The Vanderbilt Story

Within the conducting profession, the word “maestro” is sometimes used to describe the person wielding the baton and coaxing joyous sounds from voice, instrument or both. Blair School of Music’s community of maestros—gaining influence both at home and abroad—is venturing into the world of orchestral conducting with an energy and… Read More

Meet Vanderbilt admissions blogger Seth Johnson and see how he and a diverse group of undergrads are making a cappella cool!… Read More

There is a list, famous among astronomers, of 110 faint objects in the night sky, first cataloged by French astronomer Charles Messier in the 18th century. A “Messier marathon” is when astronomers begin at dusk and work until dawn, hoping to locate every single one, searching amid the field of… Read More

(John Russell/Vanderbilt University) Thumbing through a handful of her daughter’s recently taken senior photos, Kim Drake was a little tearful. “I’m having a mother moment,” she explained before tucking them away to offer some friendly guidance to a patient at the Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center’s Patient and Family Resource… Read More

Music and cheerleaders and new ‘Dores – oh my! Check out Founders Walk – a tradition that welcomes new students and gets them in step with the Vanderbilt experience. [vucastblurb]… Read More

It’s become one of the great new traditions of Vanderbilt University. In this VUCast extra, watch as Vandy upperclassmen come together to welcome the class of 2015 to the Martha Rivers Ingram Commons… one box at a time! [vucastblurb]… Read More

Looking back, I wonder whether we should have been in class that morning. It was just before lunch, and I had already missed a few that semester—classes, never lunch—as, unfortunately, my first midterm grades attested. From our residence in Dyer Hall, the path to food at Sarratt took me and… Read More

A shark attack leads to a collaboration that could transform the lives of amputees This is the last snapshot taken of Craig Hutto before a shark attack claimed his leg on June 27, 2005. Photo provided by Craig Hutto It was an overcast June morning at Cap San Blas, Fla.,… Read More

Frank Wcislo examines how we consider Russia and its leaders two decades after the Cold War           Frank Wcislo, associate professor of history (John Russell/Vanderbilt)         As Soviet Russia disintegrated in the late 1980s and early 1990s, Frank Wcislo and other… Read More

See why some of country music’s biggest stars are lending their talents to a special Vanderbilt camp. Plus, how a Vandy professor is personally tied to the Atlantis space mission, and fixing what U2 left behind! Read more about music’s healing power in Vanderbilt Medicine. [vucastblurb]… Read More

On any given day, Jenny Plume can be seen pushing her instrument-laden, two-tiered cart through the hallways of the Monroe Carell Jr. Children’s Hospital at Vanderbilt. Her arrival onto patient floors is a welcome sight to staff and parents alike. Plume’s instruments often offer a remedy for what is ailing… Read More

When the United States declared a “War on Cancer” 40 years ago, the endeavor was envisioned as a strategic battle, with doctors and researchers employing overwhelming force and lethal technology in a straightforward march to victory against a disease that claimed millions of lives. Scientists have made progress in the… Read More

You could say Earth and Environmental Sciences and Philosophy double major Grace Loy spends her days playing in a sandbox. But this undergrad is working on collaboration with one of Vanderbilt’s top researchers that could make a dramatic difference. Read More

Sometimes business mixed with compassion can help those who need help the most. See what a group of Vanderbilt engineering undergrads and Vanderbilt Owen Graduate School of Management MBA students built to help those at the bottom of the financial pyramid. Read More

Former linebacker Shelton Quarles coordinates pro scouting for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Shaiza Rizavi is a New York portfolio manager who previously worked in international aid and development. Entrepreneur Jeremy Werthan runs a granite company in his native Nashville. Ryan Pickens teaches business at a small liberal arts college in… Read More

A couple of hours south of Nashville lies a place inhabited by manned rockets and moon rocks that gives witness to America’s stellar past and beckons young and old to come and contribute to its future. It is the U.S. Space and Rocket Center in Huntsville, Alabama’s No.1 tourist attraction,… Read More

The abbreviated lives of Emily, BS’03, MEd’05, and Lauren Failla, BS’07, bear witness on an all-too-personal basis that out of tragedy comes triumph. The sisters, alumnae of Peabody’s human and organizational development program, died in tragic accidents, four years and half a world apart from each other. Their lives are… Read More

Good teaching and basic science breakthroughs would not be possible without institutions such as Vanderbilt, says Patrick Abbot, associate professor of biological sciences. Professors, in turn, understand the critical need to “participate in the maintenance and improvement of these institutions.” That’s where service, such as editing journals, jurying research or… Read More

On a chilly Friday night last November, the area underneath the wide expanse of the Jefferson Street Bridge in downtown Nashville became a scene of rare opportunity for the city’s homeless. The Salvation Army Soup Wagon was there, as could be expected, but some friends had joined them. A foldout… Read More

Graduates Shannon Hoffman, Nehal Mehta and Karen White come from different backgrounds and have different interests, but each will use their significant talents and valuable lessons learned at Vanderbilt to affect change in the world. Read More