Lifelong leaders: Recognizing opportunities for growth and transformation, they helped build our future.

Vanderbilt celebrates the lives and mourns the loss last spring of three Vanderbilt alumni who led with passion and generosity during times of transition and change.

JAMES STEPHEN "STEVE" TURNER, BA'69

James Stephen "Steve" Turner, BA'69, real estate visionary, community leader and Vanderbilt trustee emeritus, died Feb. 11. As music patrons, he and his wife, Judy Turner, '71, transformed their love of music into a legacy at Blair through their philanthropy. The Turners made a gift in 1998 to support expansion of the Blair School of Music building, and the original recital hall was renamed in their honor. In 2006 they funded commissions by major contemporary composers for each of the three Blair signature ensembles-the Blair String Quartet, the Blair Woodwind Quintet and the Blakemore Trio-and for featured faculty solo performers. Turner endowed multiple faculty chairs at Vanderbilt and, in addition to Blair School of Music, supported Opportunity Vanderbilt, Vanderbilt Athletics and the Monroe Carell Jr. Children's Hospital at Vanderbilt, where he served as board chair.

SYLVIA SANDERS KELLEY, BA'54

Sylvia Sanders Kelley, BA'54, an early leader in advancing women's rights and the right of women to be Christian ministers, died on March 8. Throughout her life she pursued her passion for theological education and the principles of equality for all people. After graduating from Vanderbilt, she earned her M.A. at the University of Texas at Austin as a Woodrow Wilson Fellow and studied at Yale Divinity School as a Rockefeller Fellow. She and her husband, Blaine Kelley, were devoted supporters of Vanderbilt Divinity School, where they served as advisory board members and sponsored scholarships for students. In 1973 she became the founding benefactor for the Divinity School's Antoinette Brown Lecture series-named in honor of the first woman ordained as a Christian minister in the United States-which celebrated its 50th anniversary in 2024.

H. RODES HART, BA'54

H. Rodes Hart, BA'54, who contributed to Vanderbilt's growth through philanthropy and more than 30 years of leadership on the university's Board of Trust, died March 30. The reputation of Peabody College as one of the nation's premier colleges for preparing teachers and leaders is, in many ways, due to the generosity and partnership of Hart and his wife, Patricia Hart, BA'57. In 1979 he was integral to Vanderbilt's successful merger with the former George Peabody College for Teachers, where he was a member of the board of trust. He served on the Vanderbilt board until 2011. The Harts created two scholarships at Peabody College and endowed 12 faculty chairs. They also provided significant support to the Susan Gray School Teacher Training Fund, Vanderbilt University Medical Center and the Roberts Academy and Dyslexia Center Fund.

-Staff Reports