Obituary

Professor of Nursing Thomas Christenbery died unexpectedly in his sleep Feb. 16. In his two decades at Vanderbilt School of Nursing, the popular professor taught and mentored hundreds of students and colleagues, encouraging them to reach for new possibilities. Read More

Ruth Grace Zibart, professor of French, emerita, and the first woman to serve as associate dean of the College of Arts and Science, died in Nashville on Dec. 26. She was 101. Read More

Associate Professor of Nursing Kate Payne, a bioethicist, attorney and beloved nurse leader at Vanderbilt University Medical Center and Vanderbilt University School of Nursing, died Jan. 6 after a brief and unexpected illness. Read More

Geoffrey Fleming, professor of pediatrics in the Division of Pediatric Critical Care Medicine and vice president of Vanderbilt University Medical Center Continuous Professional Development, died Dec. 8. He was 50. Fleming was diagnosed with metastatic cholangiocarcinoma in August 2019. Read More

Robert Covington, a professor of law, emeritus, who taught at Vanderbilt Law School for 46 years, died at his home on Nov. 29. He was 84. Read More

F. Hamilton Hazlehurst, a professor of fine arts, emeritus, whose longtime leadership helped transform the Department of History of Art and Architecture, died on Nov. 12. He was 95. Read More

Kenneth A. Wallston, professor of nursing, emeritus, regarded internationally as one of the founders of health psychology, died in Asheville, North Carolina, on Oct. 27. He was 78. Read More

Charles Foster "Chuck" Federspiel, a Vanderbilt University faculty member for 61 years and founding director of the Division of Biostatistics, died Oct. 19. He was 91. Read More

H. Carl Haywood, professor of psychology, emeritus, and former Kennedy Center director, died Oct. 12 in Nashville. He was 89. Read More

Angelika Amon, PhD, a pioneering cell and molecular biologist and winner of the 2018 Vanderbilt Prize in Biomedical Science, died Oct. 29 from cancer. She was 53. Read More

Frank P. Grisham, who led the Vanderbilt library from the late 1960s to the early 1980s, a time that included the establishment of the Vanderbilt Television News Archive and the transition of the libraries after the merger with George Peabody College for Teachers, died Oct. 9. He was 92. Read More

Thomas Aldrich Finegan, a Vanderbilt University professor of economics, emeritus, and a meticulous empirical scholar of labor economics, has died. He was 91. Read More

George E. Cook, associate dean for research and graduate studies and professor of electrical engineering, emeritus, at Vanderbilt, died Monday, Sept. 14. He was 82. 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

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

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 emeritus professor of economics John Vrooman, who had a passion for all things sports and taught one of the most popular classes at Vanderbilt focusing on sports economics, passed away on July 5. Before he passed, Vrooman asked that he not have an official obituary, but fellow economics professor Robert Driskill wrote this remembrance of Vrooman, who had a teaching career that spanned almost five decades. Read More

Vanderbilt has lost three prominent members of the university community in recent weeks: Hans Stoll, the Anne Marie and Thomas B. Walker Jr. Professor of Finance, Emeritus; Brownlee O. Currey Jr., an alumnus and emeritus trustee; and John Loomis, an alumnus and former member of the Vanderbilt Board of Trust. Read More

John R. Loomis, a former alumni trustee on the Vanderbilt University Board of Trust, philanthropist and investment adviser, died March 31 from long-term health issues. The Larchmont, New York, resident was 90. Read More