In Memoriam: Betty Chiles Nixon, 1936-2016

Betty Chiles Nixon, the former assistant vice chancellor in the Office of Community, Neighborhoods, and Government Relations at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee, died late last month. She was 80 years old and had suffered from cancer.

A native of Louisville, Kentucky, Nixon was a graduate of Southern Methodist University in Dallas. She later earned an MBA from the Owen Graduate School of Management at Vanderbilt University.

After teaching in the public schools in Alabama, Nixon came to Nashville in 1971 and four years later was elected to the Metro Council from a district that included the campus of Vanderbilt University. She twice ran unsuccessfully for mayor of Nashville.

In 1990, Nixon joined the staff at Vanderbilt as a special assistant in the Office of University Relations and General Counsel. She was named assistant vice chancellor in 2000 and remained in that position until her retirement in 2007.