On CampusNearly 1,500 members of the Vanderbilt and Nashville communities filled the Student Life Center March 10 to welcome newly appointed Chancellor Nicholas S. Zeppos. Zeppos addressed the crowd at the celebration, which also featured food and live music.
Photo by John Russell


Kudos

Daniel Dubois, assistant director of photography services, and wife Sarah welcomed a daughter, Madeline Grace (right), on March 10.

John Braxton, professor of higher education, has been appointed to a five-year term as editor of the Journal of College Student Development.

Marisa Cannata, a post-doctoral fellow in Leadership, Policy and Organizations, was recognized with the Outstanding Dissertation of the Year award by the American Educational Research Association, Division L (Education Policy and Politics).

James H. Elliott, professor of ophthalmology and visual sciences, emeritus, was recognized with the 20/20 Lifetime of Service Award by the Tennessee Academy of Ophthalmology.

Bobby Johnson, head football coach, was recognized with the Grant Teaff “Breaking the Silence” Award by The Jason Foundation for his continuing efforts toward youth suicide prevention.

Christopher Loss, assistant professor of public policy and education, was recognized with the Outstanding Dissertation of the Year award by the American Educational Research Association, Division J (Post-Secondary Education).

Linda Manning, director of the Margaret Cuninggim Women’s Center, has been appointed by Gov. Phil Bredesen to the Tennessee Economic Council on Women. Manning will represent the Tennessee Independent Colleges and Universities Association on the council through 2012.

Jim Parker, senior Web project strategist, discussed “Internet Tendencies on Fundraising, Marketing and University Relations” at the 2008 Council for Advancement and Support of Education conference held at the Universidad Anáhuac México Norte in Mexico City.

Becca Stevens, Vanderbilt Episcopal chaplain, is a recipient of the 2008 Nashville Human Relations Award.

Carol M. Swain, professor of political science and law, was confirmed by the U.S. Senate for a six-year term on the National Council on the Humanities.


In Memoriam

Howard L. Boorman, professor of history, emeritus, died Feb. 17. He was 87. Boorman was a noted scholar of the modern political and social history of China and United States-China relations, and was the first director of Vanderbilt’s East Asian Studies program.

Rupert E. Palmer Jr., professor of English, emeritus, and former chair of the department, died Feb. 19. He was 81. Palmer was an expert in medieval literature and the history of the English language, and served as associate dean of the Graduate School, associate dean of the College of Arts and Science, and director of the overseas program in Leeds, England, while at Vanderbilt.

Herman L. Trautman, professor of law, emeritus, died Feb. 25. He was 96. A highly respected expert in taxation, Trautman was the last surviving member of a core group of five renowned professors who joined Vanderbilt’s law faculty between 1947 and 1957. After his retirement from Vanderbilt in 1977, he and his son practiced law together for eight years as Trautman and Trautman.


On Campus

Vanderbilt’s 2008 Impact Symposium March 17-19 featured a diversity of speakers discussing the Middle East and its relationship with the West. Pictured (clockwise, from top left) are Ayaan Hirsi Ali, a women’s rights advocate critical of Islam; Iranian-born religious scholar Reza Aslan; former MTV News correspondent Gideon Yago; and retired Army Gen. John Abizaid, who oversaw military operations in the Middle East during Operation Iraqi Freedom.
Photos by John Russell and Steve Green



In the News

Geldof to receive Nichols-Chancellor’s Medal
Musician and social activist Bob Geldof will receive Vanderbilt’s third Nichols-Chancellor’s Medal and a cash prize of more than $100,000 on May 8, when he addresses graduating seniors and their families. Geldof, who raised more than $120 million for famine relief in Africa with the Band Aid, Live Aid and Sport Aid events in the 1980s, is a winner of the Irish Peace Prize and has been nominated three times for the Nobel Peace Prize. He was the founder and lead singer of the rock band The Boomtown Rats and starred in the acclaimed film Pink Floyd The Wall. He has since gone on to a solo recording career and continues his activism by lobbying wealthy countries to cancel debt owed by African nations. The Nichols-Chancellor’s Medal was created and endowed by Vanderbilt Law School graduate Ed Nichols and his wife, Janice, in honor of Edward Carmack and Lucile Hamby Nichols. It is presented by Vanderbilt each Senior Day prior to the annual commencement ceremony.

VUSM vaults into NIH funding top 10
Vanderbilt University School of Medicine is now ranked 10th among U.S. medical schools for National Institutes of Health funding in fiscal year 2007. While many of last year’s top-ranked medical schools experienced flat or even decreasing funding, Vanderbilt’s grant funding grew from $245.6 million to $282.3 million, an increase of $36.7 million – the largest increase among the top 10 schools of medicine. (While the NIH no longer publishes rankings of individual schools or departments, the NIH Web site provides a database that lists all grants and contracts awarded to schools of medicine in the United States.) Overall, Vanderbilt Medical Center research funding from all sources, including private foundations, corporations and federal agencies, has doubled since 2001, now exceeding $400 million per year.

Class explores genetic link to voters’ behavior
A new Vanderbilt course is exploring the effect of genetic make-up on political choices. Distinguished Professor of Political Science John Geer and David Bader, a professor of medicine and cell and developmental biology, are co-teaching “Genetics and Politics” this spring. “A series of papers and books suggests there is a potential connection,” Geer said. “Some research suggests that your partisanship – whether you tend to support the Republican or Democratic Party – is a product of how you were raised. However, your ideological bent toward conservatism or liberalism could have a genetic component.” Topics being covered include how politics influences science, such as funding for stem cell research, and the continuing debate over teaching evolution vs. creationism in schools.

Send your news and notes to notes@vanderbilt.edu.

compiled by Kara Furlong


Posted 04/01/08