The Vanderbilt Story

Vanderbilt professor and Dean of The Martha Rivers Ingram Commons Melissa Gresalfi wants people to stop hating math. She's researching and teaching new ways to embrace the subject's potential for creativity. Read More

A group of Vanderbilt students from a diverse array of majors took part in “the experience of a lifetime” when they participated in a faculty-led Maymester class that took them across France, including a stop at the Cannes Film Festival. Rising junior Caroline Crawford reflects on the experience. Read More

Experience Vanderbilt University in 360 degrees using a virtual reality headset or the YouTube app on your smart phone (make sure to move your phone around!). Read More

James Boehm, who earned a master’s degree in clinical mental health counseling from Peabody College in May, turned a life-changing incident into a mission to help others recovering from traumatic injuries and blindness. Read More

For this installment of the student-athlete series, we take a look at three Class of 2019 seniors. Read More

From an Alternative Spring Break trip to renovate houses with Habitat for Humanity, to a Home Depot–sponsored web-coding hackathon, to a semester of study abroad that took him to cities such as Madrid, Marrakesh and Istanbul—Robby Perry’s time at Vanderbilt exemplifies just how much you can pack into four years. Read More

It was at Vanderbilt that Alexandra Vierling found her passion for nursing. But the idea of working at the intersection of health care and education was a seed planted long ago. Read More

Gabriela Alvarado began her graduate program intent on studying something microscopic, but she ended up developing a passion for understanding the bigger picture of her research. Read More

A Facebook query seeking Vanderbilt students who were pilots led Riley Ferguson to two of her closest friends and the founding of AviaDORES, a campus organization with the mission of making aviation accessible to VU students. Read More

Aya Abou-Jaoude has always planned to become a physician. But she says an eye-opening Vanderbilt course last year about refugee resettlement helped affirm her ultimate goal: to pursue pediatric medicine, with a particular focus on refugee health. Read More

Creative writing and computer science classes in middle school and high school inspired Jasper Lu to pursue a liberal arts education at Vanderbilt, where he could explore all his passions and identify connections between them. Read More

Like many medical students, Kathleen Gallagher knew by the time she’d finished high school biology that she wanted to become a doctor. It was the tragedy of Sept. 11, however, that launched her journey into trauma surgery. Read More

As the only child of a university biology professor, Ananya Sharma’s talent in science came naturally. Yet, while navigating a STEM-specialized curriculum in high school, she discovered an interest in women’s studies. Read More

During his college search, Jarryd Bethea sought an institution that would combine great academics, strong school spirit, and a community where he could make an impact. He found that and more at Vanderbilt. Read More

Rama Kumaran initially intended to study both science and flute when he came to Vanderbilt. He says he didn’t come expecting to know everything. “But I expected to do everything," he says. Read More

Evan Suzman, a cross country runner for the Commodores, likes to clear his mind with long, winding runs across campus. Off the course, the native New Yorker is a double major in history and child development, with a focus on the history of science. Read More

By Braeden Abrahamsen, as told to Andrew Maraniss One of the most positive things about sports is how it brings people together. As a member of the Vanderbilt women’s bowling team, I have teammates from Australia, Russia, Singapore, New York, New Jersey and New Mexico, just to name a… Read More

Student-athlete Emily Mathewson rallies her teammates on the field, and rallied them to support a young patient with cancer at Monroe Carell Jr. Children's Hospital at Vanderbilt. Read More

Vanderbilt engineering student Miti Joshi took a leap of faith when declaring her major. She ended up falling in love with computer science and launching Vanderbilt Women in Computing. Read More

Professor Jonathan Metzl isn’t afraid to tackle society’s most controversial issues, like guns, mass shootings, health care, race, politics and mental illness. Read More