February 19, 2016

Thirteen honored at endowed chair holder celebration

Thirteen Vanderbilt University faculty members named to endowed chairs were honored for their academic achievements during a celebration Feb. 18 at the Student Life Center.

Thirteen faculty members named to endowed chairs were honored for their academic achievements Feb. 18. (Anne Rayner/Vanderbilt)

Thirteen Vanderbilt University faculty members named to endowed chairs were honored for their academic achievements during a celebration on Thursday, Feb. 18, at the Student Life Center.

“This group … really represents a microcosm of what happens at this university every single day,” said Susan Wente, provost and vice chancellor for academic affairs.

“From international law to hedge fund fraud to children suffering from blinding eye disease, their work is having a tremendous impact on our world and on our society,” she said.

Wente and Jeff Balser, vice chancellor for health affairs and dean of the School of Medicine, thanked the donors for their generosity and introduced the chair holders, who are listed below.

  • Nicolas P.B. Bollen, Ph.D., Frank K. Houston Chair in Finance and an internationally recognized financial expert on hedge fund fraud;
  • André L. Churchwell, M.D., Levi Watkins Jr., M.D., Chair and senior associate dean for diversity affairs;
  • Nancy J. Cox, Ph.D., Mary Phillips Edmonds Gray Chair and director of the Vanderbilt Genetic Institute and the Division of Genetic Medicine;
  • Kevin C. Ess, M.D., Ph.D., Gerald M. Fenichel Chair in Neurology and director of the Division of Pediatric Neurology;
  • Karen M. Joos, M.D., Ph.D., Joseph N. and Barbara H. Ellis Family Chair in Ophthalmology, who has advanced treatment of glaucoma in children and adults;
  • Lisa A. Kachnic, M.D., Cornelius Vanderbilt Chair in Radiation Oncology and professor and chair of the Department of Radiation Oncology;
  • Seth J. Karp, M.D., H. William Scott Jr. Chair in Surgery and professor and chair of the Department of Surgery;
  • Edward M. Levine, Ph.D., William A. Black Chair in Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences, who will help lead a new initiative in regenerative medicine for visual neuroscience;
  • John A. McPherson, M.D., Drs. Sol and Marvin Rosenblum Chair in Medicine and director of the Internal Medicine Residency Program;
  • Cecelia Tichi, Ph.D., Gertrude Conaway Vanderbilt Chair in English, professor of English and American Studies and a prolific author;
  • Hilary A. Tindle, M.D., William Anderson Spickard Jr., M.D. Chair in Medicine and founding director of the Vanderbilt Center for Tobacco, Addiction and Lifestyle;
  • Ingrid B. Wuerth, J.D., Helen Strong Curry Chair in International Law and director of the International Legal Studies Program; and
  • Melvin L. Ziegler, MFA, Paul E. Shwab Chair in Fine Arts and professor and chair of the Department of Art.

Several of the chairs were awarded for the first time.

Among those attending were Drs. Fenichel and Spickard, Pati Ellis, members of the Rosenblum family, and Suzanne Sousan and her mother, Jane Black.

Annie Marie Garraway, Ph.D., sister of the late Levi Watkins Jr., M.D., the first African American graduate of the School of Medicine, and her husband, Ira Deep, Ph.D., also attended.

This was the 18th celebration to honor faculty members who have been named to endowed chairs. A total of 178 chair holders have been honored since the initiative to recruit and retain outstanding scholars and teachers was announced in August 2010 by Chancellor Nicholas S. Zeppos.