Quantcast
Channel: Trustees & Donors – Belmont University News & Media

Belmont University Celebrates Spring Commencement Ceremonies 2022

0
0
President Dr. Greg Jones Delivers First Commencement Addresses, Awards Honorary Doctorate to Jim Ayers Dr. Greg Jones delivered his first commencement addresses as President of Belmont at each of the University’s three weekend ceremonies on May 6 and 7. The University recognized the graduation of 1,328 students, with 1,011 bachelors,…

Belmont Well-Represented in NashvillePost’s ‘In Charge 2022’ Lists

0
0
In the 13th edition of the Nashville Post’s In Charge lists, many Belmont alumni, faculty and staff are highlighted in their respective areas of influence. The In Charge list includes the region’s business, political and civic leaders who are leading the way in Nashville. See below for highlights of Belmont community members…

Belmont University’s School of Nursing Celebrates 50 Years of Nursing Excellence

0
0
Belmont University’s School of Nursing commemorated its 50th anniversary with a dinner and awards program honoring 50 outstanding alumni on Saturday, May 14 at the Fisher Center for the Performing Arts. “Legacy is said to be a gift from the past that helps create a better future,” said Dr. Cathy…

Belmont University Tops Out New Jack C. Massey Center

0
0

Belmont University hosted a Topping Out ceremony on June 14 that involved putting the last beam in place on a significant campus construction project—the Jack C. Massey Center— estimated to be complete by fall 2023. The building has been named in honor of one of the greatest entrepreneurs and businessmen in American history and is being made possible thanks to a $15 million gift from Mr. Massey’s daughter, Barbara Massey Rogers, and the Jack C. Massey Foundation.

The late Jack C. Massey (1904-1990) and his family have collectively been among one of Belmont’s biggest benefactors, supporting Belmont’s efforts for decades and providing incredible examples for students across campus.

Barbara Massey Rogers signs the final beam
Members of the Belmont community were invited to arrive early to sign their name on the final l-beam that was added to the project during the ceremony. Pictured here: Barbara Massey Rogers.

Beth Poe, Barbara Massey Rogers’ daughter and Massey’s granddaughter, spoke at the ceremony on behalf of her family. “My grandfather loved his family, community, city, nation and Belmont. He would be very excited about the prospect of this great, new building and the future opportunities it will bring to Belmont,” she said. “The word of God states the importance of building a foundation on the Lord, with Jesus Christ as the chief cornerstone. Belmont has laid this sure foundation. The Massey family prays that all who walk through this building continue to be living stones, pointing others to the grace of Jesus.”

The six-story building on 15th Avenue will house a variety of University teams—including the Belmont Data Collaborative, the Transformational Innovation Hub and the Cone Center for Entrepreneurship—all highlighting key aspects of Mr. Massey’s approach to business. The building will also incorporate technology to help share the Jack C. Massey story to inspire students, guests and future leaders across every potential field of study. 

State-of-the-art collaboration workshops will provide spaces for students, faculty and staff to come together with the goal of using their business skills and expertise to solve complex problems. The Center will also be home to a new Welcome Center for the University and house its Admissions Team, becoming the University’s new front door.  

In 1968, Massey challenged the community to build a business school at Belmont “that served Nashville.” Dean of Belmont’s College of Business Dr. Sarah Gardial said the new building is the quintessential piece of his influence on Belmont’s campus.

Massey family
The Massey family.

“This building is going to be the intersection between our campus, our programs, our students and faculty, and the community around us. We will be working on projects for and with community nonprofits, for profits and government organizations, and in fact, those projects are already underway,” said Gardial. “When I look at the building, I see not only the front door to the campus for our students and parents, but for the community to come in and partner with the Belmont community at the business school, and more broadly, to make this a more flourishing community. That’s what’s going to happen in this building, and I think Jack would be so proud of that.”

Gifts from Mr. Massey and his family over the years have helped Belmont establish its undergraduate and graduate business programs and built both the Massey Business Center–which houses the Jack C. Massey College of Business–and the Massey Performing Arts Center. In light of the new facility being built and named in his honor, the previously named Jack C. Massey Business Center, facing Wedgewood Avenue, will be renamed the Barbara Massey Rogers Center.

Tennessee Health Care Hall of Fame Announces 2022 Inductee Class

0
0

Belmont University announced today its 2022 class of Tennessee Health Care Hall of Fame inductees. Honorees will be recognized at a celebration and reception at the Fisher Center for the Performing Arts on Tuesday, October 18.

With a mission to honor those who have made significant and lasting contributions to the health and health care industries, the Hall of Fame was created in 2015 by Belmont University, the McWhorter Society and the Nashville Health Care Council, a founding partner.

The nomination process began in January and was open to practitioners, executives, entrepreneurs, mentors, teachers, scientists, researchers, innovators or any person with a connection to the health or health care field who:

  • Was born, lived or worked in Tennessee
  • Made a significant impact and lasting contribution to health care at the local, state, national or international level
  • Exhibits the highest ethical and professional character
  • Serves as an outstanding role model in their community

Among the accomplished nominees, inductees were chosen by a selection committee made up of health care leaders in various sectors from across the state. Selected inductees represent some of Tennessee’s greatest health and health care pioneers, leaders and innovators.

“It is a great honor to celebrate the significant work of our five inductees this year. As we work to establish Belmont’s Thomas F. Frist Jr. College of Medicine and building on our Colleges of Health Sciences & Nursing and Pharmacy, we are inspired by their meaningful contributions to healthcare,” said Belmont President Dr. Greg Jones. “These physicians and leaders have paved the way for the future of health care, providing inspiration to our students who will one day emulate their efforts. Each honoree has championed health and well-being for all through their work in health care access, research and education to help our Tennessee communities flourish.”

The 2022 Health Care Hall of Fame inductees are:

Reginald Coopwood, M.D.: President and Chief Executive Officer of Regional One Health; Former Chief Executive Officer of Metropolitan Nashville Hospital Authority; Former Chief Medical Officer of Nashville General Hospital at Meharry Medical College

David W. Gregory, M.D.: Professor Emeritus at Vanderbilt University Medical Center; Founder, Medical Director and Chairman of the board at Siloam Health; Oscar E. Edwards National Award for Volunteerism and Community Service recipient; American College of Physicians member, 2006; 40+ year career in internal medicine and infectious disease.

Ned Ray McWherter: 46th Governor of Tennessee (1987-1995); Former Speaker of the Tennessee House of Representatives; Former member of the Board of Governors of the United States Postal Service; Led the Tennessee General Assembly to pass legislation to create a medical school at East Tennessee State University and replace the state’s Medicaid program with TennCare.

Ching-Hon Pui, M.D.: Chair of the Department of Oncology and the Fahad Nassar Al-Rashid Chair of Leukemia at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital; Co-Director of the Hematological Malignancies Program for St. Jude Comprehensive Cancer Center; Director of the St. Jude China Program; American Cancer Society Professor

Randy Wykoff, M.D., M.P.H.&T.M.: Founding Dean of East Tennessee State University’s College of Public Health; Former Senior Vice President for International Operations at Project HOPE; Former Deputy Assistant Secretary for Health for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services; Former Associate Commissioner for Operations for the U.S. Food and Drug Administration; Board-certified pediatrics and preventive medicine physician with certification in tropical medicine

In addition to recognizing Tennessee’s most influential health and health care leaders, the Hall of Fame serves as an ongoing educational resource to document the rich history that has contributed to Tennessee’s position as the nation’s health care capital.

Sponsors of this year’s Induction Ceremony contribute to the long-term viability of the Hall of Fame and the McWhorter Society Scholarship Program, which benefits students pursuing careers in the health sciences. Since the inception of the McWhorter Society and the Tennessee Health Care Hall of Fame, more than $3.6 million has been raised to support McWhorter Society Endowed Scholarships, with more than 176 scholarship recipients since 2014.

A comprehensive list of Hall of Fame inductees since 2015—along with information on sponsorship opportunities for the October 18 induction event—can be found on the Tennessee Health Care Hall of Fame website.

Belmont University Board of Trustees Adds Five New Members

0
0

The Belmont University Board of Trustees added five new individuals for the start of the 2022-23 academic year: Dr. Agenia Clark, Rusty Gaston, Rev. Dr. Gabriel Salguero, Rev. Dr. Clay Stauffer and Kimberly Williams-Paisley.

Board of Trustees Chair Milton Johnson, a Belmont alumnus and retired CEO/Chairman of HCA Healthcare, said, “Each of our new Trustees brings unique perspective and insight to the work of Belmont University, and I’m grateful for their willingness to serve. These new members join a strong group of individuals who are fully committed to supporting Belmont’s vision, mission and Strategic Trajectory.”

“I am honored to have these influential leaders join Belmont’s Board of Trustees,” Belmont President Dr. Greg Jones said. “Each one of them clearly serves as an agent of hope for their communities, and I’m delighted to have them contributing their passion, ideas and energy to our Board.” 

Dr. Agenia Clark, named Nashvillian of the year in 2021, is the president and CEO of the Girl Scouts of Middle Tennessee. Clark is highly recognized in Music City, making the list of Nashville’s 100 Most Powerful People in the Nashville Business Journal for 2018, 2017, 2016 and 2015.

Belmont alumnus Rusty Gaston (‘98) is the CEO of Sony Music Publishing Nashville. Driven by his love of country music, Gaston went from the small town of Van, TX and rose through the country music ranks first as an amusement park performer, to a music production intern, to co-founding the highly successful THiS Music publishing company, all before receiving the call in 2019 to serve in his role at Sony. 

Rev. Dr. Gabriel Salguero is the president and founder of the National Latino Evangelical Coalition (NaLEC) and pastor of The Gathering Place, a Latino-led, multi-ethnic church in Orlando, Fl. Salguero has been named as one of the nation’s most prominent Latino evangelical leaders and has written extensively on Latino evangelicalism, immigration, racism and multicultural congregations. Salguero also spoke on campus last fall during the inauguration celebration for Dr. Jones.

Rev. Dr. Clay Stauffer is senior minister at Woodmont Christian Church in Nashville and a regular columnist for the Faith and Values section of The Tennessean. Stauffer’s primary research interests include the intersection of faith and politics within American culture, moral foundations of liberals and conservatives, polarization and the formation of character.

A well-known actress and New York Times best-selling author, Kimberly Williams-Paisley co-founded with her husband Brad Paisley (a Belmont alumnus) The Store, a free, referral-based grocery store with the aim of empowering low-income individuals and families in the Nashville area. The Paisleys partnered with Belmont on The Store’s campus location, and through a “2-Gen Grant,” the University provides services at the center to eligible families. Williams-Paisley is a long-standing supporter of Belmont, having set up an endowed scholarship for its students in 2012 with her husband. Belmont dedicated a ballroom in the Fisher Center for the Performing Arts as the Brad Paisley and Kimberly Williams-Paisley Ballroom in 2021. 

Tennessee Health Care Hall of Fame 2022 Class Inducted at Belmont’s Fisher Center for the Performing Arts

0
0

The Tennessee Health Care Hall of Fame inducted its 2022 class—made up of five Tennessee health care leaders— on Oct. 18 at a ceremony held in Belmont’s Fisher Center for the Performing Arts.  

The Hall of Fame, which was created by Belmont University, Belmont’s McWhorter Society and the Nashville Health Care Council, seeks to recognize and honor the leaders that have formed Tennessee’s heath and health care community. 

“As an institution of higher learning, with many programs in the health care sector including pharmacy, nursing, public health, social work, physical and occupational therapy, we are keenly aware of the impact and importance of health care and health care education,” said Belmont President Dr. Greg Jones. “In fact, our understanding and respect of this incredible discipline is also reflected in our newly released Strategic Trajectory to 2030—where one of our Pathways is entirely focused on championing integrative health and well-being, which we all understand to be a key component in people’s ability to thrive.”

In addition to recognizing Tennessee’s most influential health and health care leaders, the Hall of Fame serves as an ongoing educational resource to document the rich history that has contributed to Tennessee’s position as the nation’s health care capital. 

Sponsors of this year’s Induction Ceremony contribute to the long-term viability of the Hall of Fame and the McWhorter Society Scholarship Program, which benefits students pursuing careers in the health sciences. Since the inception of the McWhorter Society and the Tennessee Health Care Hall of Fame, more than $3.6 million has been raised to support McWhorter Society Endowed Scholarships, with more than 176 scholarship recipients since 2014. 

Jones added, “This understanding further informs our efforts as we train our nation’s next generation of health care leaders. Though we are dedicated to spending time in the classroom ensuring our students learn the technical skills that will be required of them in their careers, we are dedicated to embedding whole-person development within our curriculum—working to ensure our students also embody the integrity, ingenuity and selflessness of the individuals we recognize through the Hall of Fame.” 

The 2022 Tennessee Health Care Hall of Fame inductees are: 

  • Reginald Coopwood, M.D.: President and Chief Executive Officer of Regional One Health; Former Chief Executive Officer of Metropolitan Nashville Hospital Authority; Former Chief Medical Officer of Nashville General Hospital at Meharry Medical College. 
  • David W. Gregory, M.D.: Professor Emeritus at Vanderbilt University Medical Center; Founder, Medical Director and Chairman of the board at Siloam Health; Oscar E. Edwards National Award for Volunteerism and Community Service recipient; American College of Physicians member, 2006; 40+ year career in internal medicine and infectious disease. 
  • Ned Ray McWherter: 46th Governor of Tennessee (1987-1995); Former Speaker of the Tennessee House of Representatives; Former member of the Board of Governors of the United States Postal Service; Led the Tennessee General Assembly to pass legislation to create a medical school at East Tennessee State University and replace the state’s Medicaid program with TennCare. 
  • Ching-Hon Pui, M.D.: Chair of the Department of Oncology and the Fahad Nassar Al-Rashid Chair of Leukemia at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital; Co-Director of the Hematological Malignancies Program for St. Jude Comprehensive Cancer Center; Director of the St. Jude China Program; American Cancer Society Professor. 
  • Randy Wykoff, M.D., M.P.H.&T.M.: Founding Dean of East Tennessee State University’s College of Public Health; Former Senior Vice President for International Operations at Project HOPE; Former Deputy Assistant Secretary for Health for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services; Former Associate Commissioner for Operations for the U.S. Food and Drug Administration; Board-certified pediatrics and preventive medicine physician with certification in tropical medicine. 

More information and a complete list of the more than 30 individuals inducted since 2015 can be found on the Tennessee Health Care Hall of Fame website.   

Belmont Partners with Bangalore Baptist to Save Lives at Birth in India

0
0

Hope abounds as Belmont University collaborates with global partners at Bangalore Baptist Hospital to save lives at birth in India. Funded by a $40,000 grant from the Laerdal Foundation, the program will engage nursing students enrolled in nursing schools throughout India.

This project aims to provide novel culturally responsive curricula incorporating best practices in labor and delivery, newborn assessment, essential newborn care and life saving measures.

The World Health Organization identified India as having the poorest inequity score for newborn health interventions among all countries in the Southeast Asia Region. While infant mortality has improved in India over the last two decades, it still leads the world in the number of newborn deaths each year. According to the United Nations Inter-Agency Group for Child Mortality Estimation, India also has the highest rate of stillbirths with 32.2 stillbirths per 1000 total births per year, 23 times higher than the country with the lowest stillbirth rate in the world. 

students using a simulation
Students in India using the simulation portion of the project with the “helping babies breathe” curriculum.

Project investigators from Belmont University and Bangalore Baptist Hospital’s Institute of Nursing will design, implement and research innovative teaching and learning strategies in simulation, mobile health, virtual reality simulation and e-learning to combat this health disparity. Belmont and Bangalore Baptist Hospital will also partner with INACSL’s first Regional Interest Group in India to analyze outcomes from the project

This project exemplifies Belmont’s Aspirational Aims to equip people to solve the world’s complex problems through teaching, research and service; and to be radical champions for helping people and communities flourish.


Belmont Community Funds New Bruin Emergency Grant

0
0

Belmont students often face a range of challenges affecting their financial and mental health. All students may now apply for assistance from the Bruin Emergency Grant upon demonstrating financial need due to unforeseen circumstances, such as medical and housing emergencies. 

“The purpose of the Bruin Emergency Grant is to enable students who have already made a significant commitment to their Belmont education to persist through extraordinary financial challenges to graduation,” Carshonda H. Martin, Assistant Provost for Student Success and Flourishing, said. “We acknowledge that some students are facing issues of affordability during this post-pandemic world and microgrants are more important than ever. We are so excited to provide this opportunity for our students to aid in removing some barriers they may face and help them persist and flourish during their time at Belmont University.”

Here are some examples of how donors’ generosity makes a direct difference:

  • Recently, a Bruin Emergency Grant supported one student close to graduation who was struggling with rent, in order for her to focus more on her studies and remove herself from an unhealthy situation she was in. To ease the burden, Belmont provided help towards rent payments and continues to meet with the student regularly to provide emotional and academic support. 
  • The Bruin Emergency Grant provided a grant to a first-generation, independent nursing student for medical shoes. The student had no family support and was supporting herself. She suffered from a medical condition that required her to have a certain type of shoe that cost a few hundred dollars. The Bruin Emergency Grant was able to supply her with the shoes she needed to continue her education.
  • The Bruin Emergency Grant was also able to support one of our first-year, non-traditional students recently. This student had faced housing security problems and was staying two hours away from Nashville. The grant covered part of their rent and gave them the security and stability they needed. 

“I’m so excited about the Bruin Emergency Grant because It gives us an opportunity to support the whole student beyond academic needs,” said Luke LePage, Annual Giving Coordinator. “We get to support the student’s whole-person formation. As a Belmont alum, it makes me so proud to say this is how we continue to take care of our students and go above and beyond. We’re inviting our alumni, parents, friends and entire campus community to support those students in an intentional and tangible way.”

Bruins For Life is March 20-22, and Belmont is immensely grateful for the commitment of alumni, employees, parents, students, businesses, churches and friends who support by:

  • Being a mentor…
  • Being a fan…
  • Being a supporter…

Donors can support any specific need, whether it’s scholarships, student support, missions, academics or athletics. 

To give, visit bruinsforlife.com.

Belmont University Board of Trustees Issues Meeting Summary of April 2023 Meeting

0
0

The Belmont University Board of Trustees held its quarterly Board Meeting on April 21 where updates were shared on a variety of key University initiatives.   

The day began with a session between President Dr. Greg Jones and the full Board, followed by Board Committee Meetings led by each Committee’s Chairperson. After lunch, Dr. Jones provided a University update for all Trustees, their spouses and University leadership who were present and shared a tribute to Steve Horrell. Horrell, an alumnus and long-time Belmont trustee, was a beloved member of the Belmont community who passed away the week prior following a recurrence of cancer. From his days as a Belmont undergraduate student until the very end of his life, Steve demonstrated love for and strong commitment to Belmont. 

Immediately following Dr. Jones’s remarks, Belmont’s Chorale—under the direction of Dr. Jeffery Ames—shared a performance with attendees. 

The meeting’s Business Session was called to order at 1 p.m. by Chair Milton Johnson and began with a Chair’s Report, immediately followed by remarks from Dr. Erin Shankel, Chair of Faculty Senate. In her remarks, Dr. Shankel focused on faculty wellbeing and shared new campus-wide resources that have been put in place to support faculty across all Colleges, opportunities for additional faculty support and innovative collaborations across disciplines. She described a new partnership with Music Therapy and School of Music ensemble Jazzmin that is working to better understand how NICUs can effectively use music to support the growth and development of babies in the unit. 

Approvals of previous meeting minutes, faculty emeriti and the 2023-24 Fiscal Year budget followed. As part of the budget discussion, Trustees heard presentations from Vice President of Finance and Operations Steve Lasley and General Counsel & Executive Vice President Jason Rogers on key financial updates including the approval of three resolutions relating to on-campus housing and bond financing.  

Chair Milton Johnson also recognized Trustees Dan Foutch, Steve Hewlett, Cynthia Leu, Ben Rechter and Jim Wright who are rolling off the Board, as well as Gordon Inman who is stepping down and has been named Trustee Emeritus. Because Mr. Inman is vacating his role as Vice Chair of the Board of Trustees, the group held a vote and unanimously named alumnus Harry Allen as Vice Chair effective June 1, when Mr. Inman steps down. 

Following these votes, Dr. Anderson Spickard, newly named Dean of the Thomas F. Frist, Jr. College of Medicine, shared an update on the College. Dr. Spickard began his tenure at Belmont in the fall of 2021 as Associate Dean for Spiritual Growth and Development and was named Interim Dean in the summer of 2022. His appointment as Dean of the College was announced earlier in April. 

Dr. Spickard shared his excitement for the College’s progress and an update on Accreditation as the leadership team submitted its Data Collection Instrument (DCI) to its accrediting body, LCME, earlier that same day. The submission of Frist’s DCI is the next step in the accreditation process, and the College will welcome LCME members this summer for a site visit. Pending accreditation, the College plans to welcome its inaugural class in Fall 2024.

Spickard went on to share an overview of the College’s approach—one that considers the whole person in care, where curriculum is focused on sculpting a student’s head & heart and a commitment to hope taking shape in both the person and the system. His presentation ended with a description of the College’s newly created Seal which is illustrated around their three biggest commitments: hospitality, the College’s Christ-centered identity and a dedication to the fierce work of medicine. 

The Business Session ended with Dr. Jones’ President’s Report where he discussed what he calls Belmont 4.0—the Belmont of the future that is committed to developing new capabilities to accomplish the God-sized dreams that are part of the University’s Aspirational Aim. Two years into his tenure as President, Jones highlighted the focus of his first two years—setting a common vision, creating shared mission & culture and building systems and habits that support such large goals. In Year 3, Jones and his leadership team will focus on aligning the Aspirational Aim with systems and habits that will lead to successful execution.  

He went on to highlight the year’s incredible accomplishments, organized around the institution’s focus on: forming diverse leaders of character, equipping people to solve complex problems and developing radical champions that will actively pursue flourishing for those around them. Looking ahead, Jones concluded his remarks with a grateful nod to the incredible work happening every day across campus and his continued desire to lead Belmont toward reimagining how a higher education institution can play a significant role in helping people around the world thrive. 





Latest Images