Arts And Science

Major Jackson, an accomplished poet and essayist, will join the Vanderbilt faculty as Gertrude Conaway Vanderbilt Professor of English in January 2021 after 18 years in the Department of English at the University of Vermont. Read More

Dorothy J. Wingfield Phillips, BS’67, is being honored with a lifetime achievement award from the National Organization for the Advancement of Black Chemists and Chemical Engineers. Phillips, the first African American woman to receive an undergraduate degree from Vanderbilt, is a 2020 recipient of NOBCChE’s Lifetime Service Award.  Read More

David L. Tuleen, an emeritus chemistry professor who excelled first as a teacher and later as a university administrator, has died. Read More

Vanderbilt University is launching "Engine for Art, Democracy and Justice," a new initiative conceived by professor Maria Magdalena Campos-Pons and focused on healing at a time of social unrest. Read More

A new $2.5 million grant from the National Institutes of Health is enabling Vanderbilt University chemist Renã A.S. Robinson to expand her research on racial disparities in Alzheimer’s and other diseases. Read More

Derek Griffith, professor of medicine, health and society and founding director of the Center for Research on Men’s Health, takes an intersectional approach to researching the impacts of COVID-19, advocating for a more nuanced understanding of identity’s role in determining risk to enhance policy reforms toward greater health equity. Read More

Vaughan Jones, one of the world’s foremost mathematicians and a celebrated professor in the College of Arts and Science, has died. Read More

Ethnocentric concerns about the growing political power and social influence of immigrants, African Americans and Latinos are undermining Republicans’ commitment to long-held democratic norms, according to new research by Vanderbilt University political science professor Larry Bartels. Read More

Vanderbilt University historian Thomas Schwartz has written a biography of famed diplomat Henry Kissinger that offers lessons for today’s political leaders. Read More

Benjamin Walter, an emeritus political scientist whose teaching and research interests included American government, environmental policy and suburban politics, has died. Read More

According to new research by Associate Professor of Psychology Jennifer Trueblood, the development of an effective vaccine is only the first part of a solution to developing herd immunity against COVID-19. Read More

Robert Edward Lee “Bob” Gotcher, BA’46, MD’49, of Hillsborough, California, died peacefully at home on Aug. 19 surrounded by family. Read More

Vanderbilt University’s College of Arts and Science has launched the Grand Challenge Initiative to invest in collaborative research projects with the potential of making a significant impact on some of society’s most pressing questions. Read More

The Nashville Math Club, hosted by Vanderbilt math professors for middle- and high-school students who want to learn concepts in creative and fun ways, meets online starting Sept. 8. Read More

Manuel Ascano, assistant professor of biochemistry and pathology, microbiology and immunology, discusses the challenges scientists face when researching which virus may cause the next pandemic. Read More

Jon Meacham, the Pulitzer Prize-winning author and Carolyn T. and Robert M. Rogers Professor of the American Presidency, implored Americans to embrace “the best parts of our soul” and let history “be our guide” during a nationally televised speech Aug. 20. Read More

Research by Vanderbilt history professor Arleen Tuchman on the cultural history of diabetes offers important lessons for other public health challenges, including COVID-19. Read More

Vanderbilt graduate student Isaiah Speight co-authors international call to action on improvements to diversity and inclusion in the sciences. Read More

The VBI recently marked its 20th anniversary, a span that has seen the institute’s wide-ranging missions—including administering the university’s Neuroscience Graduate Program, as well as postdoctoral training and community outreach—steadily coalesce under a single umbrella. Read More

Even at 104 years old, Helen Sterling, BA’36, MA’38, handled aging with optimism and grace. Her affection for her alma mater motivated her to include the university in her estate plans. Thanks to her $1.6 million bequest for unrestricted support at Peabody College and the College of Arts and Science, her legacy at Vanderbilt endures. Read More