Arts And Science Faculty

In August 2023, the university launched Dialogue Vanderbilt, its core initiative to bridge divides, reestablish a vibrant culture of civil discourse and free expression, and showcase experts from on campus and around the world, leading the charge to build more engaged citizens and communities.  Read More

The Choice, produced by the Dialogue Vanderbilt, is a four-part podcast focused on the key moments and ramifications of the 2024 presidential election between former president Donald J. Trump and current President Joseph R. Biden. Vanderbilt’s Jon Meacham and John Geer will blend history and political science to offer insights and context about this rematch of the 2020 presidential contest. Read More

Josh Clinton, who holds the Abby and Jon Winkelried Chair and serves as professor of political science and co-director of the Center for the Study of Democratic Institutions, has been named a 2024 Andrew Carnegie Foundation Fellow. He joins 27 other scholars nationwide being recognized for their research into the polarization of society and the fortification of our democracy. Read More

Jefferson Cowie, James G. Stahlman Professor of History at Vanderbilt University, was recently honored with a 2024 Guggenheim Fellowship—in part, in anticipation of his upcoming project, tentatively titled Crosswinds of a Common History, which will take a visionary approach to historical nonfiction. Read More

Six faculty have been appointed as residential leaders in shaping student learning experiences beyond the classroom. Dean of Residential Colleges and Residential Education Melissa Gresalfi announced the appointments for the 2024–25 academic year. Read More

With a prestigious new grant, archaeologist Ari Caramanica will explore what ancient people can teach us about dealing with the most pressing environmental issue of our time. Read More

Vanderbilt University has named Timothy P. McNamara, a visionary leader, trusted peer and mentor, as Ginny and Conner Searcy Dean of the College of Arts and Science for a two-year term beginning July 1. Read More

Sixty-six faculty members across seven schools and colleges received Provost’s Faculty Grants for Culminating Projects in Immersion, up 50 percent from the program’s inaugural year in 2023. The goal of the grants is to empower undergraduate students through immersive and impactful learning opportunities that take them from the studio to the lab, to an internship, to service learning in the Nashville community and beyond. Read More

The Women's Center presents awards in three categories each year: the Margaret Cuninggim Women's Center Leadership Award, the Mentoring Award and the Mary Jane Werthan Award. This spring, the Margaret Cuninggim Women’s Center named five people from the Vanderbilt community as recipients of its annual awards. Read More

The researchers, including Vanderbilt’s team led by Kari Hoffman, focused their efforts on the detection of hippocampal ripples, which are considered biomarkers of memory and are affected by epilepsy and Alzheimer’s disease. Read More

The Board of Trustees of the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation announced the appointment of 188 Guggenheim Fellowships to a distinguished and diverse group of culture creators working across 52 disciplines. Jefferson Cowie, the James G. Stahlman Professor of History at Vanderbilt University, was named to this 99th class of Guggenheim Fellows.  Read More

The distinguished faculty members and deans representing eight colleges and schools were presented with medallions that symbolize the attainment of their positions and will become part of their official academic regalia. Chair holders contribute their expertise to real-world challenges, including climate change, political inequality and access to justice, artificial intelligence and ICU trauma.   Read More

Al-Marayati and Samar Ali, Unity Project co-chair, will explore the shared experiences of Muslim and Arab Americans and the ongoing crisis in Gaza in a timely and insightful conversation at noon on Monday, April 22, at the John Seigenthaler Center. This in-person event is limited to Vanderbilt students, faculty and staff members; you must register using your Vanderbilt email address. Read More

Randolph Blake, Centennial Professor of Psychology, won the 2024 Ken Nakayama Medal for Excellence in Vision Science Award for lasting, high-impact contributions to vision science. Isabel Gauthier, David K. Wilson Professor of Psychology, won the 2024 Davida Teller Award for exceptional scientific achievements, commitment to equity, and a strong history of mentoring. Read More

Lorrie Moore, Gertrude Conaway Vanderbilt Professor of English, won a National Book Critics Circle Award for fiction for her novel I Am Homeless If This Is Not My Home. The award, considered to be among the most prestigious literary prizes in the country, adds to the lengthy list of accolades that her novel has received since it was published last fall. Read More

María Magdalena Campos-Pons, Cornelius Vanderbilt Professor of Art, has been named the 2024 SEC Faculty Achievement Award winner from Vanderbilt University. Her artistic work spans a variety of media, including photography, performance, sculpture, drawing, painting and video. She employs them in immersive installations that explore her experience as a Cuban woman and the broader issues facing Caribbean people, including displacement and inequality. Read More

Working across multiple disciplines, Vanderbilt researchers found that a relatively small proportion of funds from two recent significant pieces of environmental law – the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) of 2021 and Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) of 2022 – could lead to an outsized reduction in emissions. Read More

David Hercules, Centennial Professor of Chemistry emeritus, who served as the chair of the Department of Chemistry for eight years, died January 20, 2024, after a battle with cancer. He was 91. Read More

Avenir Award funding from the National Institute on Drug Abuse recognizes research that represents “the future of addiction science.” Brown’s research is creating an AI-experiment feedback loop that will help optimize painkilling drugs to be less addictive. Read More

Lars Plate, assistant professor of chemistry and biological sciences, has received a $2.76 million collaborative grant to investigate medical therapy for people with cystic fibrosis. The interdisciplinary project brings together teams with varied expertise in computational structural biology, proteomics, biophysics, and physiology in hopes of improving the quality of life for those afflicted with the genetic disease. Read More