About the Chancellor Search

Vanderbilt University completed a national search for its eighth chancellor March 1, 2008, with the unanimous election of Nicholas S. Zeppos as chancellor.
Visit Chancellor Zeppos' Web site.

Founded in 1873, Vanderbilt University is a private research university of 6,300 undergraduates and 5,300 graduate and professional students. The university comprises 10 schools, a comprehensive medical center with several hospitals, and numerous institutes, centers and programs. Vanderbilt offers undergraduate education in the liberal arts and sciences, engineering, music, education and human development as well as advanced degrees in business, law, medicine, divinity, education, engineering and the arts and sciences. The university is consistently ranked as one of the nation's top 20 universities by publications such as U.S. News & World Report, with a number of programs and disciplines ranking in the top 10.

With nearly 22,000 faculty and staff, Vanderbilt is the largest private employer in Middle Tennessee and the second largest in the state. The university's operating budget is approximately $3 billion, approximately 60 percent of which is derived from health care services. For FY-2007, Vanderbilt's externally funded research awards and contracts topped $500 million. The university's Shape the Future campaign has raised more than $1.35 billion toward a goal of $1.75 billion by 2010.

The search was conducted by a nine-member committee of the Board of Trust, which is responsible for electing the university's chancellor. The committee was chaired by Nashville executive and Board of Trust Vice Chairman Dennis C. Bottorff. Randolph Blake, Centennial Professor of Psychology, was the committee's chief of staff.
View the list of Search Committee members and their bios.

During the first phase of this process, the search committee obtained extensive input from the Vanderbilt community, through survey responses and discussions in more than 20 listening sessions conducted during the month of October.

An Advisory Committee of faculty, staff and students assisted the Search Committee during the initial process phase. Their charge was to help the Board of Trust develop and evaluate the criteria to be used in seeking candidates, to solicit comments and suggestions from the Vanderbilt community through public meetings and online surveys, and to assist the Board of Trust in presenting a full and complete portrait of Vanderbilt. The Advisory Committee included representatives of the Faculty Senate, University and Medical Center Staff Advisory Councils, the Vanderbilt Student Government, and the Graduate and Professional Student Council, and was chaired by Vanderbilt Divinity School Dean James Hudnut-Beumler.
View the list of Advisory Committee members.

While the search was underway, Vanderbilt University was led by Zeppos, who served as interim chancellor. Zeppos also serves as provost and vice chancellor for academic affairs and professor of law.