Alumni

Derrick R. Spires, an associate professor of literatures in English at Cornell University, has a talent for making 19th-century newspapers and pamphlets feel as accessible as the latest social media feed. He explores the culture of the early 19th-century Black press in his 2019 book 'The Practice of Citizenship: Black Politics and Print Culture in the Early United States' (University of Pennsylvania Press), which was recently released in paperback. Read More

The new fundraising initiative—the most ambitious in Vanderbilt’s history—will power the university’s most exciting and essential work to date. Read More

Carolyn Peck, BA'88, was a standout student-athlete who helped the Commodores beat Pat Summitt’s mighty Lady Vols. She also was the first Black women's basketball coach to win an NCAA Division I women’s basketball national championship—and, at 33, she was the youngest women’s basketball head coach to win a Division I title. These days she can be found behind a microphone for ESPN and the SEC Network. Read More

Dawn Bennett has found paths to servant leadership throughout her life, but it was decades before she made a leap of faith and enrolled in Vanderbilt Divinity School. In January 2020, she was ordained by Bishop Kevin Strickland to remain in Nashville and build The Table, a faith collective centered on LGBTQIA+ people and vulnerable identities. Read More

Students, faculty, administrators and alumni recently gathered on campus to celebrate the official naming of the university’s undergraduate business minor in recognition of Vanderbilt alumni Susan and Keith Hoogland, who made a $5 million commitment on behalf of their family in support of the program. Read More

Six pioneering members of the Vanderbilt community who played significant roles in the university’s history were honored at a portrait unveiling and reception March 25 as part of festivities kicking off Vanderbilt’s yearlong Sesquicentennial celebration. Read More

As she teaches the next generation of nurse-midwives, Vanderbilt School of Nursing faculty member and alumna Stephanie DeVane-Johnson looks at ways to increase the number of Black doulas, who provide emotional and physical support to women in pregnancy, during birth and throughout the postpartum period.  Read More

Krista Donaldson, BS’95, who directs Innovation to Impact at Stanford University’s Byers Center for Biodesign where her work focuses on ensuring design tools and processes are broadly applicable across global markets, will deliver the School of Engineering’s 2023 Chambers Family Entrepreneurial Lecture on Tuesday, April 4, at 4:15 p.m. at the Wond’ry, Vanderbilt’s Innovation Center, in the Engineering and Science Building. 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

Before Edwin Keeble, BA 1924, cemented his legacy as one of Nashville’s foremost architects, he found himself at a crossroads: Stay within the comfortable confines of the city he’d grown up in or venture to other parts of the globe and widen his worldview. His decision ultimately would have far-reaching consequences—not just for his career and its impact on Nashville, but for something perhaps even more profound in the eyes of every Commodore basketball fan: the curious origins of Memorial Magic. 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

On Feb. 3, 2023, President Joe Biden announced his intent to appoint Vanderbilt Board of Trust member Corey Thomas, BE'98, as one of 14 new members of the President’s National Security Telecommunications Advisory Committee. Here Thomas shares his thoughts on leadership, success and workplace culture. Read More

W.G. “Tres” Scheibe and his son, Nate, own Scheibe Design, a high-end furniture studio based in Franklin, Tennessee, where they make handcrafted pieces showcasing modernist design and gorgeous woods.  Read More

Melanie Hall Morris, BSN’83, MSN’86, found her calling in providing care for others. Obstetrics and women’s health have been her passion ever since she was an undergraduate student at Vanderbilt University School of Nursing. Now, as an assistant professor at the school, she researches innovative ways of facilitating the health… Read More

A poem by Cleve Latham, BA’73, EdD’98 Read More

To continue the legacy in education to which Bess Parks owes her own career, she wants to give back to those who need help paying for higher education. Through the establishment of two charitable remainder unitrusts and a retirement plan beneficiary designation, she’s found a way to do that and honor the memory of her mother, also a teacher. Read More

Rabbi Jonathan Brumberg-Kraus, a professor of religion at Wheaton College, has written extensively on food rituals and Jewish food for more than 20 years. His book "Gastronomic Judaism as Culinary Midrash" was published in 2018 (Rowman & Littlefield). He defines midrash as “a way of interpreting traditional stories and practices in new ways,” food being one of them. Now, he's turning his attention to Thanksgiving food myths and rituals. Read More

Vanderbilt Athletics has announced that its men’s golf head coaching position has been endowed through a generous gift from Dr. Thomas Roush, BA’97, a former Vanderbilt student-athlete and captain of the men’s golf team. Current head coach Scott Limbaugh will be the first to hold the title of Thomas F. Roush, M.D. and Family Men’s Golf Head Coach. Read More

When Jennifer Janes arrived at Vanderbilt Blair School of Music in 1998, she had two career paths in mind—veterinary medicine and teaching piano at the college level. Her abiding interest in horses and veterinary medicine eventually won out. Today, Dr. Janes is an associate professor of veterinary anatomic pathology at the University of Kentucky Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory. Read More