This year at Vanderbilt marks only the second time in school history when an interim chancellor has been head of the school. The only other time occurred in 1946 when Madison Sarratt held the temporary position in between the terms of Oliver Carmichael and Harvie Branscomb.

“In the past, no chancellor has left as quickly as Gee, so there's always been an overlap,” said associate university archivist Kathy Smith.

The short interim chancellor history at Vanderbilt separates it from other universities where changes in the chancellor position occur more often.

And in its 134 years of existence, Vanderbilt has only had seven chancellors total.

According to public affairs official Mike Schoenfeld, “Interim Chancellor Zeppos’ unprecedented appointment makes it so we are writing Vanderbilt chancellor history as we go along.”

“It is unique that we’ve only had two interim chancellors. This demonstrates the stability of leadership here at Vanderbilt that has contributed to its success,” said Schoenfeld.

Sarratt’s term only lasted four months because Branscomb had already been appointed chancellor but just needed a few months to finish up his term as Dean of Divinity at Duke University before moving to Nashville.

Sarratt was seen as a logical choice for interim chancellor by the Board of Trust because he was already serving as vice-Chancellor and was a well-respected and knowledgeable leader on campus.

“They called him chancellor pro tempore. It's like if the President and Vice President were to die, then the Speaker of the House would become to present pro tem,” said Smith. “He was basically just holding the fort down.”