“When it’s you, it’s a whole different feeling,” Orrin Ingram said, gazing at logs burning in the fireplace.

His hands have flickered across saxophones, guided airplanes and held stethoscopes. With a nimble skill set and a steady demeanor, R. Glenn Greene, MD, excelled in careers that others just dream of pursuing. He was a union musician before graduating college, a physician who helped pioneer echocardiography and a commercial pilot.

Mary Michal, MD,’60, may have entered Vanderbilt University School of Medicine by mistake, but she’s remained devoted to its mission by design.

Amanda Mathis, chief financial officer of Bridgestone Americas, was just 35 when she first felt a lump in her right breast.

The Friends of Children’s Hospital, an organization of volunteers who support Monroe Carell Jr. Children’s Hospital at Vanderbilt, has made its largest single gift — $1 million over three years — to be split between two Children’s Hospital programs: the Program for Children with Medically Complex Needs and Pediatric Cancer.

When Carol Ann Gavin was transferred to Vanderbilt University Medical Center (VUMC) in 2010 after being gravely ill for weeks, one of the first people she met was critical care surgeon Richard Miller, M.D. She immediately trusted Miller’s assurance that he would get her well. He delivered on his promise.

When Kathryn Carell Brown volunteered to lead the Growing to New Heights Campaign less than three years ago, she was following in the footsteps of her late parents Monroe Carell Jr. and his wife, Ann Scott Carell.