Vanderbilt University: A Legacy of Notable Alumni
Vanderbilt University, a private research university in Nashville, Tennessee, boasts a distinguished history and a strong reputation for academic excellence. Its alumni have made significant contributions across a wide range of fields, from politics and literature to sports and entertainment. This article explores some of the most notable graduates who have shaped the world and brought honor to their alma mater.
A Diverse and Accomplished Alumni Network
Vanderbilt's alumni network includes individuals from various domains of life, including leaders, writers, singers, sportspersons and those in miscellaneous fields. These alumni have achieved prominence in their respective fields and have brought recognition to the university. The university comprises ten schools and enrolls nearly 13,800 students from the US and 70 foreign countries. Vanderbilt is classified among "R1: Doctoral Universities - Very high research activity". Vanderbilt alumni, faculty, and staff have included 54 current and former members of the United States Congress, 18 US ambassadors, 13 governors, 9 Nobel Prize winners, 2 vice presidents of the United States, and 2 US Supreme Court justices. Other notable alumni include 3 Pulitzer Prize winners, 27 Rhodes Scholars, 2 Academy Award winners, 1 Grammy Award winner, 6 MacArthur Fellows, 4 foreign heads of state, and 5 Olympic medalists.
Politics and Public Service
Vanderbilt has a long tradition of producing leaders in politics and public service.
Al Gore: Perhaps the most recognizable name, Al Gore, graduated from Vanderbilt and served as the Vice President of the United States from 1993 to 2001 under President Bill Clinton. He was also the Democratic Party’s candidate for the 2000 Presidential elections, but eventually lost to his Republican opponent George Bush. A dedicated environmentalist and climate change activist, Gore jointly won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2007 with the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change for his work.
Greg Abbott: Greg Abbott is an American politician and lawyer.
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James Clark McReynolds: Another alumnus who made his mark in the legal field was James Clark McReynolds, who served as Attorney General.
Lamar Alexander: Sen. Alexander earned his bachelor’s degree in 1962, majored in Latin American Studies. He was a reporter and news editor of The Vanderbilt Hustler student newspaper.
Tipper Gore: Mary Elizabeth Gore, better known as Tipper Gore, was married to former American president Al Gore.
Literature and Journalism
Vanderbilt has also fostered a vibrant literary scene, producing acclaimed authors and journalists.
James Patterson: One of the highest-earning authors in the contemporary world, James Patterson is the writer of many mystery fictions which sold records copie globally. Born to working-class parents of Irish-origin, the American writer whose thriller novels include Alex Cross and Michael Bennett series is also a philanthropist and contributes to promoting reading. He founded the James Patterson PageTurner Awards. He has written more No. 1 New York Times bestsellers than any other author. His work spans several genres including action, mystery, romance, true crime, young adult and historical fiction. In 2019, Patterson created the Patterson Fellowships that will bring eight distinguished visiting scholars to the university each year. These fellows will spend a week in one of Vanderbilt's Residential Colleges, discussing their work and regularly interacting with undergraduate students that live in those communities. Patterson started the ReadKiddoRead.com initiative to encourage children to read, and childhood education is the focus of much of his philanthropic support at Vanderbilt. The Patterson Scholars program supports 19 undergraduate students studying to be teachers.
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Roy Blount, Jr.: Class of 1963Blount, a Grantland Rice Scholarship recipient, came to Vanderbilt from Decatur, Ga., where he was editor of his high school newspaper. He majored in English and began working for The Vanderbilt Hustler student newspaper after becoming friends with Lamar Alexander and other student journalists. Blount became editor before graduating in 1963. He is a prolific writer and humorist who has authored 21 books. He’s a columnist for The Oxford American, contributing editor for The Atlantic Monthly, and panelist for NPR’s Wait, Wait … Don’t Tell Me.
Alex Heard: Class of 1980Heard, a native of Jackson, Miss., enjoyed writing for The Hustler and later Versus. He earned his B.A. in English in 1980. After graduation, he moved to Washington, D.C., where he began working at magazines, and he’s been doing that ever since. Now he is the editorial director of Outside magazine. He also has worked as an editor and writer at Wired, The New York Times Magazine, New Republic and other publications. Heard’s new book, The Eyes of Willie McGee, tells the story of a young African American man from Laurel, Miss., who was executed in 1951 for allegedly raping a white housewife.
Ralph McGill: Vanderbilt student 1917McGill, who was born in 1898 in Igou’s Ferry, Tenn., enrolled at Vanderbilt in 1917. He wrote a column called “Censored” for The Hustler and contributed to Jade, a student humor magazine. McGill also wrote poetry and became friends with some of the famed Fugitive writers. During his senior year, he was suspended for writing a Hustler column in which he criticized the administration for not using the $20,000 that was bequeathed by a former professor for a student lounge. He left the College of Arts and Science, although he later enrolled in Vanderbilt Law School. McGill never completed any degrees at Vanderbilt. He worked at the Nashville Banner newspaper, and in 1929, he joined the Atlanta Constitution, where he worked his way up to syndicated columnist, editor and publisher of the morning newspaper. McGill was a staunch supporter of civil rights and opposed social and educational segregation at a time when few around him spoke out on the issue. In 1959, he was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for editorials condemning hate crimes by the Ku Klux Klan. McGill died from a heart attack in 1969.
Buster Olney: Class of 1988Olney, who grew up on a farm in Vermont, came to Vanderbilt to study history, but said “my major was working at the newspaper and at Versus.” By age 15 he knew that he wanted to be a sportswriter, in particular, one who covered baseball. He does this now as a senior writer and analyst for all ESPN entities, appearing on programs such as “Baseball Tonight” and “Sports Center.” After graduating with a B.A. in history in 1988, Olney became the Nashville Banner beat reporter for the Nashville Sounds. He moved to the San Diego Union-Tribune and Baltimore Sun before joining The New York Times. He has been at ESPN since 2003. Olney is the author of The Last Night of the Yankee Dynasty: The Game, the Team, and the Cost of Greatness and of the forthcoming book How Lucky You Can Be, which is about basketball coach Don Meyer.
Tracy Wilkinson: Class of 1980Wilkinson grew up in Atlanta, Ga., and worked as a reporter and news editor for The Hustler. She earned her B.A. in English literature in 1980. After working for United Press International in Peru and Nicaragua, Wilkinson joined the LA Times in 1987. She has covered wars, crises and daily life in more than 50 countries. She now is based in Mexico City, where she is the Times’ bureau chief and a contributor to its La Plaza blog. Among her awards, Wilkinson received the George Polk Award for coverage of the Balkans and Kosovo and the Overseas Press Club Award twice. She also wrote the lead story in the Times’ Pulitzer-award-winning package on racially motivated riots.
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Tyler Kepner: Class of 1997Tyler Kepner published his own baseball magazine in high school and in his first year of college. He received the prestigious Fred Russell-Grantland Rice Scholarship and became editor-in-chief of the Hustler. Kepner wrote about the Anaheim Angels for the Riverside Press-Enterprise and the Seattle Mariners for the Seattle Post-Intelligencer before heading to The New York Times. Starting in 2000 he covered the Mets and then moved to the Yankees beat in 2002. In 2010, Kepner was named a national baseball writer for The New York Times.
Neil Skene: Class of 1973Neil Skene was editor of the Hustler his senior year. After graduation, he joined the Tampa Times. Then he enrolled at Mercer University’s School of Law, where he graduated magna cum laude in 1977. Skene served as capital bureau chief at the St. Petersburg Times. He became editor of the St. Petersburg Evening Independent in 1984. He then led Congressional Quarterly as president from 1987 to 1997. Skene is vice chairman and legal counsel for software provider MedAffinity Corp. and president of Holly Lake Investments. He has been writing a series on the history of the Florida Supreme Court.
Terry Eastland: Class of 1971Terry Eastland covered sports for the Hustler. He later held editorial positions at the Greensboro Record, San Diego Union and Virginia-Pilot. Attorney General William French Smith. He later became director of public affairs for the Justice Department. Eastland has written several books, and his articles have appeared in The Wall Street Journal, National Review, Commentary and New Republic. He was a correspondent on documentaries for PBS examining how the media covered a particular story, such as Gulf War Syndrome. He became publisher of The Weekly Standard in 2001.
Frye Gaillard: Class of 1968Frye Gaillard worked on the Hustler and the high-profile speaker series Impact Symposium, for which he helped bring Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and Senator Robert F. Kennedy to campus. He worked for the Mobile Register before returning to Nashville to write for the Race Relations Reporter newsletter. He eventually became Southern editor at the Charlotte Observer, where he covered the city’s landmark school desegregation case.
Lee Jenkins: Class of 1999Lee Jenkins grew up in San Diego and was awarded the Russell- Rice Sportswriting Scholarship in 1993. He started his work at the Hustler covering sports. “Tyler Kepner assigned me my first story for the Hustler on Vanderbilt baseball player Josh Paul, who later went pro, before I had finished moving into my dorm,” Jenkins said. Jenkins served as Hustler editor-inchief, which he calls “the best job I ever had.” After graduation, Jenkins, an American Studies major, covered UCLA basketball and football for the Orange County Register and the Colorado Avalanche and Denver Nuggets for The Colorado Springs Gazette. In 2003 he joined The New York Times, where his assignments included being the beat reporter for the New York Mets. Jenkins’ numerous honors include first place in the New York Press Association (Sports Reporting) category and the Football Writers Association of America (Best Game Story). In 2007 he was named senior writer at Sports Illustrated, where he has covered everything from the Super Bowl to the NBA finals, with an emphasis on feature writing.
Willie Geist: Geist grew up in Ridgewood, N.J., and when he joined the Hustler staff, he first worked as a staff sports writer and then an associate sports editor. “I had never covered sports because I’d been playing them my whole life,” Geist said. “Sports writing kept me close to the games in college.” Geist was named a contributing editor of the Hustler his senior year. Meanwhile, his interest in American, and particularly Southern, politics deepened with classes from political scientists like John Greer, Bruce Oppenheimer and John Kuzenski. Geist earned his bachelor’s degree in political science in 1997. He jumped into sports television as an editor and producer for CNN/Sports Illustrated, a 24- hour sports network based in Atlanta. In 2005 Geist joined MSNBC as a senior producer for “The Situation with Tucker Carlson.” His newsroom banter with Carlson became a regular feature of the program where Geist would report and offer his unique spin on the day’s news. Geist’s big break came in 2007 when he was named co-host of “Morning Joe,” which has grown to become arguably television’s most influential political show.
Clay Harris: Class of 1972Harris, who grew up in Tampa, Fla., came to Vanderbilt as a national merit scholar. The university’s lack of a journalism school actually attracted him to campus, as he preferred to focus on the liberal arts. “In a remarkable way we were self-taught. None of us was a journalism major,” said Harris, who was editor-in-chief of the Hustler his senior year. He majored in history and economics. After his junior year, Harris competed with some 1,200 applicants for a Washington Post internship and won a coveted slot with the Los Angeles Times/Washington Post News Service. Harris was hired by the Tampa Times after graduation. In 1973, the Washington Post offered him a position in London, where he would select and edit stories for their syndication clients. During that time, Harris met the man of his dreams and they have been together for more than 38 years. That relationship was a deciding factor in Harris’ decision to settle in London and build his career there. In 1979 Harris became a news editor at the Financial Times, which was launching its first international edition. He stayed at the Financial Times for nearly 30 years in a variety of reporting and editing positions and created Mudlark, a financial diary column, before retiring in 2007. Harris now is a freelance columnist for Securities & Investment Review.
Bridget Kelley: Class of 1988Kelley, of Bethesda, Maryland, is a New Jersey native. She worked for The Hustler all four years at Vanderbilt (1984-88) and served as editor-in-chief. She majored in English and history. She worked as a freelance reporter and producer in London and later in Washington, D.C. Kelley joined NPR in 1994 as an editorial assistant for Morning Edition, and she advanced to the helm of Weekend Edition. presidential elections and more. She is now the senior supervising editor of All Things Considered.
Chuck Offenburger: Class of 1969Offenburger, an Iowa native, launched his journalism career at the age of 13 as sports editor for his hometown newspaper. At Vanderbilt, he majored in political science and reported for The Hustler, covering speakers and programs, including those related to c…
Robert Penn Warren: Robert Penn Warren was an American poet, literary critic, and novelist.
Skip Bayless: Sports columnist and commentator Skip Bayless is best known for his stints on the ESPN2 show First Take and the Fox show Skip and Shannon: Undisputed. He initially wrote for publications such as the Dallas Times Herald and the Chicago Tribune was voted the Texas Sportswriter of the Year thrice.
Music and Entertainment
Vanderbilt's alumni have also found success in the music and entertainment industries.
Dinah Shore: Dinah Shore initially launched a solo career after failing to qualify for Benny Goodman’s band. After delivering hits such as Blues in the Night, she appeared in a few films and ventured into a successful TV career. She also hosted shows such as The Dinah Shore Chevy Show.
Chris Stapleton: Five-time Grammy-winning country artist Chris Stapleton is best known for hits such as Parachute. He has also co-written tracks such as Kenny Chesney's Never Wanted Nothing More. Before going solo, he was part of the bands The SteelDrivers and The Jompson Brothers. His music blends country with bluegrass and soul.
Rosanne Cash: Rosanne Cash is an American singer-songwriter. The daughter of musician Johnny Cash, Rosanne Cash followed in the footsteps of her father. Also a humanitarian, Cash supports many charitable organizations like Children, Incorporated, which supports young adults and children. She has also been a board member of an organization called Center To Prevent Youth Violence, which works towards preventing gun violence.
Dierks Bentley: Dierks Bentley is a country music singer and songwriter who has won many prestigious awards, such as the Country Music Association Awards and Academy of Country Music Awards. Over the years, he has also headlined many tours, including the Riser Tour, Sounds of Summer Tour, and Somewhere on a Beach Tour.
Molly Sims: Molly Sims is a Model, Supermodel, and Actor.
Sports
Vanderbilt's athletic programs have produced a number of successful athletes who have gone on to play professionally.
Mookie Betts: Mookie Betts is a Baseball Player.
Jordan Rodgers: Jordan Rodgers is a sports commentator. He began his career as a professional football quarterback and has played for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Miami Dolphins. He began his broadcasting career in 2016. He participated in and won season 12 of the reality TV show The Bachelorette. His brother Aaron Rodgers is a popular football quarterback.
Scotty Pippen Jr.: Scotty Pippen Jr. is a Basketball player.
Jay Cutler: Jay Cutler is an American football player.
David Price: David Price is a Baseball player.
Andrew East: Andrew East is an American Football Player.
Darius Garland: Darius Garland is a Basketball player.
Jeffery Taylor: Jeffery Taylor is a Basketball player.
Kyle Shurmur: Kyle Shurmur is an American football player.
Joey Cora: Joey Cora is a Baseball player and Coach.
Will Perdue: Will Perdue is a Basketball player.
Ryan Flaherty: Ryan Flaherty is a Baseball player.
Stephen Weatherly: Stephen Weatherly is an American football player.
Adam Butler: Adam Butler is an American Football Player.
Mack Brown: Mack Brown is an American college football coach who is currently serving as the head coach for the North Carolina Tar Heels which represents the University of North Carolina. A former head coach for the Texas Longhorns football program, Brown is credited with reinvigorating the Texas and North Carolina football programs. He won the Paul "Bear" Bryant Award in 2006.
John Amaechi: John Amaechi is a Basketball player and Athlete.
Business and Entrepreneurship
Vanderbilt alumni have also achieved success in the world of business and entrepreneurship.
- John D. Arnold: John D. Arnold is a Trader, Businessperson, and Entrepreneur.
Other fields
- Thomas H. Schulman: Thomas H. Schulman is a Screenwriter best known for his semi-autobiographical screenplay Dead Poets Society based on his time at the illustrious Montgomery Bell Academy (MBA).
Vanderbilt Student Media Hall of Fame
The Student Media at Vanderbilt Hall of Fame was established in 2009 to honor Vanderbilt University alumni who have achieved outstanding personal or professional accomplishments and/or made distinguished and lasting contributions to their field and/or to society in general.
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