Jon Meacham

Vanderbilt University served as the convening host for a major World Economic Forum gathering on Monday, Nov. 10, bringing leaders from government, industry, academia and civil society to Nashville for a full day of discussion on how states and regions can navigate a rapidly changing national and global environment. The program, “Regional Leadership in a New Global Context,” explored emerging trends shaping the future of workforce development, energy, health care, technology and national security.   Read More

Vanderbilt Distinguished Visiting Professor of Political Science and Pulitzer Prize-winning biographer Jon Meacham has been awarded a National Humanities Medal, the nation’s highest honor for contributions to the humanities.    Read More

Walter Isaacson, the acclaimed author of the biographies Steve Jobs and Benjamin Franklin: An American Life and professor of history at Tulane, will speak at Vanderbilt University on Thursday, Dec. 5, in conversation with John M. Seigenthaler, former news anchor and correspondent for NBC and MSNBC. The discussion will range from mis/disinformation to the art of historical biography to Isaacson’s 2023 biography of Elon Musk.  Read More

With 1,100 enrolled students, the number speaks for itself—PSCI 1150: U.S. Elections is a hot commodity on campus. The elective course offered every four years by the College of Arts and Science is a highly anticipated deep dive into how elections work in the U.S., blending a robust  understanding of history with extensive research from political science. Read More

Premiering Aug. 28, The Choice, produced by Dialogue Vanderbilt and featuring Pulitzer Prize–winning author and presidential historian Jon Meacham and Vanderbilt professor, polling expert and political scientist John Geer, will discuss the key moments and the many implications of the 2024 presidential election. Read More

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

Pulitzer Prize–winning author and propaganda expert Anne Applebaum will visit Vanderbilt on March 5 for a discussion of the rise of autocracy in today’s geopolitical climate.  Read More

The Carolyn T. and Robert M. Rogers Center for the American Presidency has launched, with the goal of exploring the presidency through an innovative, comprehensive lens. Housed within the College of Arts and Science, the center will serve as a nationally recognized hub for innovative scholarship about the workings of the presidency. Read More

On Tuesday, Feb. 6, former U.S. Rep. Liz Cheney joined Pulitzer Prize–winning author and professor Jon Meacham, co-chair of the Vanderbilt Project on Unity and American Democracy, to speak about the future of U.S. democracy at the inaugural event for the Carolyn T. and Robert M. Rogers Center for the American Presidency. Read More

Nashville Downtown Partnership is teaming up with Vanderbilt University and Pinnacle Financial Partners to bring the esteemed author and historian, Jon Meacham, to downtown’s biggest business event. The Annual Meeting & Awards Luncheon will be held Oct. 18 from noon to 1:30 p.m. at Music City Center. Read More

Vanderbilt University alumni were offered the unique opportunity this fall to hear two of the country’s foremost political science experts, John Geer and Jon Meacham, discuss the U.S. presidential election in the four-part webinar series, “The 2020 Election: The Good, the Bad and the Ugly.” Read More

President George W. Bush spent the day at Vanderbilt on March 11, surprising a history class and visiting a student veterans club before speaking to a capacity crowd at Langford Auditorium that evening. Read More

Former Arizona Sen. Jeff Flake drew a capacity crowd at Vanderbilt’s Langford Auditorium on Jan. 17 as part of the Chancellor’s Lecture Series, discussing shifts in the Republican Party, the midterm elections, and fiscal challenges facing the federal government. Read More

On Feb. 6, Pulitzer Prize winner Jon Meacham, a No. 1 New York Times best-selling presidential biographer and visiting Vanderbilt distinguished professor of political science, sat down with Chancellor Nicholas S. Zeppos to discuss Donald Trump’s first year in office. Read More

A roundtable discussion at Vanderbilt University on Monday, May 2, will explore the U.S. Supreme Court’s current vacancy and the controversy surrounding the nomination of a new justice. Read More

Our Amy Grant story is one of several in this issue with a Nashville flavor. Ann Marie Deer Owens’ cover story, “Beloved Community,” showcases Vanderbilt Divinity School graduates who’ve played a significant role in developing and leading local nonprofit organizations that have an impact on the quality of life for all Nashvillians. Read More

Pulitzer Prize-winning historian and Vanderbilt Distinguished Visiting Professor Jon Meacham will join Stephen and Andrew Schlesinger to discuss the legacy of their father, the late presidential historian Arthur Schlesinger Jr., during a media availability Nov. 5 at Vanderbilt. Read More

In the latest VUCast: ICU patients are leaving hospitals with a dementia-like disease; What’s the fate of the Republican Party?; Hear from Pulitzer Prize-winning author and Distinguished Visiting Professor Jon Meacham; and It's time to celebrate -- the Rate My Professor 2013 rankings are in. All this and more in Vanderbilt’s online newscast. Watch now. Read More

Jon Meacham, author of Thomas Jefferson: The Art of Power, and Mark Dimunation, who directed the reconstruction of Thomas Jefferson’s Collection at the Library of Congress, came together Sept. 30 at Vanderbilt University’s Central Library for a discussion moderated by John Seigenthaler. Read More