Nicholas S. Zeppos (born 1955) is an American lawyer and university administrator. He most recently served as the eighth

chancellor Chancellor () is a title of various official positions in the governments of many countries. The original chancellors were the of Roman courts of justice—ushers, who sat at the (lattice work screens) of a basilica (court hall), which separa ...

Vanderbilt University Vanderbilt University (informally Vandy or VU) is a private university, private research university in Nashville, Tennessee, United States. Founded in 1873, it was named in honor of shipping and railroad magnate Cornelius Vanderbilt, who provide ...

Nashville Nashville, often known as Music City, is the capital and List of municipalities in Tennessee, most populous city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the county seat, seat of Davidson County, Tennessee, Davidson County in Middle Tennessee, locat ...

Tennessee Tennessee (, ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders Kentucky to the north, Virginia to the northeast, North Carolina t ...

from 2007 to 2019.

Early life

Nicholas Zeppos was born in

Milwaukee Milwaukee is the List of cities in Wisconsin, most populous city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. Located on the western shore of Lake Michigan, it is the List of United States cities by population, 31st-most populous city in the United States ...

Wisconsin Wisconsin ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest of the United States. It borders Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake Michigan to the east, Michig ...

in 1955. He received his B.A. in

history History is the systematic study of the past, focusing primarily on the Human history, human past. As an academic discipline, it analyses and interprets evidence to construct narratives about what happened and explain why it happened. Some t ...

in 1976 and his J.D. in 1979 from the

University of Wisconsin–Madison The University of Wisconsin–Madison (University of Wisconsin, Wisconsin, UW, UW–Madison, or simply Madison) is a public land-grant research university in Madison, Wisconsin, United States. It was founded in 1848 when Wisconsin achieved st ...

. In 1978 and 1979, he served as the editor-in-chief of the '' Wisconsin Law Review''.

Career

Zeppos started his career as a practicing attorney in

Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...

He joined the faculty of the Vanderbilt Law School in 1987. During his tenure at Vanderbilt, he has held a number of posts, including professor of law, associate dean of the law school, associate provost for academic affairs, vice chancellor for institutional planning and advancement, and, in 2001, provost and vice chancellor for academic affairs. In this last role, he oversaw academics,

development Development or developing may refer to: Arts *Development (music), the process by which thematic material is reshaped * Photographic development *Filmmaking, development phase, including finance and budgeting * Development hell, when a proje ...

alumni Alumni (: alumnus () or alumna ()) are former students or graduates of a school, college, or university. The feminine plural alumnae is sometimes used for groups of women, and alums (: alum) or alumns (: alumn) as gender-neutral alternatives. Th ...

relations, and residential and student life. After Gordon Gee's departure in 2007, he was named interim chancellor. He was named permanently as chancellor on March 1, 2008, by the university's Board of Trust. In 2009, he helped lead an expanded financial aid program called Opportunity Vanderbilt that replaced undergraduate need-based loans with grant and scholarship assistance. He has also written widely on legislation,

administrative law Administrative law is a division of law governing the activities of government agency, executive branch agencies of government. Administrative law includes executive branch rulemaking (executive branch rules are generally referred to as "regul ...

, and

professional responsibility Professional responsibility is a set of duties within the concept of professional ethics for those who exercise a unique set of knowledge and skill as professionals. Professional responsibility applies to those professionals making judgments, a ...

. He has served as the chair of the Scholars Committee on the Federal Judiciary and as chair of the Rules Advisory Committee of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit. Zeppos was appointed to the National Security Higher Education Advisory Board, a program of the

Federal Bureau of Investigation The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic Intelligence agency, intelligence and Security agency, security service of the United States and Federal law enforcement in the United States, its principal federal law enforcement ag ...

in 2005. He serves as the Chair of the

Association of American Universities The Association of American Universities (AAU) is an organization of predominantly American research universities devoted to maintaining a strong system of academic research and education. Founded in 1900, it consists of 69 public and private ...

and on the Board of Directors of Fulbright Canada.

Personal life

Zeppos is married to Lydia Howarth, a writer, and has two sons. His salary as chancellor was over $2.2 million.Nicholas Zeppos, Vanderbilt University.
Forbes, downloaded February 9, 2018. According to

OpenSecrets OpenSecrets is a nonprofit organization based in Washington, D.C., that tracks and publishes data on campaign finance and lobbying, including a revolving door database which documents the individuals who have worked in both the public sector an ...

, Zeppos has contributed nearly $70,000 to Democrats, including

Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II (born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who was the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, he was the first African American president in American history. O ...

and

Elizabeth Warren Elizabeth Ann Warren (née Herring; born June 22, 1949) is an American politician and former law professor who is the Seniority in the United States Senate, senior United States senator from the state of Massachusetts, serving since 2013. A mem ...

, but has contributed also to Republicans including Bob Corker,

Rick Perry James Richard Perry (born March 4, 1950) is an American politician who served as the 14th United States secretary of energy from 2017 to 2019 in the first administration of Donald Trump. He previously served as the 47th governor of Texas fr ...

, and Lamar Alexander.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Zeppos, Nicholas 1954 births Living people American people of Greek descent Lawyers from Milwaukee Educators from Nashville, Tennessee University of Wisconsin Law School alumni University of Wisconsin–Madison College of Letters and Science alumni Lawyers from Washington, D.C. Vanderbilt University faculty Chancellors of Vanderbilt University