December 2012
Football team to play in Music City Bowl
Vanderbilt has accepted an invitation to face North Carolina State in the Franklin American Mortgage Music City Bowl in Nashville Dec. 31. It marks the first time the Commodores have ever had back-to-back postseason appearances—a feat that has earned Head Football Coach James Franklin a new contract extension. For more information about the bowl game, visit Vanderbilt Bowl Central. Full Story »
Conway-Welch to step down as School of Nursing dean
VUMC Reporter—Colleen Conway-Welch, who has helped transform nursing education in the U.S. for the past 28 years as dean of the School of Nursing, will retire from this role at the end of the academic year. She will continue to serve on the faculty as the Nancy and Hilliard Travis Professor of Nursing. Full story »
Support Children's Hospital with holiday purchases
Show your support of Monroe Carell Jr. Children's Hospital at Vanderbilt by purchasing unique Holiday Project merchandise featuring artwork by patients and their siblings. Proceeds from the sales help the Friends of Monroe Carell Jr. Children's Hospital at Vanderbilt to provide extra touches for patients and their families. Email or call (615) 343-8660 for more information.
Happy holidays from the Alumni Association
We wish you and your family the best and brightest during this holiday season.
Highlights from Reunion 2012
More than 5,000 alumni, friends and family came back to campus to celebrate Reunion 2012. Of those alumni, 97 percent said their Reunion experience was either good or excellent. To see highlights of the weekend, visit the Reunion 2012 Wrap-Up page.
Save on holiday shopping
Looking for a way to save this holiday season? Don't forget about the Vanderbilt Alumni Discount Program. The Vanderbilt Alumni Association has partnered with Abenity to offer local and national discounts from thousands of vendors, including hotels, restaurants, movie theaters, retailers, florists, car dealers, theme parks, and more.
University update tour
What are Vanderbilt's future goals? What are the financial resources to support these initiatives? Richard McCarty, provost and vice chancellor for academic affairs, and Brett Sweet, vice chancellor for finance and chief financial officer, are visiting several chapters in the next few months to answer these questions and more.
Advance your career with Optimal Resumé
The Office of Alumni Relations is committed to providing alumni with meaningful career resources, including the newest offering: Optimal Resumé. This free, on-demand suite of career tools will help you create resumés with impact, write effective communications, build interviewing skills and confidence, and develop a personal portfolio or website to market your skills.
Find Vanderbilt events at a chapter near you
Connect with fellow Vanderbilt alumni and friends at chapter events in your area.
Sports News
David Price wins Cy Young Award
Former Vanderbilt pitcher David Price, '09, capped a successful season with the Tampa Bay Rays by winning the American League Cy Young Award on Nov. 14. The award is given to the league's best pitcher by the Baseball Writers' Association of America. Full story »
Incoming women's basketball class among top in nation
Women's Basketball Head Coach Melanie Balcomb and her staff have put together one of the top classes in the country with the recent signings of Rebekah Dahlman, Marqu'es Webb and Kylee Smith. All three players can be found on ESPN's HoopGurlz Top 100, and each ranks among the top 20 at her respective position. Full story »
Your support, in any amount, counts toward Vanderbilt's overall success and is an ongoing vote of confidence in the university. Please consider making your online gift now.
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From the Campus
Writer Toni Morrison to speak at Senior Day
Nobel and Pulitzer Prize–winner Toni Morrison, whose novels include Beloved and Song of Solomon, will be the 2013 Senior Day speaker and recipient of Vanderbilt's prestigious Nichols–Chancellor's Medal. Her speech on May 9 will be streamed live on the Vanderbilt News website. Full story »
Martha Ingram honored with campus sculpture
Vanderbilt has unveiled a new outdoor sculpture of Martha Ingram to honor her leadership and philanthropic service to the university. Created by noted California artist Bruce Wolfe, the sculpture is located on The Martha Rivers Ingram Commons at Vanderbilt, a living-learning community for first-year students. Full story »
University partnership to offer online courses for credit
Vanderbilt and nine other leading universities announced plans Nov. 15 to begin offering undergraduate students selected online courses for credit. This first-of-its-kind program, Semester Online, will begin delivering courses in fall 2013 through a virtual classroom environment and interactive platform. Full story »
College Halls to be named for distinguished Vanderbilt figures
Vanderbilt has announced plans to name the finished structures and areas within the College Halls of Kissam in honor of several figures significant to the history and culture of the university. Among the honorees are writer Robert Penn Warren, BA'25; civil rights leader Kelly Miller Smith; and philanthropist Elizabeth Boddie Elliston. Full story »
Writer David Maraniss to teach at Vanderbilt
David Maraniss, an associate editor at The Washington Post who has written biographies of two presidents and three sports legends, will be the writer-in-residence for The Martha Rivers Ingram Commons at Vanderbilt and the College of Arts and Science during the spring 2013 semester. Full story »
Vanderbilt in the News
Vanderbilt doctor helped unravel meningitis mystery
ABC News—April Pettit, MPH'10, instructor in medicine and infectious disease specialist, played a critical role in linking the meningitis outbreak to contaminated epidural steroids, which so far have killed 36 people and sickened 541 others in 19 states. Full story » See more in this VUCast.
Vanderbilt No. 13 on Kiplinger's best values ranking
Kiplinger Personal Finance—Vanderbilt has climbed six places to No. 13 on the magazine's 2012–13 Best Value Private Universities ranking. The ranking criteria include cost, competitiveness, graduation rate and student indebtedness. Full story »
Owen climbs into Businessweek's top 25
Bloomberg Businessweek—Vanderbilt Owen Graduate School of Management climbed 12 spots to No. 25 in the magazine's latest ranking of business schools. Owen received A+ grades for teaching quality, career services and leadership skills. Full story »
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» Vanderbilt helps solve meningitis mystery |
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» Relive Vanderbilt's 41–18 victory over Tennessee |
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» Ada's Rules and the fight against obesity |
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Exoskeleton helps paraplegics walk
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Home schooling under the microscope Joseph Murphy, who holds the Frank W. Mayborn Chair in Peabody College, has completed a first-of-its-kind analysis of home schooling, from its inception in the 1970s to today, to better understand this growing social movement and what it means for education. Full story » Why learning guitar is different from learning other instruments Gordon Logan, Centennial Professor of Psychology, has illustrated through a set of experiments that guitarists—and players of other related instruments like mandolin, banjo and bass—tend to acquire their skills differently than most other musicians. Full story » Alligators and crocodiles surprisingly touchy Graduate student Duncan Leitch, BA'06, and Ken Catania, Stevenson Professor of Biological Sciences, have discovered that the skins of alligators and crocodiles contain a concentrated collection of touch sensors that make the animals even more sensitive to pressure and vibration than human fingertips. Full story » |
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A team of engineers at Vanderbilt's Center for Intelligent Mechatronics has developed a powered exoskeleton that enables people with severe spinal cord injuries to stand, walk, sit and climb stairs. Its light weight, compact size and modular design promise to provide users with an unprecedented degree of independence. 
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