Reflector Fall 2013

AWARDS & HONORS Sun-Joo Cho Sun-Joo Cho, assistant professor of psychology and human development, was named a 2013 National Academy of Education/Spencer Postdoctoral Fellow. The $55,000 award… Read More

The Department of Special Education announced the appointment of six new faculty members. They are (front row, left) Blair Lloyd and Victoria Knight, (back row, left): Chris Lemons, Joe Lambert and Erin Barton. Not pictured is Jennifer Ledford. (Daniel Dubois/Vanderbilt)… Read More

Pictured, from left, are: Chair of the Department of Leadership, Policy and Organizations Ellen Goldring, Moody and Chancellor Nicholas S. Zeppos. (Daniel Dubois/Vanderbilt) The Commodore Award, Vanderbilt’s highest staff honor, was presented during the Service Awards Celebration Sept. 10 in Langford Auditorium to Rosemary Moody, an educational… Read More

Bruininks at Vanderbilt's Commencement in May 2013. (Joe Howell/Vanderbilt) Peabody College bestowed its 2013 Distinguished Alumnus Award on educational psychologist Robert H. Bruininks during Commencement on May 10. Bruininks earned his master’s degree in 1965 and a doctorate in 1968 in educational psychology from the… Read More

Tankwanchi The past decade has seen a dramatic rise in the number of physicians trained in sub-Saharan Africa emigrating to the United States—40 percent overall when compared to the last decade—resulting in a “brain drain” on nations in the greatest need for affordable and accessible health… Read More

istock Women with access to group prenatal care had improved birth outcomes, including longer gestational periods and higher birth weight, in a study conducted by researchers at the Peabody Research Institute. The most striking finding was that group prenatal care had “statistically and clinically significant beneficial effects… Read More

Dale Farran Positive interactions in a pre-kindergarten classroom may be equally or more important to the future academic development of 4-year-olds than learning letters and numbers, according to Dale Farran, senior associate director of the Peabody Research Institute and co-author of a new study. It shows that… Read More

David Lubinski (Vanderbilt) Exceptional spatial ability at age 13 predicts creative and scholarly achievements more than 30 years later, according to results from a longitudinal study led by David Lubinski, professor of psychology. The study provides evidence that early spatial ability—the skill required to mentally manipulate 2D… Read More

Mark Lipsey (Vanderbilt) Peabody researchers are partnering with juvenile justice systems around the country to evaluate the potential of delinquency intervention programs to reduce recidivism in hopes of improving outcomes for young offenders. Mark Lipsey, research professor in human and organizational development and director of the… Read More

Paul Cobb (Vanderbilt) A grant of $200,000 from the National Science Foundation will enable Peabody researchers Thomas Smith and Paul Cobb to collaborate with Chinese researchers to identify instructional supports that lead to higher levels of mathematics achievement. Smith, associate professor of public policy education and director… Read More

Peabody is committed to excel on the international front, rooted in the knowledge that the best solution to conflict and chaos resides in education. Read More

The National Center for Special Education Research has awarded $10 million to a team of researchers at Vanderbilt. They are (from left): Doug Fuchs, Lynn Fuchs, Donald Compton, Melanie Schuele and Mark Lipsey. Team member Kristopher Preacher is not pictured. (Daniel Dubois/ Vanderbilt) The National Center… Read More

Wehby and Zeppos (Anne Rayner/Vanderbilt) A Faculty Senate meeting was delayed briefly Oct. 3 by a surprise guest—Chancellor Nicholas S. Zeppos—who interrupted the session to award the 2013 Chancellor’s Cup, now in its 50th year. The recipient was Joe Wehby, associate professor of special education… Read More

Fall weather arrived reluctantly and late to Peabody lawn. When crisp temperatures at last contested summer’s vestiges, this ghoulish gourd, as if by magic, appeared on the steps of the Wyatt Center. Mischievously grinning beneath its leafy crown, it stood… Read More

Keegan Fellow Kathleen Russell shares her journey: 373 days, 24 countries, five continents—and a life transformed. Read More

A mobile farmers' market, a fair wage bakery and a newspaper that employs the homeless are just a few of the social entrepreneurship efforts launched by HOD students. Read More

Finding one’s passion is the key to a fulfilling life, says Betsy Wills, and helping young people tap into their passions has become one of hers. Read More

Rawlings executives John and Robert Parish carry on the family tradition of working in the sporting goods industry. Read More

Cover Illustration by Christiane Beauregard Visit Peabody College’s website at peabody.vanderbilt.edu Joan Brasher, Editor Jan Read, Senior Director, Integrated Communications Donna Pritchett, Art Director Chris Collins, Designer Bonnie Arant Ertelt, Class Notes Editor Contributors: Kurt Brobeck, Lisa A. Dubois, Bonnie Arant Ertelt, Jennifer Johnston, Kathleen Russell,… Read More

In a fragmented world, education can build bridges across oceans, mountains and deserts; it can draw connections between cultures that seemingly have little in common; and it can break the knots of tightly bound prejudices through shared experiences and mutual concerns. For these reasons, Peabody College has embarked on a journey of robust international exchange. For more than a decade, Peabody faculty members have been crisscrossing the globe to study and teach best educational practices. They have invested in programs to bring teachers and education leaders from other countries to the Vanderbilt campus and have collaborated with education researchers abroad to find solutions to the most impregnable problems facing schools today. Read More