The Vanderbilt Story

Class of 2023: Whether collaborating in a biomedical engineering lab, leading a cooking class or rocking out on stage with his band, John Abbott has a zest for living life to its fullest and sharing his experiences with others. Read More

Class of 2023: See how New Orleans native Darren Francis has expanded his faith and his future with the help of a special community at Vanderbilt. Read More

Class of 2023: It’s every child’s nightmare: Both parents are rushed to the hospital with life-threatening emergencies. But that terrifying personal experience—and his parents’ recovery—inspired Mark Miller to put aside a 20-year management career and earn a master’s in nursing at Vanderbilt University School of Nursing. Read More

Class of 2023: For some, a piano is just an instrument. For Jack Allen, a piano performance major at the Vanderbilt Blair School of Music, it is a vehicle for compassion, inspiration, teaching and community. Read More

Class of 2023: Learn why actor and playwright Taylor Rasmussen left the bright lights of New York City to follow a new dream of effecting positive change through business. But this isn’t fiction. It’s the life of Taylor Rasmussen, MBA’23. Read More

Class of 2023: Read how special education major Nora Smith has found inspiration, friendship and connection within the disabled community at Vanderbilt. Read More

Class of 2023: Read how biomedical engineering major and head resident advisor Namrah Ajmal is creating unique spaces for community and belonging. Read More

Whether working on dynamic discoveries in the lab, connecting with students and faculty or pursuing his passion for nature photography, acclaimed biomedical researcher John Kuriyan is inspired by his recent move to join Vanderbilt as the new dean of the School of Medicine Basic Sciences and Distinguished University Professor. Read More

A mental health battle with internet addiction and the ruinous effects of unfiltered social media nearly ravaged a talented entrepreneur while she was a student at Vanderbilt. But Larissa May, BA’16, has turned her healing journey into an influential, youth-based digital advocacy and empowerment platform, #HalfTheStory. May returned to Vanderbilt March 4 to speak as part of the Clinton Global Initiative University annual meeting. Read More

When Somto Dimobi Okoye, BE’19, was growing up in Lagos, Nigeria, her mother would open their home to people who needed help—instilling a philosophy of building strength and community through a tightly woven support system. Okoye continues that philosophy by creating ways to help colleagues and Vanderbilt students realize and exercise their full potential. Read More

A dynamic group of Vanderbilt scholars—all women—with expertise in engineering, earth sciences, sociology and storytelling took to a global stage at the 27th annual United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, better known as COP27. Read More

Byron Pitts, an Emmy Award-winning journalist, author and co-host of ABC’s Nightline, warned against the dangers of becoming indifferent to helping others and challenged members of the Vanderbilt community to see their potential to change the world through service when he delivered the university’s 2023 Martin Luther King Jr. Commemorative Series keynote address on Monday evening. Read More

A group of Vanderbilt students with diverse majors joined their creative forces for an immersive writing challenge: Take sophisticated science, technology, engineering and math topics and make them compelling for fourth graders. How did they do it? Through storytelling. Read More

When Syrian native Musbah Shaheen, BA’17, traveled to the U.S. for the first time to attend Vanderbilt, he had no idea how the university’s cornerstone philosophies of equity, diversity and belonging would stretch him personally or shape his professional future and Ph.D. research. Read More

Growing up, Anana Upton, BS’21, spent endless hours in hospitals as her younger brother underwent care. That experience spurred a passionate drive in her to elevate the quality of health care available to underserved communities while also educating them about their medical choices and affording them the dignity they deserve. Read More

Vanderbilt University is one of the nation’s most environmentally responsible colleges and on the “green honor roll” according to a new ranking by The Princeton Review. Read More

Thanks to a partnership among the Office of the Provost and leaders in each of Vanderbilt's Graduate School programs, all incoming doctoral students received a shot of financial support at the start of the fall semester by way of a $2,000 Launching Student Success stipend. Read More

A talent for cultivating fellowship and belonging helped earn Blake Christiansen this year’s Outstanding Senior Award, one of Vanderbilt’s highest undergraduate student honors. Read More

The fall 2022 Sesquicentennial grant cycle has funded 15 proposals, with awards being made to projects led by individuals and teams of faculty, staff, postdoctoral scholars and students. Read More

Anighya Crocker, BMus’21, came to Vanderbilt as a multiracial, first-generation college student with big dreams to serve the community through public office and music. His Vanderbilt experience as a double major in Law, History and Society and music performance has helped him to hone both of those dreams. Read More