Vanderbilt Alumni

Motivated by a desire to create opportunities for future students, Marcia Fordyce-Steinfurth, BA’94, and her husband, P.R. Steinfurth, give to Vanderbilt to reflect their continued belief in Vanderbilt’s vision for a planned graduate campus in West Palm Beach: https://giving.vanderbilt.edu/impact-stories/from-nashville-to-south-florida-turning-opportunity-into-impact/

Spotlight: Meet Officer Jack and Officer Max! 🐕 Vanderbilt’s K-9 officers are beloved members of the Commodore community.

Unlike K-9 officers in many law enforcement agencies, Jack and Max interact with people while on duty and provide emotional support during stressful times, such as finals week.

Frequently spotted around campus—sometimes dressed in costumes from their ever-growing closet—the pair bring smiles wherever they go. 🐾

Last summer, for the first time in 16 years, Vanderbilt replaced summer reading with something more courageous: asking students to go out, talk and listen to someone who could broaden their understanding of the world.

New Commodores, many of whom had never conducted an interview before, talked to a wide range of subjects, from CEOs to custodial workers to emergency responders and Olympians.

“Ultimately, we want our students to graduate with skills that we’re not seeing reflected elsewhere," said Francesca Schuler, executive director of Dialogue Vanderbilt. “We want them to be leaders who can drive impact in the future by working with a broad range of people who may have different perspectives.”

Read more in the latest edition of : vu.edu/xv2p4

It's official: She’s the best AD in the land. ⚓️⬇️ Triple Dore Candice Storey Lee has been honored as Sports Business Journal Athletic Director of the Year.

Learn more: http://vu.edu/5ifo0

Your Athletic Director of the Year 🏆⚓️

From a home office overlooking Chelsea’s historic General Theological Seminary, Vanderbilt alumna Emily Baker Tobin (BA’87, MBA’92) saw more than Gothic spires—she saw possibility.

Drawing on her Vanderbilt education, investment expertise and deep community engagement, Emily helped spark the vision for Vanderbilt-New York City, an ambitious new campus that will welcome its first cohort of students in 2026.

“This campus began as a passion project for me,” she says. “Now, it’s a dream come true.”

Learn more: https://giving.vanderbilt.edu/impact-stories/how-emily-baker-tobin-ba87-mba92-helped-bring-vanderbilt-to-new-york-city/

Bestselling author James Patterson, MA’70, has made a landmark $10 million commitment to launch the Patterson Institute for Early Adolescent Literacy at Vanderbilt Peabody College of education and human development.

Read more: https://giving.vanderbilt.edu/impact-stories/acclaimed-novelist-james-patterson-funds-launch-of-institute-for-early-adolescent-literacy-at-vanderbilt/