Chancellor Daniel Diermeier talks Vanderbilt's next phase

Why it matters: Diermeier's perspective signals the next wave of priorities for one of the city's most powerful institutions.

• He says the business school, economics department and computer science field are among the areas that could benefit from a push.

What he's saying: "We've made progress, but we're not all the way there."

• "I don't have a sense of, 'Oh my God, this is broken.' I have a sense of, like, proud but not satisfied. This is great. Now, what's next?" Diermeier says.

Driving the news: Vanderbilt celebrated Diermeier last weekend with a formal investiture ceremony commemorating his arrival.

State of play: Diermeier says Vanderbilt will emerge from the pandemic prepared to double down on high-profile research.

• At the height of the pandemic, he launched a $100 million initiative to attract new faculty. That helped fund an expansion of the computer science department last fall.
• "This was actually an opportunity to bring talent because nobody else was hiring," he says.

Flash forward: Diermeier wants to deepen partnerships in the city and state.

• He says the university could be a part of the region's economic development.

For example, he says, Vanderbilt's excellence in biomedical sciences should be a flare to companies looking for new locations.

• "We have enormous talent in the biomedical space at Vanderbilt alone, but we don't have a thriving biomedical ecosystem," he says.
• "We want to make investments on that."