Educators know that when many people are on board to help teach students, success is the most likely result.

The abbreviated lives of Emily, BS’03, MEd’05, and Lauren Failla, BS’07, bear witness on an all-too-personal basis that out of tragedy comes triumph. The sisters, alumnae of Peabody’s human and organizational development program, died in tragic accidents, four years and half a world apart from each other.

When Roberta and Don Miller were pursuing their doctorates at Peabody in the early 1990s, they undertook a special project that examined funding in higher education. That’s when they made a $1 million dollar commitment to the school.

Elizabeth Shapiro Silverman’s family ties to Vanderbilt run deep. Her father, Dr. John Shapiro, BA’38, MD’41, grew up near campus on Acklen Avenue, attended Vanderbilt as an undergraduate and medical school student, and later became a renowned pathologist at Vanderbilt University Medical Center.

David Semmel and his wife, Jocelyn Bowie, wanted to find a way to honor David’s father, Mel, EdD’63, on his 80th birthday. They decided that a gift to Peabody supporting graduate research would be perfect. When they presented their idea to Mel—who is retired and living in Santa Barbara, Calif., with his wife, Dorothy—he was [...]

Brothers John, BS’88, and Steven Madden, BS’91, credit their successful careers to the training they received in human and organizational development at Peabody. That’s why they, along with their father, John P. Madden, established the Madden Family Scholarship. The scholarship will benefit an undergraduate student majoring in human and organizational development (HOD) at Peabody. “One [...]

Mention teaching to senior Stacy Paola Flores and her voice rises with excitement. “I’m really passionate about education,” the Houston native says. “I just love teaching. I want to teach high school English, but I wouldn’t mind teaching English to middle school students simply because I taught sixth-grade students last summer and really enjoyed it.” [...]

Warren Gorrell has always known that a great education is the first step toward success. Warren and his wife, Cathy, have made that first step a little easier for deserving Peabody students by endowing two scholarships.

With one goal reached, we’ve set a new one. Peabody’s Shape the Future goal is now $75 million—with a priority focus on scholarship support.

Scholarships for students with financial need are a family affair for Charles Kurz II, and one with a long history for this fourth-generation Philadelphian.

The 2008 Roundtable donor society dinner took place October 2 on the Commons Center lawn and not only honored educators, but treated the attendees to presentations of current student research being done at Peabody on both the undergraduate and graduate levels.