John H. “Jack” Venable Jr., professor of biological sciences, emeritus, and dean of the College of Arts and Science, emeritus, of Nashville died July 16, 2012. During his time at Vanderbilt, he also served as associate provost for faculty affairs.
Venable joined the Vanderbilt faculty in 1967 as an assistant professor of biological sciences and earned tenure in 1972. He was honored with the Ellen Gregg Ingalls Award for Excellence in Classroom Teaching in 1980. The following year he was appointed associate dean of the College of Arts and Science.
He was awarded emeritus status in 2002. He was a member of Phi Beta Kappa, Omicron Delta Phi, Sigma Xi, the Biophysical Society, and the American Association for the Advancement of Science.
Venable is survived by his wife, Alys Venable, BA’62; a daughter; two grandchildren; a niece, Laura Lamps, MD’92; and a nephew, Allen Webb, BS’91.