Beth Bachmann, assistant professor of English, is the 2010 winner of the Kate Tufts Discovery Award given to honor a poet’s first book. Bachmann’s Temper, published last year by the University of Pittsburgh Press, was called “an unforgettable first book” by poet Lynn Emanuel. “This is a great honor for Beth, and yet another sign [...]

The National Science Foundation has awarded its most prestigious honor for young teacher-scholars, the Faculty Early Career Development Program award, to Kelly Holley-Bockelmann, assistant professor of astronomy, and Antonis Rokas, assistant professor of biological sciences. Known as CAREER awards, the grants fund outstanding young faculty in research and education outreach.

C. Neal Tate, professor and chair of the Depart-ment of Political Science, died unexpectedly September 13, 2009, as he recovered from surgery. Tate was 65. “Neal Tate was a valued friend, an accomplished scholar and a leader of his department, the university and the discipline of political science,” says Carolyn Dever, dean of the . . .

Alexander Heard, who served as Vanderbilt’s fifth chancellor, and guided the university from 1963 to 1982, died July 24 after a long illness. The chancellor emeritus was 92. Under Heard’s leadership, Vanderbilt grew and prospered, as did the College of Arts and Science.

Two College of Arts and Science alumni recently made international headlines when each received prestigious and notable awards. In August, Muhammad Yunus, PhD’71, was awarded the 2009 Presidential Medal of Freedom by President Obama. Elyn Saks, BA’77, is the recipient of a $500,000 MacArthur Fellowship from the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation.

Vanderbilt recently launched VUconnect, a new online community for all alumni and students. VUconnect replaces the previous online service, Dore2Dore, and provides new and enhanced features. Alumni can use VUconnect to provide news, find old friends and classmates, network, share career advice and leads, locate VU chapters and sign up for Vanderbilt events. College of Arts and Science alumni are encouraged to go to www.vuconnect.com

The start of the academic year saw a group of Arts and Science faculty honored with promotions and new titles. Receiving promotions from assistant professor were Laura Carpenter, associate professor of sociology; Nathalie Debrauwere-Miller, associate professor of French; Katherine Friedman, associate professor of biological sciences; Mark Hosford, associate professor of art; Christina Karageorgou-Bastea, associate professor [...]

Poet Rick Hilles, assistant professor of English, received a 2008 Whiting Writers’ Award from the New York-based Mrs. Giles Whiting Foundation. The prestigious awards are presented to “writers of exceptional talent and promise in early career.”

We’re the best—but don’t take our word for it. In the past few months, Vanderbilt has received a variety of honors.

The College of Arts and Science expresses its condolences to the family, friends and colleagues of the Rev. Frederick Schneider, professor of history, emeritus. Schneider, a beloved member of the faculty from 1955 through his retirement in 1986, died in December at the age of 87.