Darryl W. Lunon, II, an accomplished attorney whose practice has focused on a range of issues affecting colleges and universities, serves as the Senior Counsel to the Vice Chancellor and General Counsel at Vanderbilt University. Darryl joined the Office of the General Counsel from the Georgia Institute of Technology, where he was Deputy General Counsel and Chief Ethics and Compliance Officer.
Darryl is a knowledgeable and experienced higher education attorney who is familiar with the pressing legal issues in higher education from his work at Georgia Tech and Penn State. He has deep experience with the challenges to large research-intensive universities and has over a decade of government contract experience as a federal attorney, U.S. Army Judge Advocate, and higher education attorney.
Darryl brings to Vanderbilt broad experience in litigation and transactional matters as well as compliance, regulatory advising, and investigations. At Vanderbilt, he takes on university-wide strategic projects.
Darryl was hired by Georgia Tech in 2020 after being at the Pennsylvania State University as the inaugural Chief Legal Officer and Director of Compliance at the Applied Research Laboratory; ARL is a U.S. Navy sponsored University Affiliated Research Center that executes a $2.2B applied research contract. Darryl graduated from Mercer University School of Law in 2008, where he also earned a certificate in Advanced Legal Writing, Research, and Drafting.
In 1999, Darryl completed a dual-degree program where he earned a Bachelor of Science degree in General Science from Morehouse College and a Bachelor of Science degree in Civil and Environmental Engineering from the Georgia Institute of Technology. During his undergraduate time, he interned for the White House, U.S. Federal Highway Administration, and several state departments of transportation. In 2020, Darryl completed Harvard Business School’s Executive MBA program (alternative).
Darryl is excited to live and work in Nashville during a period of significant change and growth. Two of his interests are enjoying live music events and learning about the residential undergraduate experience at Vanderbilt.