Development veteran, alumna steps down from alumni relations post

by Lew Harris

Alumna Carolyn Schmidt, who spent the past 14 years handling a host of services and programs for the University's 108,000 alumni, will retire as executive director of alumni relations, effective June 30, in order to parent her 7-year-old grandson and help care for other family members.

"Carolyn's value lies, in part, in her ability to meet so well the needs of the University and its alumni," said Chancellor Gordon Gee. "In leading Vanderbilt's crusade to better involve and more closely connect with alumni, she has paved the way to success with her implementation of innovative ideas, her tireless efforts to meet the needs of graduates of all ages, and, at core, because of her unfaltering dedication to all things Vanderbilt."

Schmidt, working with the Alumni Association Board, created the Distinguished Alumnus Award. The first recipient was Muhammad Yunus, founder of the Grameen Bank that has helped thousands of the world's poorest people improve their lives through micro lending. Others recipients have included Dr. Norman Shumway, a pioneering heart transplant surgeon; Oscar-winning director Delbert Mann; corporate and civic leader Cal Turner Jr.; and Dr. Antonio Gotto, dean of Cornell Medical School and groundbreaking researcher in cardiovascular disease.

In order to foster better alumni leadership, Schmidt expanded the Alumni Board to include representatives of all the University's schools and liaisons from the 10 largest alumni clubs. She also helped develop new leaders of the Association of Vanderbilt Black Alumni and the Young Alumni programs, and recently helped launch the new Vanderbilt Parents Association [See April 8, 2002, Register].

"Carolyn has exemplified extraordinary caring for Vanderbilt and its people," said Wayne S. Hyatt, a past president of the Alumni Association. "She possesses a rare quality of committed determination to serve and to foster a desire and capacity on behalf of graduates to do the same. Her leadership, devotion and special friendship will be sorely missed."

Schmidt instituted new ways to communicate with alumni, including new electronic services such as dot.commodore and Dore-2-Dore. She published Vanderbilt's first Alumni Guide. She created the Ring Ceremony, which brings alumni board members together with Vanderbilt students receiving their class rings, marking them as members of the Vanderbilt family.

"I am personally devoted to Carolyn for the help she gave to me when I became vice chancellor," said Nicholas Zeppos, provost and vice chancellor for academic affairs. "My task of learning about how to succeed at alumni relations, and advancement as a whole, was made much easier because Carolyn was with me every step of the way. She wasn't afraid to push me or to disagree with me. As a lawyer and teacher, I love a good sparring partner who will challenge me. She's been a good one. That's the result, no doubt, of her Vanderbilt education and her commitment to this institution. She captures the essence of this University and its mission to transform lives."