Winter 2020

Duc Pham often speaks about how lucky he has been, despite a difficult childhood during the Vietnam War after which his father, a police captain in South Vietnam, was sentenced without trial by the North Vietnamese to seven and a half years of hard labor in a prison camp. “When… Read More

Photo by Trey Clark For Jessie Wallace Jackson, the trailblazing experience of her brother Perry Wallace, BE’71, is a story of love and hope for the future. A recent Memphis Vanderbilt Chapter Commodore Classroom expanded his inspiring message. On Dec. 9, more than 60 alumni and friends gathered at the… Read More

Photo by John Rosenthal Elizabeth Spencer, a celebrated author whose irony-laced novels and short stories explored family strife and buried histories, died Dec. 22 at her home in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. She was 98. Spencer’s seven-decade career, beginning with the 1948 novel Fire in the Morning, was one of… Read More

Photo by Tom Williams/Getty Images Fred P. Graham, whose career as a legal affairs reporter, television anchor and author spanned more than four decades, died Dec. 28 at his home in Washington, D.C. He was 88. Born in Little Rock, Arkansas, Graham earned his undergraduate degree from Yale University and… Read More

Photo by Joe Howell Luke Gregory, CEO of Monroe Carell Jr. Children’s Hospital at Vanderbilt and senior vice president for business development, died Oct. 18, 2019, after a courageous battle with lymphoma. He was 63. The embodiment of a servant leader, Gregory joined Vanderbilt University Medical Center in 2007… Read More

Photo by John Russell M. Fräncille Bergquist, a beloved professor of Spanish, emerita, and retired College of Arts and Science administrator who devoted much of her life to advising and mentoring thousands of undergraduate students, died Nov. 17 in Nashville. She was 74. “Fräncille had a wonderful talent for believing… Read More

The Wilkinses recently made a sizable commitment to Experience Vanderbilt, a program that provides students with need-based financial aid for extracurricular activities that require fees for participation, such as club sports, arts and cultural experiences, Greek life and service trips like Alternative Spring Break. Read More

Chip Brantley, BA’95, explains the steps that went into producing White Lies, a podcast about the 1965 unsolved murder of a white Unitarian minister and civil rights activist named James Reeb. Read More

Vanderbilt alumni form a robust, global network of more than 145,000 Commodores. The VUconnect online community gives you easy tools to start building and growing professional relationships with fellow alumni anywhere in just five steps. Read More

“Portland knows the feeling. Austin had it once, too. So did Dallas. Even Las Vegas enjoyed a brief moment as the nation’s ‘it’ city. Now, it’s Nashville’s turn.” Read More

Sarena Martinez, BA’16, has been named the 27th Rhodes Scholar in Vanderbilt’s history, and Phillip McGloin, BA’18, has been selected for the Schwarzman Scholars Program in Beijing. Read More