court of Appeals before first winning a seat on the state Supreme… Read More

Daniel DuBois/Vanderbilt University Nancy Ransom, MAT’71, EdD’88, founding director of the Margaret Cuninggim Women’s Center at Vanderbilt and a champion of women’s rights, education and gender equality, died March 19 in Wilmington, Delaware, from complications of ALS, also known as Lou Gehrig’s disease. She was 89. From 1978… Read More

Eugene Arthur TeSelle Jr., Oberlin Professor of Church History and Theology, emeritus, and a strong advocate on community issues ranging from urban neighborhood preservation to integrated schools, died March 1. He was 86. TeSelle was born in Ames, Iowa, on Aug. 8, 1931. He graduated Phi Beta Kappa… Read More

William W. Bain Jr., BA’59:  Long-Term Strategist William W. Bain Jr., an alumnus and emeritus member of the Board of Trust, died Jan. 16 at his home in Naples, Florida. He was 80 years old. Bain founded Bain & Co., a corporate strategy consulting… Read More

L. Hall Hardaway Jr., chairman of the board of Hardaway Construction Co., Vanderbilt School of Engineering Distinguished Alumnus, and an emeritus Vanderbilt trustee, died Sept. 20, 2017, in Nashville. He was 84. Having earned his Vanderbilt degree in civil engineering, he first worked as a field superintendent with… Read More

Ann Cook Calhoun (photo by John Russell) Ann Cook Calhoun, Vanderbilt professor of English, emerita—an internationally renowned Shakespeare scholar and a powerful force for making the Bard’s plays accessible to everyone—died Aug. 13, 2017, in Nashville after a brief illness. She was 82. Calhoun held leadership roles in… Read More

Samuel T. McSeveney, professor of history, emeritus, and a Vanderbilt faculty member for nearly 30 years, died Aug. 5 in Nashville. He was 86. McSeveney was an expert on late-19th-century American history—particularly the Gilded Age and political history of New York City and the Northeast—and was the author… Read More

Known for her encyclopedic command of the law, Florida Senior Assistant Attorney General Sandra Jaggard helped keep some of Miami’s most notorious killers on Death Row. She died unexpectedly Oct. 11, 2016, at age 51. Jaggard was a unique person with a unique job. A one-time engineer who… Read More

H. Floyd Dennis Jr., professor of special education, emeritus, at Vanderbilt Peabody College of education and human development, died April 17 of cancer in Chattanooga, Tennessee. He was 89. Read More

Former Vanderbilt basketball star Joe Thomas Ford of Paducah, Kentucky, died June 20 from injuries sustained in an automobile accident. He was 64. Read More