Dare To Grow

Vanderbilt University Librarian Jon Shaw, who has led the Jean and Alexander Heard Libraries since 2022, has been reappointed for a five-year term and named dean of libraries and letters, effective July 1. Shaw is the inaugural Connie Vinita Dowell University Librarian, thanks to generous support from Dowell, M.L.S.’79, Vanderbilt’s first dean of libraries, and her husband, Stephen P. Miller. Their gift, made during Vanderbilt’s Dare to Grow campaign, reflects the couple’s ongoing commitment to the Heard Libraries and strengthens philanthropic momentum for the library dean’s role and strategic priorities.  Read More

Anonymous donors have committed $25 million to build a bold new hub of innovation and discovery at Vanderbilt University—a multipurpose science facility that will shape the future of research and education on campus and beyond. Read More

The Elizabeth Olson and Robert Lee Brown Scholarship gives future generations of Vanderbilt engineering students an opportunity to pursue their dreams. Read More

College sweethearts Mary and Patrick Mudge facilitate connection among Atlanta-based Commodores. Read More

As an undergraduate, Marcia Fordyce-Steinfurth, BA’94, arrived in Nashville from Washington, D.C., eager to continue her education at another top-tier institution after attending Stone Ridge. At Vanderbilt, she connected with classmates from her hometown as well as peers from a wide range of backgrounds, all while immersing herself in a small-town Southern culture that was entirely new to her. Now, with a daughter at Vanderbilt, Marcia and her husband, P.R. Steinfurth, have witnessed firsthand how the university continues to help students access professional opportunities. Inspired in part by the lasting impact of Marcia’s undergraduate education, the Steinfurths knew they wanted to give back. Read More

From her home office across West 21st Street in Manhattan’s Chelsea neighborhood, Double ‘Dore Emily Baker Tobin can look out at the Gothic spires and collegiate quadrangle of the General Theological Seminary (GTS)—a landmark that has framed her daily life for years. As a lifelong Episcopalian, she had long admired the buildings, but could never have imagined that one day she would bring her alma mater to the historic campus. Read More

Corey and Michelle Harris' gift for Pre-Vet Students, Athletics and Campus Life was inspired by their daughter's journey. Read More

During a special ceremony in Palm Beach, Florida on March 16, Cody Crowell, BS’07, was honored with Vanderbilt’s Pathfinder Award in recognition of his exceptional vision and dedication in helping the university identify and pursue transformative opportunities, particularly his leadership in championing our expanded presence in West Palm Beach. Read More

WATCH: Members of the Class of 2026 express how they've experienced Vanderbilt's core values of collaboration, support, growth and community. Read More

Anchored in community and powered by participation, this Giving Day was a powerful reminder of what our faculty, staff and students make possible together. Read More

In many ways, the stigma around mental health has started to soften in recent years, especially as more public figures speak out about their struggles and as more resources become available at Vanderbilt and beyond. But donors Diana Grant, BA’85, and Daniel Frey are committed to taking this progress even further. Read More

Mentorship shapes every phase of student development at Vanderbilt, from the direction of students’ research papers to their careers and aspirations. But its impact is especially strong in the lab of F. Peter “Fred” Guengerich, PhD’73, in the department of biochemistry. Read More

Vanderbilt Board of Trust member Robert “Bob” Levy, BA’72, and Diane vS. Levy are fueling a surge in momentum for Vanderbilt’s future in South Florida with a $6.5 million commitment. Their gift marks an important milestone in Vanderbilt’s expansion to its new graduate campus in West Palm Beach, establishing a strong foundation for academic excellence and strategic flexibility in the region known as Wall Street South. Read More

Vanderbilt University’s planned West Palm Beach campus has gained crucial momentum with the donation of several parcels of prime land totaling over an acre from longtime West Palm Beach developer and philanthropist Jeff Greene and his wife, Mei Sze Greene. The Greenes’ gift—comprising eight contiguous parcels—expands the site established through commitments by the City of West Palm Beach and Palm Beach County, creating a unified footprint for the university’s new graduate campus. Read More

Vanderbilt Law School has received a $10 million commitment from Lara and Clay Travis to fund a number of key priorities, including the First Amendment Clinic, the Law School’s “Respectfully Dissent” debate series, merit- and need-based scholarship aid, child care funding for student-parents, support services for student veterans, and the Law School’s ongoing building renovation. The Travis’ investment directly supports the university’s historic Dare to Grow campaign. Read More

In 2024, as Opportunity Vanderbilt celebrated its 15th anniversary, Trustee Robert “Bob” Levy, BA’72, and his wife Diane S. Levy demonstrated their continued commitment to student access through a transformative $1.1 million matching gift initiative. The program, which inspired 22 alumni from the graduating classes of 2000 to 2025 to make their first endowed gifts to the university by establishing Opportunity Vanderbilt scholarships, reached its goal more than four months ahead of schedule by August 2025. Read More

Vanderbilt University has received a catalytic $30 million gift from John Addison, BE’01, and Shannon Addison, BS’02, to ignite a bold new era of innovation at the School of Engineering. Their visionary contribution serves as the lead commitment for Power the Impossible, a new $300 million fundraising campaign in support of the School of Engineering. Building on the remarkable momentum of the university’s record-breaking Dare to Grow campaign, Power the Impossible will position Vanderbilt Engineering among the world’s most influential, impactful and recognized engineering institutions of this century. Read More

The Vanderbilt experience is woven into the lives of Allyson Maske, BS’92, and Jim Maske, BE’93, MBA’99, who first met as undergraduates. Between them, they have attended four of Vanderbilt’s schools and colleges, and their son, J.D., is a member of the Class of 2028 at Peabody College. The Maskes are on the Parent Leadership Committee and made recent gifts to Vandy United and Opportunity Vanderbilt in support of the university’s Dare to Grow campaign. Read More

Eight decades of Vanderbilt University history are commemorated in a new exhibit at the Jean and Alexander Heard Libraries. Dare to Grow, 1945–2025 is on view in the Central Library fourth-floor lobby through mid-February 2026. The exhibit explores Vanderbilt’s remarkable growth in faculty, facilities, enrollment and the quality of its students amid national and international crises, recessions, pandemics and other disruptions from postwar to present day. Read More