George Peabody College For Teachers

Joseph Cunningham, 82, an accomplished administrator and professor at Vanderbilt Peabody College of education and human development, passed away peacefully on March 8, 2024, at his home in Lake City, Pennsylvania. Read More

Now in their 51st year on campus, 13 courageous African American students came together during the fall of 1972 to charter the first Black sorority at Vanderbilt University and what was then called George Peabody College for Teachers. Read More

Peabody College's Susan Gray paved the way for Head Start by pioneering early childhood education. 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

Annie Beatrice “Bea” Martin, a retired teacher and administrator who was committed to education, outreach and social justice, died Oct. 11, 2020. She was 87. Read More

Iris W. Buhl, a longtime community educator, volunteer and philanthropist in Nashville, died Aug. 11, 2020. She was 77. 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

Under Jack Elder, EdS’73, the Tennessee Special Olympics program became recognized as one of the strongest and best managed. For athletes then and now, after five decades, Special Olympics is a chance to prove what they can do when given the opportunity. Read More

Chin, shown creating in his workshop, is known for his large-scale art installations. Photo courtesy of the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation Visionary artist Mel Chin, BA’75, was named Sept. 25 among the class of 26 MacArthur Fellows for 2019. Given by the John D. and Catherine T. Read More

Photo by John Russell Simon Mayfield “Dick” Dickerson of Franklin, Tennessee, died Sept. 20. He was 79. A graduate of East Nashville High School and George Peabody College for Teachers (now Vanderbilt Peabody College for education and human development), he was president of the student body and “Mr. Peabody.” A… Read More

Bill Yoast (Photo by James A. Parcell) William “Bill” Yoast, the high school coach who helped unify a racially divided Alexandria, Virginia, during the 1971 football season, died May 23. He was 94 years old. The relationship between Yoast and coach Herman Boone is the crux of the 2000 film… Read More