Vanderbilt Magazine

Warren Haviland, JD’69, and Karen Heffron funded a charitable remainder unitrust that will eventually establish the Warren E. Haviland and Karen M. Heffron Summer Stipend. The stipend will provide financial support to students at Vanderbilt Law School who are pursuing public interest careers. Read More

In a spirit of expanding our knowledge, I offer the following observations about how we made decisions as an organization, built trust within our community, and bolstered Vanderbilt’s reputation as an institution willing to confront difficult circumstances with hard work, compassion and commitment. Read More

General Motors' announcement that it would phase out combustion engines—the heart of its cars and trucks for more than 100 years—and move to an all-electric fleet by 2035 could have monumental implications for the global auto industry and broad efforts to combat climate change. The success of the initiative will depend on Vanderbilt alumni who hold key positions in the company. Read More

The first Black woman to receive an athletic scholarship from Vanderbilt, Bender was a member of the nascent women’s basketball program. Today she is the co-chairperson of the Black and Gold Club, Vanderbilt’s alumni association for former student-athletes. Read More

Alumna Alyssa Weinberg, cofounder of new music and contemporary dance collective Duende, creates new forms of expression as a composer inspired by artists in other disciplines. She also has written music for some of the country’s premier chamber ensembles, including Eighth Blackbird, So Percussion and Aizuri Quartet. Read More

Vanderbilt Blair School of Music, which offered online-only streamed concerts for most of the 2020–21 academic year, hosted two outdoor in-person performances on Wilson Lawn in April, including a production of Benjamin Britten's 'Albert Herring' by Vanderbilt Opera Theatre. Read More

Dixon McDonald, BA'11, and teammates Jimmy Carroll, Todd Hooper and Jono Mawson rowed approximately 3,000 miles from the Canary Islands, just off the coast of Africa, to the Caribbean nation of Antigua in a boat only 28 feet long and a little more than 3 feet wide last December for the 2020 Talisker Whisky Atlantic Challenge. Read More

Martin, the first female rookie to complete the American Ninja Warrior course, will be competing in her eighth season of the popular NBC show this summer. Read More

Vanderbilt’s partnership with the recently opened National Museum of African American Music promises the potential of community-building discussions involving music, race, history and storytelling. Read More

A poem by Carlina Duan, MFA'19, the author of 'I Wore My Blackest Hair' (Little A, 2017) and the upcoming 'Alien Miss' (University of Wisconsin Press, 2021). Read More

As alumni, we can help graduating Commodores prepare for the new chapter in their lives by encouraging and supporting them with mentorship and internship and job opportunities. Let’s show the Class of 2021 what it means to be Vanderbilt for Life. Read More

Melvyn Ivan Semmel of Santa Barbara, Calif., a researcher, educator and 2007 Peabody Distinguished Alumnus, who helped shape the nation’s understanding and policies relating to students with disabilities, died Feb. 25. Read More

Patricia Gail “Trish” Champion Frist, BA’61, of Nashville, who had a great impact as a philanthropist and business advocate, died Jan. 5. Read More

Abby and Jon became involved in the Parents Leadership Committee, later serving as co-chairs for the 2011–2012 Vanderbilt Parents Campaign. Jon, now a Vanderbilt trustee who is co-CEO of TPG Capital and the former co-president of Goldman Sachs, joined the Board of Trust in 2012. Read More

Alumnus Christopher Tuff, author of bestseller 'The Millennial Whisperer,' says this generation wants to matter to their employers, and they want their work to matter too. Understanding this dynamic results in business tactics that cost zero dollars and provide big paybacks. Read More

It started as a Yorkshireman’s attempt to bring something of home to Nashville. More than 50 years later, the Vanderbilt University Rugby Football Club has roots of its own. Read More

Thomas Peterffy of Interactive Brokers, whose philanthropic support endowed the Financial Markets Research Center in 2003, recently renamed it the Hans Stoll Financial Markets Research Center in memory of its founder. Stoll, a pioneer in the field and longtime director of the center who passed away in 2020, was emeritus professor of finance and former holder of the Anne Marie and Thomas B. Walker Jr. Chair of Finance at Owen. Read More

After 75 years, an unofficial Vanderbilt institution has vanished. Rotier’s, originally opened in 1945 and famous for its cheeseburger served on french bread (not to mention its cold beer), closed in March after struggling as a result of the pandemic. Read More

A profile of Graduate School alumnus Thomas G. Burton, whose book 'The Serpent and the Spirit' was the basis for the recent HBO documentary 'Alabama Snake.' Read More

As I retire from my position as dean of Vanderbilt’s School of Nursing in July, with plans to return to the faculty, I am eager to use the painful lessons of the past year to help train a new generation of nurses who will reshape the health care profession for the better. Read More