fall 2004 backup 0815 205pm - Austin Peay State University

fall 2005 9/19/05 11:01 AM Page 1
The Magazine for Alumni and Friends of Austin Peay State University Fall 2005
The Landrums:
Good things do happen
to good people

fall 2005 9/19/05 11:01 AM Page 2
Table of Contents
Features
Page 2
Sharing Danny’s Dream
To offer hope. To search for cures. To care for children without concern
for cost. That is St. Jude—the world’s premier center for the study of
pediatric cancer. The work going on in this unique hospital truly seems
blessed by saints and angels. To be part of it is exhilarating, frustrating,
challenging, gratifying. And to Dr. Bill Evans, new director and CEO, the
rare opportunity to orchestrate the work of the world’s most brilliant and
dedicated scientists, including his wife Dr. Mary Relling, is tantamount
to handing a Stradivarius to a virtuoso violinist who understands its
potential for making remarkable music and his own duty to draw from it
the most beautiful notes possible for the short time it’s in his hands.
Page 12
Down on the Farm
Born and raised on a Western Kentucky farm, Dr. James Jackson
remains a country boy at heart. An award-winning faculty member at the
University of Kentucky, he and his family live on a farm in nearby Mercer
County. But Jackson never forgot his first alma mater. As a member of a
“colony” of Alpha Gamma Rho (AGR) at APSU, Jackson never had been
inducted into the fraternity, but he cared enough to fix that. In Spring
2005, he received a warm welcome from the brothers of AGR when he
returned to APSU to be initiated along with the class of new—and very
young—members.
Page 18
Yin and Yang
The Landrums’ strong, enduring relationship proves opposites not only
attract, they can provide a healthy balance. Ken Landrum—forging full
steam ahead into the world of big-time insurance business, with its
ulcer-producing pace, mergers and hostile takeovers —reached the pinnacle
through gritty determination, great business acumen and, some
might say, sheer stubbornness. Because of his phenomenal success, he
was able to bow out early—as executive vice president of a major international
conglomerate. Amy, while enjoying her own teaching career,
remained her husband’s steady anchor, key adviser and best friend. Now
retired, the two have no intention of going quietly into that good night.
It’s full throttle into the future —together.
Departments
Making APSU Headlines .............6
Alumni News ..............................22
Sports...........................................24
Class Notes .................................26
Special Sections
Outstanding Alumni ...................10
Homecoming Calendar................16
Feedback.......................................30
Honor Roll of Donors ............insert
Readership Survey.................insert
Photo: St. Jude
Photo: Bill Persinger
Photo: Bill Persinger
The Magazine for Alumni and Friends of Austin Peay State University Fall 2005
The Landrums:
Good things do happen
to good people
Photo: Bill Persinger
Reader’s Guide
Austin Peay is published bi-annually—fall and
spring—by the Office of Public Relations and
Marketing. Press run for this issue is 30,000.
Dennie B. Burke Editor
Bill Persinger (’91) Art Direction, Design &
Photo Editor
Michele Tyndall (’05) Content Coordinator
Shelia Boone (’71) Alumni News and Events
Sharon Silva (’98) Donor List
Brad Kirtley Sports Information
Steve Wilson (’97) Online Version
How to change your address
or receive the magazine
Fill out and mail the form on page 26 or
contact Alumni and Annual Giving in one of
the following ways:
Post us: Alumni and Annual Giving
P.O. Box 4676
Clarksville, TN 37044
Zap us: alumni@apsu.edu
Phone us: 931-221-7979
Fax us: 931-221-6292
How to contact or submit
letters to the editor
Fill out and mail the form on page 26 or
contact the Public Relations and Marketing
Office in one of the following ways:
Post us: Public Relations/Marketing
P.O. Box 4567
Clarksville, TN 37044
Zap us: burked@apsu.edu
Phone us: 931-221-7459
Fax us: 931-221-6123
Let us hear from you!
Your opinions and suggestions are encouraged
and appreciated.
Austin Peay State University is one of 46 institutions in the
Tennessee Board of Regents system, the sixth largest system
of higher education in the nation. The Tennessee
Board of Regents is the governing board for this system,
which is composed of six universities, 13 two-year colleges
and 26 Tennessee technology centers. The TBR system
On the Cover:
enrolls more than 80 percent of all Tennessee students
attending public institutions of higher education.
Austin Peay State University is an equal opportunity
employer committed to the education of a non-racially
identifiable student body.
AP-118/09-05/29M/McQuiddy Printing/Nashville, TN
Austin Peay/Fall 2005

fall 2005 9/19/05 11:02 AM Page 3
Photo: Bill Persinger
From the Director
It is with great pleasure that I bring greetings from
your alma mater via another issue of “Austin Peay” magazine.
I hope you’ll find the following pages informative
and entertaining as you read of what’s happening among
fellow alumni and on campus.
Yes, we’re busily preparing for Homecoming 2005, and
hope you already have marked Nov. 5 on your calendar
and are making plans to join us this year for “The
Greatest Show on Earth.” Be sure to take a look at page
16 to learn about the many exciting activities that have
been planned.
I do want to encourage you to attend Homecoming.
Many volunteers have devoted numerous hours assisting
APSU personnel in planning events for everyone to enjoy.
Homecoming is a special time for us to return to our
alma mater and reunite with old friends and former
classmates, catch up on the latest news and see what’s
happening on campus. The best way to thank these volunteers
for their hard work is by attending these events.
Contact friends and former classmates you haven’t seen
recently and make plans to “come home” on Nov. 5.
You’ll be glad you did!
As we continue our recognition of graduates from the
various colleges, the reunion group being honored this
year is the College of Science and Mathematics. Events
also are planned for other special groups, along with
many activities in which everyone can participate. A
complete listing can be found on the Homecoming link at
www.apsu.edu.
As always, we want to hear what’s happening
in your life so we can share that
info with other alumni through future
issues of “Austin Peay.” To continue to
receive our mailings, be sure to keep
your address information updated with
us. And don’t forget to send your e-
mail address, too, as that method of
communication is the most effective
and efficient.
Until I see you at Homecoming, best
wishes for a wonderful autumn.
Sincerely,
Shelia Boone (’71)
Director, Alumni and Annual Giving
Executive Director, APSUNAA
National Alumni Association
Executive Officers & Board of Directors
Executive Officers
President
Sam Samsil (’67)
District XII, Birmingham, Ala.
samsil@bellsouth.net
President-Elect
Mike MacDowell (’71)
District X, Hopkinsville, Ky.
wmikemacdowell@wmconnect.com
Vice President
Nancy Washington
District XI, Arlington, Va.
na_washington@yahoo.com
Past President
Bob Hogan (’78)
District X, Robertson County
(TheHoganCompany@att.net)
Faculty Adviser
Dr. Floyd Scott (’65, ’67)
District X, Montgomery County
(scotta@apsu.edu)
Executive Director
Shelia Boone (’71)
(boones@apsu.edu)
Directors
District I . . . . . . .Dr. Robert Patton (’57, ’59) (drbobpatton@earthlink.net) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2006
District II . . . . . .Vacant . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2005
District III Tony Marable (’81) (tmarable@tntech.edu) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2006
District IV . . . . . .Fredrick Yarbrough (’70) (FTVP25@aol.com) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2007
District V . . . . . . .Brandt Scott (’89) (brandt.scott@thehartford.com) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2006
District VI . . . . . .Emily Pickard (’04) (emilypickard@hotmail.com) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2007
District VII . . . . .Mark Hartley (’87) (hartleydad@yahoo.com) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2006
District VIII . . . . .Bob Holeman (’78) (B_holeman@msn.com) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2007
District IX . . . . . .Cynthia Norwood (’92) (cynthianorwood@hotmail.com) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2006
District X . . . . . . .Nelson Boehms (’86) (nboehms@earthlink.net) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2007
District XI . . . . . .Angela Neal (’98) (presidentangela@yahoo.com) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2006
District XII . . . . .Jim Roe (’65) (j_m_roe@yahoo.com) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2007
District XIII . . . . .Ginny Gray Davis (’87) (ginnyg@fuse.net) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2006
District XIV . . . . .Dr. Dale Kincheloe (’66) (drkinch@aol.com) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2007
District XV . . . . . .Don Wallar II (’97) (waller@wallar.com) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2006
Student Rep. . . . .Kevin Kennedy, SGA President (sgapres@apsu.edu) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2007
Chapter Presidents
African American . . . . . . . . . . .Nancy Washington (’99) (na_washington@yahoo.com)
Tri-Counties of Kentucky . . . . .Mike (’71) and Diane (’90) MacDowell (wmikemacdowell@wmconnect.com)
(Todd, Trigg & Christian counties)
Greater Atlanta . . . . . . . . . . . .Peter Minetos (’89) (Pminetos@DCSAtlanta.com)
Montgomery County . . . . . . . . .Brandon (’04) and Jessica Harrison (’99) (bmichaelharrison@aol.com)
Greater Nashville . . . . . . . . . . .Lee Peterson (’90) (Lpeterson@fox17.com)
Tri-Cities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Lee Ellen Ferguson-Fish (’89) (lee.fish@airgas.com)
Greater Memphis . . . . . . . . . . .Jeff Schneider (’96) (jeff.schneider1@ipaper.com)
Trane Support Group . . . . . . . . .David Jackson (’75) (david.jackson@trane.com)
Columbia . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Vivian Cathey (’80) (vivian.cathey@sctworkforce.org)
Nursing Alumni . . . . . . . . . . . .Doris Davenport (’91) (davenportd@apsu.edu)
Greater Carolinas . . . . . . . . . . .Mark S. Webber (’86) (Mark_Webber@hp.com)
Greater Birmingham . . . . . . . . .Sam Samsil (’67) (samsil@bellsouth.net)
Robertson County . . . . . . . . . . .Bob Hogan (’78) (TheHoganCompany@att.net)
Huntsville (Ala.) . . . . . . . . . . .Wayne Taylor (’66)
Cheatham County . . . . . . . . . . .Cheryl Bidwell (’85) (clbidwell3@hotmail.com)
Greater Chattanooga . . . . . . . . .Kel Topping (’90) (chattanoogatractor@comcast.net)
Austin Peay/Fall 2005
Calling all alums!
During February, APSU will conduct
its annual scholarship
Phonathon. Faculty, staff and students
will be calling alums to
request pledges, remind you of
upcoming alumni events, update
your information and answer any
questions about APSU. It’s one way
we stay in touch. Please take a
moment or two to speak with our
callers.
We need your help!
Please help locate our “lost”
alums! Go to www.apsu.edu/alumni/lost1.asp
on the Web to view the
current list of lost alumni. We appreciate
any information to help us
locate them. We appreciate your
response, whether by e-mail, telephone
or fax.
1

fall 2005 9/19/05 11:02 AM Page 4
Sharing Danny’s Dream
By: DENNIE B. BURKE
Executive Director of Public Relations and Marketing
W
aiting. Waiting. Waiting rooms.
Time suspended and heavy.
Yet the rather small waiting room is bright
and cheery, with seats arranged in convivial
clusters. An African-American woman sits in one
cluster, her hand on a red wagon at her feet.
Inside the wagon, swaddled in a blanket, is an
inert child. Only a bald head is visible.
Nearby sits a younger woman, her sunstreaked
ponytail pulled through the back of a
pink baseball cap. Above the brim, the word
“hope” is written in sparkle paint. She clutches a
tote filled with toys. Her smiling eyes invite the
question, “Do you have a patient here?” She
does, she says, eager to add that, after just two
weeks in Memphis this time, they’re soon heading
back to Mississippi.
Three years ago, her son, now seven, was
diagnosed with cancer. She recalls the initial
“not-my child” shock, the fear that gripped her
night and day. And finally, the nugget of hope
discovered on their first visit to St. Jude.
Today they are happy. Today is homecoming.
Back in Mississippi, friends and family are planning
a No-More-Chemo Party. Life is good.
Actually, life is precious.
2
Austin Peay/Fall 2005
Photos Courtesy St. Jude

fall 2005 9/19/05 11:02 AM Page 5
The house on the rock stood firm
In the early ‘40s, the young Lebanese
entertainer Amos Jacob was struggling to
make it in show business. Legend has it that
he prayed to St. Jude, promising if the saint
would show him the right path in life, he
would build a shrine to him.
Eventually, the young man landed a job at
a popular Detroit nightclub where, calling
himself Danny Thomas, he launched his
comedic career. By 1945, his career was
flourishing. Recalling his pledge, he sought
the advice of a friend, who pointed him to a
the history of St. Jude, ALSAC and Danny
Thomas, whose body lies in a crypt nearby.
Inscribed in Arabic on an arched panel in the
Pavilion are the words: “No child should die
in the dawn of life.”
The St. Jude campus, with its wide green
lawns, flowers and trees is an oasis in a concrete
desert. A ray of light in a world of
darkness. A safe harbor in a sea of hurt.
It’s been said a hundred different ways.
But any analogy or metaphor pales compared
to the reality of this place.
Besides serving as CEO
and director of St. Jude
Children’s Hospital, Dr.
William Evans (’70) leads
a team of scientists,
including his wife, Dr.
Mary Relling, in the
promising Human
Genome Project. When
Evans took over as director
and CEO of St. Jude,
he became the first pharmacologist
to hold the
prestigious post.
Photos Courtesy St. Jude
Memphis attorney. Out of their talks came a
commitment from Thomas to build a children’s
research hospital in Memphis.
But additional financial help was needed,
so the American Lebanese Syrian Associated
Charities (ALSAC) was founded in 1957
with the sole purpose of raising funds to
operate St. Jude.
The Danny Thomas/ALSAC Pavilion,
which opened in 1985, is located at the entry
to the St. Jude campus. With its distinctive
golden dome, the Pavilion serves to preserve
Austin Peay/Fall 2005
Finding cures. Saving children
Danny Thomas can be proud of what he
began. Today, St. Jude is the world’s premier
center for the study of pediatric cancer and
other catastrophic diseases. Since opening in
1962, St. Jude’s scientists and doctors have
brought survival rates for childhood cancers
from less than 20 percent to better than 70
percent.
Case in point: the cure rate for acute lymphoblastic
leukemia (ALL)—the most common
childhood cancer—was 4 percent in
3

fall 2005 9/19/05 11:02 AM Page 6
Diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia
eight months after her birth, Cassidie Jackson was
brought to St. Jude by her frantic parents. After
months of fine-tuning her treatment through pharmacogenomics,
Cassidie became one of St. Jude’s
little miracles--a happy, active little girl.
1962. Today, the cure rate is 80 percent,
thanks to the research and treatments developed
at St. Jude by such scientists as Dr.
Peter C. Doherty, 1996 Noble Prize recipient,
and Dr. William Evans (‘70), new CEO and
previous scientific director of St. Jude.
In the April 2005 edition of “Business
Tennessee” magazine, Evans is listed among
Tennessee’s 100 most powerful people. How did
this scientist arrive at this significant summit?
As an APSU student, Evans fell in love
with chemistry, math and biology. When not
in class, he worked in Warren’s Apothecary,
where owner/pharmacist Charlie Warren
encouraged him to enter the pharmacy field.
Young Evans listened carefully and, eventually,
heeded his advice.
After two years, Evans transferred to UT-
Memphis. He joined the St. Jude scientific
staff in 1973 as a clinical resident and completed
a doctorate in pharmacology in 1974.
Photos Courtesy St. Jude
A big name for a
golden bullet
Pharmacogenomics—
how cancer cells in different
children react differently
to various drug
protocols—is Evans’
passion.
He leads a team of scientists
in developing
genetic profiles of
leukemia cells. By learning
how to read and
interpret the unique
genetic code of each
patient, Evans hopes to
better target the treatment
of childhood cancers.
“Genomics is like a
bar code and scanner in
the grocery,” Evans says.
“We are learning to scan
and interpret the genetic
code. That will provide
vital information on
what drug is best for
each patient’s specific
cancer. What works for
one child may not work
for another with the
same diagnosis.”
Targeted treatment versus old-time, general
chemo is comparable to spraying an entire
building with machine-gun bullets in hopes of
hitting the target versus firing a heat-guided
laser missile into the heart of the enemy—the
cancer cells—leaving the healthy cells intact.
Evans’ team has a way to go
to perfect the protocol, but
they are well on their way.
With more than 300
research articles to his credit,
Evans was elected to the
Institute of Medicine of the
U.S. National Academy of
Science in 2000. He’s just
returned from a conference in
Switzerland where, as one of
only four invited speakers, he
presented a paper to scientists
from around the world on the
work going on at St. Jude.
As St. Jude’s new director,
he has become an evangelist
for the hospital. Evans not only
takes the good news to the
world, he helps bring the world
to St. Jude. Today, a TV crew
from the Ukraine is on hand—
filming several Russian scientists and doctors
who have come here to learn new techniques
and new treatments. And, more importantly,
take them back to their tiny patients.
Keeping that pioneer spirit alive
In November 2004, when Evans was
named director and CEO of St. Jude, he
became the first pharmacist to hold the post.
Having worked under the four previous directors,
all of whom were medical doctors,
Evans brought an insider’s appreciation of the
hospital’s illustrious history and tremendous
potential, as well as the education and experience
of a pharmacologist.
“What I knew in 1976 was this was an
exciting place to work. I was here in the early
‘70s, when it was announced that St Jude had
pushed the cure rate of acute lymphoblastic
leukemia to 50 percent. That put St. Jude on
the map.”
With an annual budget of $370 million, St.
Jude remains a vibrant institution, employing
more than 3,000 staff from around the globe.
It has 4,600 patients in active status, and an
average of 160 outpatients are treated daily.
Since the battle with cancer is a family fight,
an on-campus hotel, as well as the Target
House and Ronald McDonald House off campus,
are provided for patients and their families.
Except for what insurance pays, there is
no charge for patient care or lodging.
Evans already has established short-term
goals: recruit new senior faculty and construct
a new building to expand the hospital’s clinical
facilities and laboratories. “I want to keep
St. Jude at the forefront of research and
patient care for children with catastrophic dis-
Our birth is but a sleep and a forgetting,
The soul that rises with us – our life’s star
Has elsewhere had its setting
And cometh from afar.
Not in entire forgetfulness
And not in utter nakedness
But trailing clouds of glory do we come
From God who is our home.
—William Wordsworth—
4 Austin Peay/Fall 2005
PEAY Alum FACT: Dr. Tim Fox (’90) is director of the Division of Medical Physics at Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta.

fall 2005 9/19/05 11:02 AM Page 7
eases,” he says. “We recruit absolutely the
best talent for patient care, clinical research
and basic scientific discovery, providing them
with outstanding resources that permit them
to do their best work.”
Research at St. Jude—the only pediatric
research hospital supported by a National
Cancer Institute cancer center support grant—
is unique. Rather than hiding discoveries from
competitors, St. Jude scientists are eager to
share them. “We know we can’t treat all the
sick children in the world,” Evans says. “But
we can train those who do, all over the world.”
The success of St. Jude occurred because
scientists there made the simple discovery
that cancer treatment for children is different
than for adults. “We often try to cure childhood
cancers with drugs developed for quite
different cancers in adults,” Evans says. “This
is one reason we are working to establish new
programs in chemical biology, human genetics
and cancer prevention. We must ensure
that our findings get translated into treatment
advances for children.”
Why is this St. Jude’s responsibility? It’s all
about the bottom line. Large pharmaceutical
companies have little interest in pediatric cancer
research, because there’s no real money in
it: After all, most cancers occur in adults.
In contrast to drug companies, which are
accountable to stockholders, St. Jude is
accountable only to its mission: For St. Jude
scientists and doctors, “finding cures, saving
children” is the bottom line.
Hope displayed in rainbow hues
The corridors of St. Jude are bright with
color. Murals of animals and people painted
from a child’s perspective. Storybook illustrations.
Each waiting area is outfitted like a
playroom, complete with toys, computer
games and books. Hanging in the airy atrium
are scores of flags—together representing the
countries of staff who left their homelands to
work here. At first, a guest might think he
had stumbled into Disneyland. Not so.
Enthrallment with the cheerful décor disintegrates
when the guide, nodding toward her
right, says, “And that’s our chemo lab.” All
that can be seen through a small glass panel
in the door is a stroller. A blue stroller with a
plaid sun cover.
The earth tilts on its axis. A baby stroller?
Here? This is definitely not Disneyland. This
is where desperate parents bring their desperately
sick children.
At its soul, St. Jude is not a complex of
buildings, a labyrinth of treatment rooms and
labs. It is people. Doctors, nurses, scientists,
technicians. Mainly, it is children—some still
in strollers.
Trailing clouds of glory…
As director of St. Jude, Evans not only
continues his own research in the Human
Genome Project, he also spends increasingly
more time securing support for the work of
the other scientists, including his wife, Dr.
Mary Relling, with whom he launched St.
Jude’s first pharmacogenomics research plan
20 years ago.
Today, Evans and Relling lead some of the
most promising pharmacogenomic studies in
children with acute lymphoblastic leukemia.
In the article, “Drugs by Design” in the
Autumn 2004 edition of “Promise,” the magazine
of St. Jude, Evans talks about pharmacogenomics,
by which a patient’s gene code
tells the doctor exactly which drug is likely to
work best. This requires studies of cancer
treatments in hundreds of children over
decades, but St. Jude is ahead of the game.
Over the years, it has collected more extensive
follow-up reports on children with cancer
than any hospital in the world.
One of those children is Cassidie Jackson,
who is profiled in “Promise.” Eight months
after her birth, her parents noticed the lymph
nodes in her neck felt like knots. St. Jude
doctors diagnosed acute lymphoblastic
leukemia, which depletes infection-fighting
white blood cells. Cassidie did well during
the first two rounds of chemo but, after the
third round, her white blood cell count fell
drastically and her stomach, liver and spleen
started to swell.
A genetic test revealed she had an inherited
defect for a specific enzyme. This defect
blocked metabolism of the anti-cancer drug,
causing her body to retain high levels of the
toxic drug. Thankfully, St. Jude studies also
proved that patients deficient in this enzyme
could benefit from a lower dose of the drug.
Cassidie started taking a fourth of the dosage
each time and, according to her mother, has
been fine ever since.
The enzyme mutations that plagued
Cassidie were discovered at St. Jude, as was
the genetic test now used routinely by hospitals
to screen children before administering
the drug. Cassidie is one of thousands of children
whose tales are chapters in the amazing
St. Jude Story.
And thanks to such dedicated scientists as
William Evans, more and more patients will
live to tell their own stories. Despite the best
research and treatment in the world, however,
some do not make it, but their deaths are not
the end. Their cancers, treatments and outcomes,
their stories—all become part of
research that, no doubt, will improve the odds
for other sick children.
The long hospital hallways are lined with
scores of photos of the children of St. Jude —
both the survivors and the little angels passing
through. Some say to stand before these
photos, to look into those eyes, is to catch a
fleeting glimpse of God.
Austin Peay/Fall 2005
5

fall 2005 9/19/05 11:02 AM Page 8
Making Headlines
APSU opens state’s first collegiate Hispanic Cultural Center
Latino dance troupes entertain guests during the daylong
celebration of the grand opening of the state’s only
collegiate Hispanic Cultural Center at APSU.
Steve Wilson
With the largest Hispanic student population
of any Tennessee university, including
UT-Knoxville, it seems fitting that APSU students,
faculty, staff and area officials recently
celebrated the grand opening of the state’s
first collegiate Hispanic Cultural Center.
The day of celebration in April 2005
included a fiesta, complete with authenic
Latino foods, performances by Hispanic
dance troupes and a ribbon-cutting ceremony.
At the ceremony, APSU President Sherry
Hoppe said, “We come together for a dream
and a vision—for what has now come true.”
Keynote speaker and then-president of the
Tennessee Hispanic Chamber of Commerce,
the late Greg Rodriguez, commended APSU
for its leadership in establishing the Center.
“Today is about change,” he said. “Today is
about Latinos in Middle Tennessee. Most of
all, it’s about progress. My … heart (is) filled
with pride for my people and this Center.”
Located in the Morgan University Center,
the Hispanic Cultural Center houses learning
materials, such as books, videos and computers,
one of which has a Spanish keyboard.
Under the direction of Dr. Miguel Ruiz,
associate professor of Spanish, the Center
offers events that celebrate the Hispanic culture.
It also was conceived as a place where
all ethnicities can learn about the Latino culture
and where Hispanic students can feel “at
home.”
NATO leader reports for duty
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — Sixteen foreign-born
construction workers with phony immigration
documents were able to enter an Oak Ridge
nuclear weapons plant because of lax security
controls, a federal report said yesterday …
The Y-12 plant, created for the top-secret
Manhattan project that developed nuclear
bombs in World War II, makes parts for
nuclear warheads and is the country’s principal
storehouse for weapons-grade uranium.
—Headline: Intrusion at Y-12 weapons plant
leads to tightened security (Associated Press,
Knoxville, June 21, 2005)
If you think the horrific events of Sept. 11,
2001, are history, think again.
6
Federal security and intelligence agents
know, beyond a doubt, terrorists are planning
similar attacks on the United States.
America’s best protection? Prevention
through strategic preparation.
With the establishment of APSU’s Institute
for Global Security Studies (IGSS) in
Summer 2005, the University not only positioned
itself to provide security preparation to
the state, region and nation, it created a market
niche as the only university in Tennessee
with a comprehensive, interdisciplinary plan
for studying all facets of terrorism.
President Sherry Hoppe’s vision for the
IGSS was clear. Its ultimate success, however,
would hinge on its leader. The job description
was detailed—and daunting. Few could
fill the bill.
Austin Peay/Fall 2005
Enter retired Col. Greg Kaufmann. His
application packet arrived in late February
2005. In May, the search committee named
him as director of IGSS.
After he accepted the post, the IGSS—like
a ship already in the water—was set to sail.
By late July, the captain was on the bridge.
After a long and distinguished military
career, Kaufmann came to APSU from
Brussels, Belgium, where, most recently, he
served as special assistant to the chair of the
Military Committee at the North Atlantic
Treaty Organization (NATO) Headquarters.
Kaufmann’s optimism and enthusiasm
about the Institute’s future should help him
stay the course as he builds support for and
shapes the national image of the IGSS.
He said, “I’m ready to devote myself to the
PEAY Alum FACT: Larry Dr. Joe Richardson Remke III (’66, is an ’70) optometrist director with of field the operations Remke Eye and Clinic, program Lawrenceburg, support for Tenn. Ducks Unlimited Inc. of Memphis.

fall 2005 9/19/05 11:02 AM Page 9
Greg Kaufmann
Austin Peay community and the Institute’s
goal to become a leader in education and
training in all aspects of homeland security
and antiterrorism.”
Hoppe said, “Greg Kaufmann brings to this
vital start-up position a proven record of substantive
and practical leadership on the national
and international levels, as well as financial
and resource-management experience within
the United States Executive Branch.
“Added to his 30 years of constantly escalating
responsibilities within the Army, the
Department of Defense and NATO, he has
taught at several prestigious institutions,
Bill Persinger
including West Point and Harvard.”
According to Dr. Dewey Browder, professor
and chair of the history and philosophy
department, Kaufmann has excellent experience
with national and international security
and an outstanding record of organizing and
leading political-military efforts.
During 1997-2001, Kaufmann was chief of
staff and then director of the Balkans Task
Force, Office of the Secretary of Defense,
Pentagon.
In 2001-02, he was a fellow at Harvard
University’s Weatherhead Center for
International Affairs, where he represented
the U.S. Army and Department of Defense in
a multidisciplinary program, presenting lectures
on such topics as national security. In
1998-99, as a fellow at MIT, he taught a seminar
on foreign politics, international relations
and the national interest.
An ROTC Scholarship recipient and
Distinguished Military Graduate, Kaufmann
earned a bachelor’s degree from Niagara
University and a master’s from the University
of Pennsylvania. His second master’s—an
M.S. in National Resource Strategy—is from
the Industrial College of the Armed Forces,
National Defense University.
Among his many awards, Kaufmann
received the Defense Superior Service Medal,
National Service Medal and the War on
Terrorism Service Medal.
The IGSS, now under Kaufmann’s leadership,
is broad-based, offering education in
eight distinct but interdisciplinary areas: medical
and investigative sciences; ecoterrorism;
law enforcement and emergency services;
politics and security in the 21st century; military
history; language and ideological training;
geoterrorism; and agroterrorism.
For more information about the IGSS, telephone
Kaufmann at (931) 221-7910.
APSU joins Academic
Consortium for Homeland
Security
The IGSS is registered as part of the
National Academic Consortium for Homeland
Security (NACHS)—the only Tennessee
Board of Regents university to do so.
The nationwide consortium is made up of
public and private institutions engaged in scientific
research, technology development and
transition, education and training, as well as
service programs concerned with national
security challenges, issues, problems and
solutions.
Continued on page 8
APSU plays supporting role in “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition”
In June, the hit reality show, “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition,” came to Clarksville to build a handicap-accessible home for MSgt. Luis Rodriquez, who lost a leg
and two fingers while serving in Iraq with the 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault). He and wife Lilliam, a social work major at APSU, have two young daughters.
Prior to the family’s return to town for the “big reveal,” Dr. Sherry Hoppe visited the site and presented a scholarship check to Ed Sanders, a member of the show’s
design team, to fund the remainder of Lilliam’s degree at APSU. At right, the show’s star, Ty Pennington thanked Hoppe and APSU. The episode is slated to air in late
September nationwide on the ABC Television Network.
Bill Persinger
Austin Peay/Fall 2005
7

fall 2005 9/19/05 11:02 AM Page 10
APSU offers in-state tuition
rates to more Kentucky
counties
For years, students from Christian, Trigg,
Todd and Logan counties in Kentucky have paid
the same tuition to attend APSU as Tennessee
residents. Now that base has expanded.
Effective for Fall 2005, students in the
Kentucky counties of Allen, Calloway and
Simpson are eligible for in-state tuition rates
at APSU.
“Students now have a broader array of
choices about where to attend college at comparable
costs,” says Dr. Bruce Speck, provost
and vice president for academic and student
affairs. “In addition, some of our academic programs
may fit students’ specific needs better
than the offerings of institutions in Kentucky.
“In many
ways,
we consider
the
Kentucky
counties
as part of
the larger Clarksville area,
and many families in
those counties may work,
shop and develop social
ties in Clarksville, so
APSU is a logical
choice for them.”
APSU debuts new marketing/recruitment
campaign
Austin Peay State University went to market
this fall with a new look and spirit.
For more than a year, staff in the APSU
Public Relations and Marketing
Office worked with
Quarles/Tombras
Advertising agency,
Nashville, to arrive
at a design, copy
and theme that
reflects the
University’s new
vision—to provide
a learning community
in which students
gain the knowledge
and skills needed to
succeed in a global society.
The student recruitment publications,
Web site, billboards, print and broadcast
ads depict APSU students in motion—
leaping, laughing, running, jumping, diving—
against a blue sky. The design elements imply
both fun and limitless possibilities.
The landscape photography—which is the
image platform for the campaign—was created
to be non-recognizable to support the
theme, “Find Your Place in the World.” The
copy is youth-oriented and straightforward,
and the word that’s repeated throughout the
campaign, “Go,” is a call for action and is
directed to the primary target—high school
students. Parents are the secondary audience.
It also is expected
to resonate with
“influencers” of
high school students.
Through a multidimensional
campaign,
APSU is
repositioning itself
from the inaccurate
perception of “the
local college with a one-size-fits-all education”
to the reality of APSU as a comprehensive
university committed to preparing students
to live and succeed in a global society.
Within the message is the brand promise:
APSU will prepare students for life and all
the opportunities it presents.
Besides
echoing the
new vision
statement,
the message
is
forward
thinking
and connotes
preparedness.
It
is bold and nurturing and accepts that
learning is academic, social and
practical. It allows room for
interpretation and is applicable
to all facets of the
University. It connotes
limitless geographical
boundaries and limitless
personal and professional
potential.
Several of the recruitment
publications break the
traditional mold as emotion
and interest are driven by
unique design shapes containing
minimal copy, which pushes the reader to
the Web.
If you know a potential college student,
just say: Go. Find your place in the world!
Schmidt Alumni Band
Scholarship is revived
APSU’s Aaron Schmidt Alumni Band
Scholarship is endowed—the result of a fouryear
fundraising campaign by Schmidt’s
longtime friends, Sherwin (’60,’61) and
Norma (’61,’65) Clift, owners and agents of
Keller Williams Realty, Clarksville.
The Schmidt Scholarship was established
in 1983. With only $10,000 in the fund, it had
lain dormant until 2001, when the Clifts took
on the challenge of reviving it with family
approval and the help of several former
Schmidt students. The scholarship now stands
at just over $25,000.
Schmidt served as director of bands at
APSU from 1960-73. Credited with establishing
the Mid-South Jazz Festival at APSU,
Schmidt is honored in the University’s
Athletic Hall of Fame.
APSU helps deployed soldiers
continue education
As requested by Dr. Robert Sazama, head
of the SGG Glenn H. English Jr. Education
Center at Fort Campbell, APSU took steps to
accommodate the higher education needs of
the soldiers of the 101st Airborne Division
(Air Assault) during their recent deployment
to Iraq.
This fall’s deployment marks the second
time in three years that the 20,000 soldiers of
the 101st have shipped out to serve in
Operation Iraqi Freedom.
According to Sazama, a deployment not
only disrupts a soldier’s life, it often interrupts
his or her pursuit of higher education.
8
Austin Peay/Fall 2005
PEAY Alum FACT: Roberta Richardson (’69) is an account executive with VisualTHUNDER marketing firm in Memphis.

fall 2005 9/19/05 11:02 AM Page 11
However, during this deployment—thanks to
APSU and other on-post colleges—soldiers
can continue classes while in Iraq through
Web-based instruction.
Comments from soldiers returning after the
first deployment indicated that, while in Iraq,
they alternated between periods of high activity
and downtime. Many had inquired about taking
Web-based classes during those downtimes.
APSU and the other institutions developed
and facilitated early registration for soldiers
fighting in Operation Iraqi Freedom, along
with timely shipping of textbooks, online procedures
for tuition assistance and online services
from the Registrar’s and Business Offices.
And complete advisement services for soldiers
are available online.
Courses offered range from art and biology
to homeland security and political science.
Both bachelor’s and master’s level classes, as
well as technical courses, are available online.
Profs teach Islam, Muslim
cultures to soldiers
Last spring, as a community service and at
the request of Col. David Gray, commander of
the 3,000 soldiers of the 1st Brigade, 101st
Airborne Division (Air Assault), two APSU
professors taught an orientation course on
Muslims and Islam for members of the 1st
Brigade, prior to its second deployment to Iraq.
Dr. Albert Randall, professor of philosophy
and religion, and Dr. Dewey Browder, professor
of history and chair of the department,
taught “The History and Religion of Iraq,”
along with Gray and Col. Jim D. Scudieri,
commander of the101st Sustainment Brigade.
Both Gray and Scudieri hold doctorates in
military history.
The course was designed to familiarize the
soldiers with accurate information about Iraq
and Islam and dispel stereotypes. The course
also served as a pilot course for the new
Institute for Global Security Studies.
Construction means short-term pain for long-term gain
Once again, parts of campus are cordoned off
with wire fencing and yellow construction tape.
Although this means temporary detours and
fewer parking spots, it’s also a sign of progress.
With Austin Peay’s award-winning ROTC
program relocated in the Memorial Health
Building (Red Barn), the old Armory was
demolished in May to make way for a new
recreation center, scheduled for completion as
early as Fall 2006. With an $11 million price
tag, the rec center will feature a climbing
wall, a cardio/weight room, three full-sized
basketball courts, four racquetball courts and
other amenities that, research shows, are
expectations of today’s college students.
They just don’t build
‘em like they used to.
Above right, the first
swing of the wrecking
ball did little damage, as
it bounced off the building
like a basketball.
Massive renovations to the antiquated
McCord Building have begun. With its beautiful
Georgian facade, the building has
become a shell, as most of the interior has
been gutted and is being rebuilt to make
acceptable space for the School of Nursing,
the geosciences and an expanded GIS Center.
For the first time in history, APSU has a
women’s soccer field located behind the
Tennis Center, and construction has begun on
the APSU Farm Project animal retention
facility. Properties owned by APSU along
Ford Street, Castle Heights, Robb Avenue and
Patrick Street are slated to come down to
make way for new growth.
In an unusual move by the federal government
and the U.S. Army, APSU has received
permission to construct additional class and
When interior renovations are complete, the
McCord Building will house the School of Nursing,
the geosciences and an expanded GIS Center.
office space adjacent to the Fort Campbell
Education Center, which operates at capacity,
day and night. As soon as approval is
received from the State Building
Commission, construction can begin.
Bill Persinger
Austin Peay/Fall 2005
9

fall 2005 9/19/05 11:02 AM Page 12
2005 Alumni Awards
The APSU National Alumni Association
proudly presents its top awards during
Homecoming weekend—a tradition since 1992.
This year’s recipients will be honored during
the Alumni Awards and Reunion Brunch,
which begins at 10:30 a.m., Nov. 5 in the new
Morgan University Center Ballroom. Friends
and relatives are invited to celebrate with the
honorees while enjoying a delicious meal.
The Outstanding Service Award was established
by the APSU National Alumni
Association to give special recognition to
individuals who, through fund raising,
recruiting, advocacy or faithful service, have
brought honor and distinction to APSU. This
award, which may be given to someone who
is not an APSU alumnus/a, represents the
highest honor conferred by the APSUNAA.
The Outstanding Young Alumnus/a Award
is given to a graduate of APSU who is 42 or
younger. It recognizes accomplishments in
one’s profession, business, community, state
or nation that have brought a high level of
honor and pride to the University.
The Outstanding Alumnus/a Award honors
an APSU graduate, regardless of age, for
outstanding accomplishments in his/her profession,
business, community, state or nation
that have brought a high level of honor and
pride to the University.
The Outstanding Service Award for 2005
goes to Fessey M. Hackney (’75, ’98) and
LM Ellis (’65) both of Clarksville.
The Outstanding Young Alumna Award
goes to Lucy Ann Gossett (’92), Indianapolis.
The 2005 Outstanding Young Alumnus Award
goes to Jeff Stec (’94), Charlotte, N.C.
Recipients of the Outstanding Alumnus/a
Award are Dr. Ronald I. Miller (’65),
Redstone Arsenal, Ala., and Carla Nester,
M.D., (’87), Durham, N.C.
Fessey Hackney LM Ellis Lucy Ann Gossett
2005 Outstanding Service Award
Fessey M. Hackney (’75, ’98)
Some people say Fessey Hackney,
Clarksville, is the backbone of the Austin
Peay State University National Alumni
Association.
Hackney calls the Pace Alumni Center at
Emerald Hill “my second home.”
Dependable, loyal, hard working and always
there, Hackney is the consummate volunteer
for the APSUNAA. She can be counted on to
help with any alumni project—large or small.
In 1975, she graduated from APSU in
physical education and health. She enrolled
in the master’s degree program in 1983 and
received her endorsement in educational
supervision in 1998.
From 1975-85, Hackney was a physical
education instructor for Byrns L. Darden and
Burt Elementary School. Since 1994, she has
taught physical education at Hazelwood
Elementary, while simultaneously working
part time as a self-employed life insurance
salesperson, after serving since 1987 as vice
president and personal lines manager for
sales for King, Northington and Frost Inc.
Hackney was tapped to Omicron Delta
Kappa honorary in 2004. She was named the
Clarksville-Montgomery County Education
Association Distinguished Teacher for
Hazelwood School and the 1990 Insurance
Woman of the Year.
She is a member of the Tennessee
Education Association, National Education
Association and Clarksville-Montgomery
County Education Association. She has
served as director of Region II, Insurers of
Tennessee and vice president of Insurers of
Clarksville. Since 1991, she has been a member
of the APSU Tower Club.
In service to her community, Hackney is
active in the Clarksville Civitan Club and the
Clarksville-Montgomery County Chamber of
Commerce. And she continues to volunteer
much of her free time to APSU. Through the
years, she has been willing to assume leadership
posts in the alumni association. Last fall,
she was chair of Homecoming activities—her
second stint as chair.
In 1998-2000, she was president of the
APSUNAA, after serving as president, vice
president and secretary/treasurer of the
Montgomery County Chapter. In 1995-97,
she was District X director. She chaired the
Alumni Round-Up Fundraiser for three
years, 1992-95, and chaired the Homecoming
Dance Committee from 1988 through 1996.
In recognition of Hackney’s limitless Peay
Pride, the APSUNAA established the Wyatt
Award after the death of her late husband,
John Wyatt. The Wyatt Award is presented
annually during the Homecoming game to
three Greek organizations exhibiting the most
school spirit.
She is married to Jerry Hackney (’76) and
has three adult children, Johnny, Elizabeth
and Lauren.
2005 Outstanding Service Award
LM Ellis (‘65)
One of the famed “founding fathers” of the
Dave Aaron Foundation, LM Ellis has
worked diligently alongside other basketball
players who were coached and mentored by
the late Aaron. Since 1991, Ellis and Aaron’s
other protégés have raised almost $200,000
to establish a scholarship endowment in
memory of the man who had such a profound
influence on their lives.
Although Ellis began his education at
Drake University, Des Moines, Iowa, where
he was a freshmen basketball recruit, he
transferred to APSU, becoming one of the
first African-American scholarship athletes
signed by a predominately white college in
the south. Ellis fit in just fine.
While still in college in Des Moines, he
worked part time for J C Penney Co. Inc. —
an experience that laid the groundwork for
his career. Although he graduated from
APSU with a degree in education, he found
his niche in retail.
10 Austin Peay/Fall 2005
PEAY Alum FACT: David Alford (’89) is artistic director of the Tennessee Repertory Theatre in Nashville.

fall 2005 9/19/05 11:02 AM Page 13
Jeff Stec Dr. Ronald Miller Dr. Carla Nester
For 23 years, from 1965-87, he advanced
up the ranks in store management. Beginning
with J C Penney Co., he started in sales. After
going through the company’s Management
Training Program, Ellis ultimately became an
area manager. He left JC Penney to become
area manager for Venture Stores and later was
district manager for Zayre Stores.
He ended his retail career with Target Stores.
As regional merchandiser for Target, he was
responsible for soft-lines and home merchandising
in 32 stores with $88 million in sales.
In 1987, he entered the consulting and liquidation
field. His first job was during the
Federated Stores breakup, during which he
supervised 10 stores and $44 million in sales
over a 12-week period for Nassi Bernstein
Inc. Over the next 15 years, he was involved
in nationwide liquidations of many major
stores, including Montgomery Ward and
Heilig-Meyers. In 2004, he retired from fulltime
liquidations to focus on consulting and
investments. In August 2001, he and his wife
started Austin Peay Express, an online company
that sold APSU memorabilia.
Whether on the basketball court or in his
far-reaching retail career, Ellis towered over
the competition, becoming a leader and a
teacher, in his own way, for those with whom
he worked.
In 1990, his contributions to APSU athletics
were recognized by his induction into the
APSU Athletic Hall of Fame. He is a member
of the Governors Club Marketing Committee,
which is working to encourage the city businesses
to show their pride in APSU. He continues
to raise money for the Dave Aaron
Scholarship Endowment and is a member of
the APSU Tower Club.
Ellis’ leadership skills have been revealed
repeatedly in his service on the Governors
Club Board of Directors, APSU Foundation
Board of Trustees and the APSU Capital
Campaign Steering Committee.
Ellis and his wife, Sallie, have four grown
children.
2005 Outstanding Young
Alumna Award
Lucy Ann Gossett (’92)
After three years of working shoulder-toshoulder
with the team, Lucy Ann Gossett is
just one of the guys.
After earning a bachelor’s degree in mass
communication from APSU, she worked two
years for Opryland USA, setting up and coordinating
meeting functions for the various
park directors, as well as assisting park
celebrities with events.
In 1994, she left Nashville for Tampa, Fla.,
where she had been hired by Brinker
International as a corporate trainer, responsible
for traveling to various locations to train
staff for Chili’s Grill & Bar.
It was in Tampa that her career path veered
into athletics. In 1996, she accepted a position
with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, working as
a press box staff member. Her duties included
writing employee guidelines for press box
operations and setting up their distribution to
the national and local media. She also ran the
stats for the coaches and the media, gaining
new and valuable skills.
She was promoted in 1998, becoming a
human resources administrator for the
Buccaneers and, again, expanding her knowledge
of behind-the-scenes operations with a
professional sports team. Part of her work
involved assisting the coaches and players
with planning community and charity
events—an aspect of the job that gave her an
opportunity to interact with the team.
As a result, she was hired as a coaching
assistant for the Indianapolis Colts in 2002.
Her duties include assisting the head coach
and the coaching staff with daily scripts, playbooks
and scouting reports, scheduling visiting
coaches for clinics, planning and scheduling
events for the football staff and working
with the Indianapolis Colts Women’s
Organization in planning community and
charity events.
Austin Peay/Fall 2005
2005 Outstanding Young
Alumnus Award
Jeff Stec (’94)
Originally from Chicago, Jeff Stec,
Charlotte, N.C., has been busy launching
high-quality organizations since graduating
from APSU.
He’s also been busy accepting awards for
his achievements. In 2005, Stec was chosen
to receive North Carolina’s Outstanding
Business Achievement Award. That same
year, he was named Entrepreneur of the Year.
This year, he was honored as the owner of
one of the Top 25 Fitness Chains in the
World.
Stec, a star on APSU’s football field, also
excelled in the classroom, earning two bachelor’s
degrees—in exercise science and in
business management. They provided a perfect
foundation for his entrepreneurial enterprises.
After graduation, he was director of membership
and sales for the corporate division of
Gold’s Gym, Clarksville. In 1995, he moved
to North Carolina to become the regional club
director for the Chapel Hill/Durham area—a
move that would pique another interest—
NASCAR racing.
In North Carolina, Stec moved up the ranks,
becoming a managing partner and regional
club director for a Gold’s Gym in Raleigh.
With great enthusiasm and a vision that
included building his own facility, Stec eyed
the Charlotte market as a possible location.
In 1999, he opened the first Peak Fitness
Center in Charlotte. The business has grown
rapidly in six years. He now owns 15 Peak
Fitness Centers in North Carolina and South
Carolina and has plans to launch a national
franchise in the near future.
As if the rapid expansion of Peak Fitness
Centers weren’t enough, Stec decided to enter
the world of NASCAR racing, the No. 1 sport
in America today.
Continued on page 31
11

fall 2005 9/19/05 11:02 AM Page 14
Farm
Down on the
By: Dennie B. Burke
Executive Director for
Public Relations and Marketing
It’s finals
week at the
University of
Kentucky in Lexington, and campus
parking is at a premium. Students
are parked helter-skelter, filling every
foot of space, paved and unpaved.
As a further complication, summer construction
has begun, meaning barricaded streets. The campus
has become a labyrinth. Located at the intersection of
Cooper Drive and Limestone Avenue, the 10-story Garrigus
Building is easy to spot but seems impossible to reach.
From his fourth-floor office window with cell phone at his ear,
Dr. James Jackson (‘75), associate professor of animal sciences,
watches his guest attempt to maneuver closer. Like an air-traffic
controller trying to talk a pilot down, Jackson calmly gives step-bystep
directions to the restricted parking lot. Wheels down and locked.
Bucking the odds
Lifting an arm in an “I’m here” gesture, Jackson ambles onto the paved area at the back
entrance to Garrigus. Behind rimless glasses, his dark eyes twinkle in amusement. A handshake
and shared laugh break the ice. It’s a good beginning.
Last spring, Jackson returned to APSU to be initiated into the Beta Mu Chapter of Alpha
Gamma Rho (AGR)—32 years after thinking he had become a full-fledged member. A couple of
12
Austin Peay/Fall 2005

fall 2005 9/19/05 11:02 AM Page 15
Dr. James Jackson, associate professor of animal sciences at the
University of Kentucky (UK), surveys the scene below as several Future
Farmers of America (FFA) teams set up for the state Livestock-Judging
Competition held in Broadbent Arena during the Kentucky State Fair,
Louisville. As part of his duties at UK, Jackson is responsible for extension
work with such groups as FFA and 4-H.
Austin Peay/Fall 2005
13

fall 2005 9/19/05 11:02 AM Page 16
weeks earlier, UK’s AGR president invited
Jackson to speak at a chapter meeting, but,
within days, fraternity officials notified him
there was a problem.
Perplexed, Jackson e-mailed his friend,
former agriculture instructor and AGR mentor,
Dr. Gaines Hunt (‘66), dean of APSU’s
College of Science and Mathematics: “I
accepted an invitation to speak to the AGR
chapter here. Of course, they checked the
records. The information said the (APSU)
chapter was initiated in 1983. I thought we
initiated the chapter there in 1973.”
Hunt quickly responded: “Both you and
the AGR chapter are partially correct. Austin
Peay established a ‘colony’ of AGR in 1973. In
1983, it was granted ‘chapter’ status.”
Although colony brothers could be initiated
into AGR at the chartering ceremony
in 1983, Jackson—busy with the work
involved in becoming a tenured college
prof—did not participate. Because it was
important to him to make his membership
official, Jackson returned to APSU in March
2005 and, along with the newly selected
members, was initiated.
“I was happy to be a part of the initiation,”
he says. “The officers and members were supportive
of my going through initiation at my
age and offered me their warm hospitality.”
His age and timing were a bit out of sync,
but Jackson is used to swimming upstream.
Over the years, pushing against the current
has made him stronger, focused and resilient.
Good morning, Vietnam
After an aborted start in 1967, Jackson
began his “serious” college career at APSU
in 1972—as an Air Force veteran.
The only son of Edith and the late James
Sr., Jackson and his four sisters grew up on
the family’s busy dairy farm in Todd
County, Ky. From the get-go, this Jackson
Five knew their parents’ expectations of
them included college.
“Dad felt farming was going to become
more difficult, so he told us to get an education
and then farm as a hobby,” Jackson
says. All five heeded his advice: Susie Riley
enrolled at Western Kentucky University.
Like their brother, the other sisters—Brenda
Todd (‘78), Woodbridge, Va.; Donna Bailey
Widely respected for his leadership in extension work, Dr. James Jackson shares a light moment with Doug
Wilson during the FFA Livestock-Judging Competition at the Kentucky State Fair.
(‘84), St, Mary’s, Ga., and Renee Moyd (‘79),
Jacksonville, Fla.—are APSU alums.
After a year at APSU, Jackson joined the
U.S. Air Force. “The military had a lot to
offer a young person, who was immature
and without direction,” he says. “I was
trained as an aerospace ground equipment
repairman—a fancy name for mechanic. But
I enjoyed working on the flight line and
watching the planes take off and land. We
were responsible for maintaining all the
equipment that supported the aircraft while
it was on the ground.”
After technical training at Chanute Air
Force Base, Rantoul, Ill., he was assigned to
Tinker Air Force Base in Oklahoma. While
there, he received a temporary assignment
to Korea. But his last 12 months were spent
in Vietnam at Cameron Bay. He was to
remain there until July 1972, but the draw
down of U.S. troops began in January, and
Jackson returned home in April.
In retrospect, his most valuable educational
experience likely was his stint in the
Air Force. “Growing up in Small Town USA
made me appreciate the military experience,”
he says. “Before then, my cosmos was
limited. In the military, I was exposed to
different people and varied ideas.
“Although I had seen pictures of starving
kids with potbellies on TV, seeing the
images of poverty first hand in Korea and
Vietnam made me appreciate what we take
for granted in the United States. I matured
and developed a sense of discipline.”
When he took his GI Bill money and reenrolled
at APSU in 1972, he returned, as
he says, “a dedicated student, as opposed to
the haphazard person I was before.
“In 1967 when Dad and Mom were paying
for my education, my GPA was about a
1.9. After maturing a bit, I was able to raise
my overall GPA to 3.75 before graduation.”
In 1975, Jackson earned two bachelor’s
degrees—in distributive agriculture and
biology. Again, Hunt influenced the path he
would take. Hunt encouraged him to enter
graduate school at UK. He did and earned a
master’s degree and, eventually, a doctorate
in animal sciences.
After completing his master’s degree,
Jackson returned to the Todd County farm
for two years, but 1977 brought a major
drought to Western Kentucky. The tobacco
he had planted—his cash crop—was gone.
His dad had been right—farming was getting
more difficult.
Although Jackson still owns a 120-acre
farm in Todd County, he leases it out. Why
hold onto it? Who knows, he says? In the
future, one of his children might want to
move back. As for him, he left the farm for
good in 1982 and joined the faculty in the
UK College of Animal Sciences as assistant
professor, quickly attaining the rank of associate
professor. Over the years, his primary
area of research has been dairy cattle and
issues affecting them.
If you consider “animal sciences” to be
lessons for a bygone era, just remember:
“Got milk?”—the national campaign that
proved phenomenally successful because
milk and the good health its consumption
presumes are relevant to everyone.
Got milk? Yes, thanks to research by such
scientists as Jackson—research that’s resulted
in healthier cows, increased milk production
and safer dairy products for today’s
consumer.
With high honors
In 2001, Jackson hit a career peak, receiving
two highly coveted honors—the Gamma
Sigma Master Teacher Award and the Lyman
T. Johnson Torch of Excellence Award.
Austin Peay/Fall 2005
14
PEAY Alum FACT: Neil Revlett (’01) is event coordinator for the Nashville Sounds.

fall 2005 9/19/05 11:02 AM Page 17
Dr. James Jackson’s wife, Elda, and their youngest
son, Joey, 14, stop by Broadbent Arena to check
on preparations for the FFA Livestock-Judging
Competition. The family shares Jackson’s interest
in animal sciences, especially Elda who earned
both her bachelor’s and master’s degrees in animal
sciences from the University of Kentucky.
So has Jackson begun slipping quietly
toward retirement? Ha! Rather than slowing
down, his duties expanded significantly in
March 2005—to his delight. His new
responsibilities mean a return to an old
love—4-H and extension work.
By and large, if you grew up on a farm in
Western Kentucky in the ’50s and ’60s, 4-H
was a part of life. For the young Jackson, 4-
H meant hours of fun in the Tractor Club.
He also raised cattle and pigs for exhibit,
and participated in 4-H speech, dancing
and, yes, sewing contests.
“Whether you are responsible for an animal
or preparing for a speech contest, 4-H
teaches leadership skills,” he says. “As a
young man, I was shy; 4-H helped me
become more outgoing.”
As an adult, he continues to serve as a 4-
H leader. In 2004-05, he was vice president
and then president of both the Mercer
County 4-H Council and the Fort Harrod
Area 4-H Council. In 2003 and 2004, he
also was Mercer County Cattlemen’s
Association president.
Last year’s untimely death of a colleague,
who was responsible for extension work,
created an opening, which Jackson filled.
“The college allowed me to divide my
time—60 percent extension, 30 percent
teaching and 10 percent research.”
Thrown head first into a massive project
after accepting the new duties, he’s charged
with planning and implementing a statewide
livestock-judging contest to be held at UK in
June 2005.
“After we wrap up this competition, I’ll be
responsible for training the top eight people
to compete in livestockjudging
events nationwide.
In November, the
top four will compete in
the National Livestock
Judging Contest at the
North American
Livestock Center in
Louisville,” he says. “The
Kentucky team always
has been competitive in
the contest, so I’m excited
about it.”
One reason Jackson
enjoys his new duties is
that they provide the chance for him to load
his family in a car and travel together to
competitions in which all have an interest.
For the Jacksons, it’s a family tradition,
except for son Jerry, born 36 years ago to
Jackson and his first wife. “Jerry is stationed
with the Air Force in South Carolina and may
have to go to Iraq this summer,” his father
says. “But I’m praying that won’t happen.”
Green acres and happy hearts
Although Jackson works in Metro
Lexington, he remains a country boy at heart.
He, his wife Elda and their three sons live
on an 80-acre farm in nearby Mercer
County. There they raise cattle, do a little
farming, enjoy life and, most importantly,
enjoy each other.
And as they say, the apples didn’t fall far
from the tree. Twin sons Josh and Justin, 20,
are UK sophomores—Josh in animal science
and Justin in agricultural engineering. “Our
youngest son, Joey, 14, plans to do something
with computer or medical engineering.
The little guy got a 29 on his ACT on
the first try, a 34 in reading,” Jackson says,
with pride.
These young men are
an advertisement for
home-schooling. Homeschooled
throughout
most of their pre-collegiate
years, all are intelligent,
well rounded and
fully grounded.
For this, Jackson gives
most of the credit to
Elda, a UK graduate with
bachelor’s and master’s
degrees in animal sciences.
Jackson lights up
when he talks about her.
The two, who met at UK,
clicked instantly, and the
Austin Peay/Fall 2005
connection is stronger than ever.
“Elda and I share a love of animals and
the land,” he says. “We’re so similar, we
think alike.”
Has their biracial marriage posed any
problems for them? “We’ve not hit any real
roadblocks,” Jackson says. “I guess I’d say we
did face a ‘stumbling block’ when we were
looking for places to live.”
Jackson calmly recounts how the realtor
told him—on the phone—that she had the
perfect house for them. When they showed
up to tour the house, they were told it had
been sold.
“Just a stumbling block,” he says again,
with emphasis. “Not a roadblock.”
That stumbling block turned into a
launching pad, propelling the couple into
buying their beloved Mercer County farm,
where they’ve lived happily for 20 years.
“We go to church there; we’re involved in
various activities there,” he says. “It’s a warm
and welcoming community.”
Any other “stumbling blocks?” He laughs
and, with some hesitation, says, “Well, when
we attended Elda’s high school class reunion
in Oldham County, near Louisville, everyone
was great, and we had a ball. When we
went to my high school reunion, we … well,
it was not pleasant.”
Enough said. This is a man who, throughout
his life, never allowed other people or
events to define who he is and who he is
not. His e-mail reflects this determination.
Pre-set to appear at the end of each e-mail
he sends is a short but powerful quote by
Eleanor Roosevelt:
No one can make you feel inferior without
your permission.
15

fall 2005 9/19/05 11:02 AM Page 18
THE GREATEST
For the full calendar of Homecoming activities, including
student-oriented events, please go to www.apsu.edu.
Barry (‘79) and Maggie Kulback (‘77), Alumni Co-Chairs
SHOW ON EARTH
Friday, Oct. 21-Friday, Oct. 28
Queen and King Court selection; students
vote online.
Friday, Oct. 28-Saturday, Oct. 29
One Night Stand
(Dance Marathon)
8 p.m.-8 a.m., Memorial Health Building, free and open to
the public. An entirely student-run and student-supported
fundraising event to inspire and unite the campus and
perpetuate the mission of the Children’s Miracle Network.
Contact Student Life and Leadership (931) 221-7431.
Saturday, Oct. 29-Tuesday, Nov. 1
Decorating Challenge
Student organizations and APSU faculty, staff and
departments will be challenged to decorate their offices,
houses or other designated areas. First- and secondplace
winners in the two divisions; all winners receive a
pizza party. Contact Student Life and Leadership (931)
221-7431.
Monday, Oct. 31
APSU Apollo (student talent show)
7-10 p.m., Clement Auditorium. Free and open to the public.
Contact Student Life and Leadership (931) 221-7431.
Staying overnight?
Consider one of these host hotels
Riverview Inn
50 College St.
Clarksville
1-877-487-4837 or
931-522-3331
Quality Inn
Downtown
Highway 41-A
Clarksville
1-800-4CHOICE or
931-645-9084
Remember to ask for the special APSU
Homecoming Room Rate when making
reservations! There will be an APSU information
table in the lobby of both hotels.
Tuesday, Nov. 1
International Night
6 p.m., Morgan University Center Ballroom; free and open
to the public. An opportunity to experience international
cultures and food, sponsored by the International Student
Organization. Contact Inga Filippo at (931) 221-7381.
Wednesday, Nov. 2
War of the Wings chicken wing cook-off
7 p.m., Intramural Field, free. Open to students, faculty and
staff. Contact Student Life and Leadership (931) 221-7431.
Chariot Races
7:30 p.m., Intramural Field, free and open to the public.
In true Roman fashion, students and student organizations
race their homemade chariots for glory and awards.
Contact Student Life and Leadership (931) 221-7431.
Bonfire and Announcement of Homecoming
Court
8 p.m., Intramural Field, free and open to the public.
Contact Student Life and Leadership (931) 221-7431.
Friday, Nov. 4
27th Annual Homecoming Golf Tournament
8 a.m., Swan Lake Golf Course, $60 per person.
Sponsored by Ajax Distributing Co. and Miller Lite. Fee
includes ditty bag, refreshments on course and light
lunch. Nelson Boehms (’86) and Jeff Turner, co-chairs.
Open to the public. Contact the Alumni and Annual
Giving Office (931) 221-7979 or 1-800-264-2586.
Alumni and Friends Card Party
10 a.m., Morgan University Center; $10 per person.
Advance reservations required. Larry (’67) and Kay (’62)
Martin and Margaret Ann Marshall, co-chairs. Open to
the public. Contact the Alumni and Annual Giving Office
(931) 221-7979 or 1-800-264-2586.
Cookout/Pep Rally
11:30 a.m.-1 p.m., Morgan University Center Plaza, free
to University students, faculty and staff. Contact
Student Life and Leadership (931) 221-7431.
Alumni-Varsity Golf Match
1 p.m. shotgun start, Clarksville Country Club, includes
lunch from noon - 1 p.m. Men’s varsity golf alumni compete
against the current men’s golf team in this annual
event. Contact Sherwin Clift (‘60 ) (931) 801-5138,
Steve Miller (’65) (931) 648-4195 or Jim Smith (’68)
(931) 645-6586.
14th Annual Dave Aaron Reception
6 p.m., Riverview Inn (ballroom), 50 College Street, free,
open to the public. Friends and former players for the
late Dave Aaron are encouraged to reunite during this
special event. Creson Briggs (’51), Glyn Broom (’51),
Brandon Buhler (’51), Ben Fendley (’51), George Fisher
(’52), Hendricks Fox (’51), Dick Hardwick (’49) and Bill
Cashion, co-chairs. Contact the Alumni and Annual
Giving Office (931) 221-7979 or 1-800-264-2586.
Baseball Alumni Game and Other Festivities
TBA, contact the Baseball Office (931) 221-7902, e-mail
mcclureg@apsu.edu or check www.apsu.edu/letsgopeay.
Homecoming Comedy Show
7-9 p.m., Memorial Health Building, free to APSU students,
$5 general admission. Tickets available at
Morgan University Center Information Desk. Contact
Student Life and Leadership (931) 221-7431.
continued on page 17 (after insert)
Don’t miss out on the
College of
Science and Mathematics
Reunion Brunch
Call or visit our Web site
for details.
www.apsu.edu
or 1-800-264-2586
16
Austin Peay/Fall 2005
PEAY Alum FACT: Brian Baker (’03) is a quarterback for the Rio Grande Valley Dorados in the Arena Football 2 League.

fall 2005 9/19/05 11:03 AM Page 19
Homecoming 2005 Calendar of Events (continued from page 16)
Homecoming Street Dance
8 p.m.-midnight; free admission. Reunite with friends
and dance the night away at the corner of University and
Main Streets to music by Mike Robinson. Food and beverages
for sale, sponsored by Budweiser of Clarksville,
along with the Burrito Bungalow. Terry (’80) and Debbie
Griffin, Craig (’85) and Lori (87) O’Shoney, Nelson (’86)
and Deborah Boehms and Garnett (’83) and Nancy (’80)
Ladd, co-chairs. Open to the public. Contact the Alumni
and Annual Giving Office (931) 221-7979 or
1-800-264-2586.
Athletic Letter-Winners Reunion
8 p.m., Front Page Deli, 105 Franklin Street, free (cash
bar). Hosted by APSU Athletics Office. Contact
Athletics (931) 221-7903.
NPHC “Black & White Affair”
10 p.m.-2 a.m., “The Down Under” at the Pinnacle
Family Entertainment Center, 430 Warfield Boulevard.
Sponsored by the APSU National Pan-Hellenic Council.
Admission $10 individual, $15 couple, $1 service charge;
Tickets available at the Morgan University Center
Information Desk. Advance ticket purchase required.
Telephone (931) 221-6230.
Saturday, Nov. 5
Homecoming 5K Run
8 a.m., registration $20 in advance, $25 day of race.
Fee includes tee shirt and refreshments; prizes and cash
awards. Mike (’78) and Lisa (’81) Kelley, co-chairs.
Open to the public, all ages. Contact the Alumni and
Annual Giving Office (931) 221-7979 or 1-800-264-2586.
Alumni Band Rehearsal
9 a.m., music/mass communication building, room 147.
Band alumni are invited to dust off their instruments and
batons for the 2005 edition of the Alumni Band! APSU's
band staff looks forward to bringing this great tradition back
to campus for a special performance during the Homecoming
game. RSVP to Andrea Brown, director of athletic bands, at
browna@apsu.edu or telephone (931) 221-6820.
Homecoming Parade
10 a.m., through downtown Clarksville, free. Open to the
public. Contact Student Life and Leadership (931) 221-7431.
Alumni Awards and College of Science and
Mathematics Reunion Brunch
10:45 a.m., Morgan University Center Ballroom, $20 per
person; advance reservations required. Gather early to
watch the parade and then move on to the brunch to
meet and mingle with other alumni and friends.
Highlights include the presentation of the 2005 alumni
awards and recognition of graduates from the College of
Science and Mathematics. Wayne and Kay (’77)
Murphy, David and Kim (’90, ’95) Smith, Elvy (’77) and
Sandra (’82) Watson and Sue Smith, co-chairs; open to
the public. Contact the Alumni and Annual Giving Office
(931) 221-7979 or 1-800-264-2586. Deadline for reservations
is Tuesday, Nov. 1.
Alumni Band Hospitality Tent
11 a.m.-1:45 p.m., parking lot in front of Tennis Center,
free to all APSU band alumni and their families.
University band faculty cordially invites band alumni to
stop by for dessert and fellowship.
RSVP to Andrea
Brown at
browna@apsu.edu or telephone
(931) 221-6820.
Alumni Hospitality
Tent
11:30 a.m.-1:30 p.m.,
parking lot in front of
Tennis Center, beverages
available, free. Contact
the Alumni and Annual
Giving Office (931) 221-
7979 or 1-800-264-2586.
Old Fashioned Pig Roast
11:30 a.m. – 1:30 p.m., parking lot in front of Tennis
Center, free and open to the public. Enjoy barbeque and
fixings, sponsored by Gait Packagings LLC and Student
Life and Leadership Office. Contact the University
Advancement Office (931) 221-7127.
APSU vs. St. Joseph’s Homecoming
Football Game
2 p.m., Governors Stadium, open to the public. Free
admission for reunion group. Special activities include
presentation of the sixth annual National Alumni
Association Wyatt Award. For admission prices, telephone
the Athletics Ticket Office (931) 221-7761.
African-American Alumni Chapter Reception
4:30-6:30 p.m., Morgan University Center Ballroom, free.
Nancy Washington (’99), Makeba Webb (’00) and Kenny
Maddox (’96), co-chairs. Contact the Alumni and Annual
Giving Office (931) 221-7979 or 1-800-264-2586.
Nursing Reception
4:30-6:30 p.m., McReynolds Building, free. Sponsored
by the Nursing Alumni Chapter; information on RN-BSN
tract and RODP master’s in nursing program available.
Contact the Alumni and Annual Giving Office (931) 221-
7979 or 1-800-264-2586.
NPHC 2005 Homecoming Step Show
7 p.m., Memorial Health Gymnasium. Admission $12 in
advance, $15 day of show, $1 service charge. Tickets
available at the Morgan University Center Information
Desk. Advance ticket purchase required. Contact (931)
221-6230.
Austin Peay/Fall 2005
17

fall 2005 9/19/05 11:03 AM Page 20
By: Dennie B. Burke
Executive Director of
Public Relations and Marketing
Photo: Bill Persinger
Ken and Amy Landrum
at the Pace Alumni
Center at Emerald Hill
Austin Peay/Fall 2005
18 Austin Peay/Fall 2005

fall 2005 9/19/05 11:03 AM Page 21
Slumming? Then avoid Southside Boulevard, which cuts
through prime Jacksonville, Fla., real estate.
On either side of the wide boulevard, smaller roads
turn off, right and left, disappearing into secluded residential areas,
shielded from view by tall brick or marble walls.
Two curving slabs of marble, both inlaid with a bronze image
of a majestic stag, mark the entry to Deercreek Club Road. For a
few hundred feet, the road winds through palm trees and manicured
flowerbeds, coming to a halt at a guardhouse. The guard verifies
the visitor’s name, license plate number and destination within
the gated community before reaching into the house to push a
button. The long-armed gate lifts slowly.
The road continues back and back—passing through the
shade of a natural preserve before reaching the heart of the community.
Like a layout from “Better Homes and Gardens,” most of
the homes are set well back from the winding road on plush cushions
of grass, their backyards abutting a fairway or ending at the
edge of a manmade lake.
Deercreek is a peaceful, pastoral and privileged neighborhood.
At first glimpse
The leaded-glass front door opens, and
Amy Landrum (’65) walks down the wide
steps and out onto the curved driveway,
offering a warm smile. Any reservations
she has about her guests or their mission
are hidden under the warm blanket of
Southern hospitality.
It’s cool inside the one-story house. The
great room—with its wall of windows and
12-foot ceiling—is spacious and inviting.
Through the back window, beyond the
shaded lanai with its wicker furniture,
plants and bright flowers, the backyard
slopes down to a small lake.
The great room itself speaks volumes
about the couple that built this house. It’s
cheery, neat and functional, a comfortable
blend of family heirlooms and art
along with a massive plasma TV screen
where the Landrums say a fireplace ordinarily
would be. Quite simply, the room
is a reflection of two people who know
who they are and what they value in their
home—and lives.
When the Landrums retired to Florida
eight years ago, they decided to downsize.
Seldom-used rooms were eliminated or
transfigured. The living room and family
room became a great room. Just off the
foyer and adjacent to the open kitchen, a
formal dining room was transformed into
Ken Landrum’s (‘64) super-neat, high-tech
office where he reads online news, studies
the stock market and e-mails friends.
Speaking of Landrum, he suddenly
appears, gently closing a door behind
him, and strides forward, a welcoming
hand outstretched. Whimpers from
behind the door indicate Gracie, the black
cocker spaniel who generally has the run
of the house, is indignant.
With a reassuring smile, Landrum
Austin Peay/Fall 2005
19

fall 2005 9/19/05 11:03 AM Page 22
was us against the world. I doubled my
forces.”
The two married after graduation in
December 1964 and moved to Millersburg in
northern Ohio, where Ken taught high school
math. After a year of snow and biting cold,
the couple was eager to migrate south again.
says, “She’ll settle down.” She does, almost
immediately. Despite his easy congeniality, it’s
obvious Landrum is accustomed to people
(and animals) doing what he expects. He
exudes confidence—not the cockiness of the
entitled-by-inheritance, but the assuredness of
one who has earned respect the old-fashioned
way—through hard work, difficult decisionmaking,
tested leadership and multiple successes.
And according to him, Amy—besides having
her own fulfilling career—has been his
most ardent cheerleader. Although they seem as
different as night and day, the two are a team.
“In my opinion, all long-term relationships
work better with Yang and Yin present,” he
says. “The fun part is watching that change in
differing situations. Counterbalance is key.”
Before e-Harmony.com,
there was ‘Hope’
Sometimes, blind dates do work. Ask the
Landrums.
After her retired-military father moved the
family to Shelbyville, Tenn., Amy Hope
enrolled at APSU. Having completed a year
in nursing at Washington State University,
she entered APSU as a sophomore and
switched her major to elementary education.
While Amy, as part of a military family,
had been a rolling stone, Ken was a hometown
boy, the son of Horace and Chrystelle
Landrum, Clarksville. Both he and his sister,
LaVerne Burkhart (’78), attended APSU. His
decision to enroll was influenced, to a large
degree, by the local newspaper. From 5th
grade through high school, he delivered
newspapers for The Leaf-Chronicle.
When it came time to decide on college,
then-publisher James Charlet offered him a
job with flexible hours. Landrum gave up his
delivery route and, over the years, worked in
the pressroom, classified department and
graphics department. To a large degree, his
amazing work ethic was forged there. “I was
working 60 hours a week at the paper and
still taking a full load of classes,” he says,
with a chuckle. A
permanent job at
the paper was waiting
for him when
he graduated from
APSU, but
Landrum was ready
to move on. And
Amy was ready to
go with him.
Three years earlier,
the two met on a
blind date. A couple
of months after
their first date, Amy
told her mother she
had met her future
husband. “I was
drawn to the fact he
was hard working,
very smart and cute. He even had a full head
of hair back then,” she says in a good-natured
jibe at her husband of 40 years.
Ken had dated little before he met the
green-eyed beauty from Shelbyville. “I was
too busy working,” he says. “But Amy was so
easy to talk to. She made me feel like everything
in my life was going to be OK. She
stroked my ego. Before she came along, it
was me against the world. After we met, it
“In my opinion, all longterm
relationships work
better with Yang and Yin
present,” he says. “The fun
part is watching that change
in differing situations.
Counterbalance is key.”
WSM: More than music
Back in Nashville, Amy and Ken began
what would become long and fulfilling careers.
Over the next 30 years, Amy taught most
of the elementary grades, developing a special
fondness for 3rd graders who, she says,
“still love their teacher.”
She witnessed the pendulum in education
swing from ungraded to graded classes, from
parents who were strict disciplinarians to
those whose children suffered in school due
to a lack of discipline at home. “I’ve been
through it all,” she says. “Teaching is a
demanding but rewarding profession. You
have to love it to make a difference in children’s
lives.”
Fortunately, throughout her career, she was
able to choose her schools, ending with eight
memorable years at the brand-new Tulip
Grove Elementary School in Hermitage.
Within a month of their return to
Tennessee, Ken
was hired as a
systems engineer
in the Nashville
office of National
Life and Accident
Insurance
Company/NLT. It
was an unpretentious
start to a
phenomenally
rewarding journey
with what
would become
the largest insurance
company in
the United States.
During his 32
years with
National Life, the
company merged with other companies eight
times. If you think insurance means insurance,
think again: National Life and Accident
Insurance/NLT was a massive conglomerate
with such diverse holdings as Third National
Bank and Opryland.
The Grand Ole Opry was broadcast nationwide
on WSM radio, also owned by National
Life. Originally, “WSM” was an acronym for
“We Shield Millions,” a reference to the
20 Austin Peay/Fall 2005
PEAY Alum FACT: Brandon M. Harrison (’04) is an associate in the health care group at the accounting firm of Horne LLP, Nashville.

fall 2005 9/19/05 11:03 AM Page 23
mother company’s brand promise.
National Life was acquired by American
General in a hostile takeover and, over time,
American General officials decided to focus
on its financial assets and divest itself of such
tangential interests as Opryland—an offshoot
of the Grand Ole Opry—which it sold to
Gaylord Entertainment.
“Over a period of 32 years, we acquired
many companies in the same manner,”
Landrum says. Although he won’t spell it out,
it’s obvious Landrum was the go-to guy for the
hungry conglomerate. Even now, talking about
that era, he becomes increasingly animated.
“It was an exciting and intriguing time,” he
says. “We were moving so fast. The economy
was changing rapidly, and we were selling,
buying, consolidating. My last 12 years there,
I was in M and A (merger and acquisitions).
Some companies we acquired went from
1,000 people to 100.”
Was it difficult to pass out pink slips? Yes,
but necessary for survival and
success. “I knew a lot of people
were going to lose their jobs.
Instead of the unknown, it was
the ‘known’ that was frightening.
The hardest time for me, personally,
was when I had to let one of
my best friends go.”
At such times, Amy became
his safe haven. In the face of his
having to implement business
decisions, she was the one who
understood, the one in whom he confided.
Many co-workers saw him as a flinty leader
but, behind the scenes, Amy was the rock.
“Looking back, it was scary,” he says, “but
what synergy we had! Classic big business.”
And big dividends for stockholders and executives
who did their job well and hung tough.
Fun in the sun
Concluding the talk about American
General/AIG, he says, simply, “I had a good
run.” What an understatement for this sharp-asa-tack,
hard working, never-say-die survivor
and lifelong learner, who retired early as executive
VP of a major international conglomerate.
In 1995, American General bought The
Franklin Life Insurance Company in
Springfield, Ill. Landrum was asked to move
there temporarily to oversee the informationtechnology
merger. After conferring with his
wife, he told the company president “no” and
announced his retirement.
A month later, the boss called again. American
General was buying a company in Jacksonville,
Fla., and needed Landrum to “go there and bring
it back to Nashville”—an offer he was less
inclined to refuse, so he and Amy moved into a
corporate apartment in Jacksonville.
Almost immediately, the city felt like
home. They made friends. He became active
in the Jacksonville Track Club, continuing his
lifelong love of jogging. Amy joined the
Garden Club, the Women’s Alliance and several
bridge and mahjong clubs.
After 18 months in Jacksonville, the call
came again: American General had purchased a
company in Richmond, Va., and needed
Landrum to move there to oversee the information-technology
merger. Landrum says, “I told
him ‘No—and this time, I mean ‘hell no.’”
That was settled, and so were they. They
bought a lot in Deercreek and built their retirement
home. But one important aspect of the
National Life legacy stayed with him. The
founding fathers were big on college scholarships.
Several had established the National
Life/NLT Endowment at Vanderbilt University.
“I’ve been through it all. Teaching is a
demanding but rewarding profession.
You have to love it to make a difference
in children’s lives.”
The Landrums now had the financial
means and the desire to continue the tradition,
but their emotional ties were to Austin
Peay. In Spring 2005, they told President
Sherry Hoppe they had revised their will,
leaving an estimated $2.3 million to APSU
for a scholarship endowment—their way of
making it possible for future students to
attend their alma mater.
While their new will collects dust in the
attorney’s office, this couple has a lot of living
to do. They’ve discovered the wonders of
cruising. They want to see the world—with a
cruise ship serving as home base. Besides
visiting new places, they can count on
unpacking once, meeting new and interesting
people and enjoying gourmet meals.
They’ve just returned from a two-week
cruise of the Mediterranean Ocean. They
loved the variety of ports, but they concur
that Rome was their favorite.
Overall, Amy’s most enjoyable trip was a
three-week cruise of Australia and New
Zealand. Besides the spectacular scenery, she
appreciated being in a part of the world
whose citizens love America. The trip that
made the biggest impression on Ken was one
to Moscow in 2003.
“Standing in Red Square … there’s so
much history there,” he says. “We grew up
during the Cold War, so it was exciting to see
a new Russia changing to democracy.”
In September 2005, the couple will cruise
for three weeks around China and Japan, taking
inland trips to cities and sites of interest.
And plans are in the works for future adventures.
“We’re doing the condensed ‘Reader’s
Digest’ version of the world,” Ken says.
“Later, we’ll go back to countries we especially
liked.”
Roses and rocking chairs
The Landrums are strategic long-range
planners. They schedule cruises months,
sometimes years, in advance. They’ve already
given away furniture they no longer need.
They’ve drawn up and signed their last will
and testament. It seems they’ve tied
up all the loose ends of their busy
lives so they can focus fully on
enjoying retirement.
Their careful planning begs the
question: Years from now, how do
they want to be remembered? “I
need to know I’ll leave this world a
better place,” Amy says, as one who
likes to see her roses bloom while
she’s around to enjoy them.
What about Ken? Without hesitation,
he says, “I don’t care. ‘Born 1942. Died
‘blank’…’ My journey is not about being
remembered. It’s about being challenged and
enjoying life.
“I don’t believe in looking back, and I
don’t worry about the future. You know the
riddle: ‘What do worry and a rocking chair
have in common? Both give you something
to do, but neither gets you anywhere.’”
And this is a man who moves with the
propulsion of a fighter jet, carrying his wife
in the jet stream he creates. His great energy
gives them wings, while her kindness gives
them roots wherever they are. They’ve made
many friends in Florida, but do they maintain
contact with their Tennessee friends? With a
mischievous grin, Ken says, “When you live
in Florida, friends gladly come to see you—
especially in January and February.”
Regardless of the season, guests are sure to
be welcomed warmly and treated royally. That’s
just who Amy and Ken Landrum are.
Austin Peay/Fall 2005
21

fall 2005 9/19/05 11:03 AM Page 24
Alumni News & Calendar of Events
For the most up-to-date alumni
information go to our online
events calendar:
www.apsu.edu/alumni/
Oct. 1
Oct. 8
Oct. 18
Oct. 25
Oct. 18
Nov. 4
Greek Alumni Event – Toga Party
Pace Alumni Center at Emerald Hill
Pre-Game Tailgate Party
Davidson, N.C.
Alumni/Admissions Reception
Waverly, Tenn.
Alumni/Admissions Reception
Hopkinsville, Ky.
Admissions Reception
Huntsville, Ala.
Homecoming – “Greatest Show
on Earth”
Homecoming Golf Tournament
Swan Lake Golf Course
Nov. 29
Dec. 8
Winter 2006
Jan. 23
Jan. 28
Feb. 7
March 11
Alumni/Admissions Reception
Chattanooga
Senior Salute
Pace Alumni Center at Emerald Hill
Alumni/Admissions Reception
Nashville
Pre-Game Basketball Party
(tentative)
Birmingham
Alumni/Admissions Reception
Cheatham County
Candlelight Ball
The Opryland Hotel, Nashville
Alumni awards nominations
March 21
Alumni/Admissions Reception
Huntsville, Ala.
Alumni Online Community
Our partnership with our Alumni Online
Community vendor will expire December
2005, meaning an end to the services provided
by this vendor. To reduce our annual
costs and take advantage of on-site resources,
APSU plans to offer similar Internet services
to you soon. We will replace the most
important of these services as soon as possible.
All APSU alumni information once
maintained by that vendor will be deleted.
Thank you for your patience and cooperation
during this transition period.
Nov. 5
Alumni and Friends Card Party
Morgan University Center Ballroom
Alumni-Varsity Golf Match
Clarksville Country Club
Dave Aaron Reception
Riverview Inn Ballroom
Homecoming Street Dance
Corner of University and Main
Homecoming continued
5K Run
Alumni Awards and Reunion
Brunch
Morgan University Center Ballroom
Alumni Hospitality Tent
The Austin Peay State University National Alumni
Association is seeking nominations for the
Outstanding Young Alumnus/a Award, Outstanding
Service Award and Outstanding Alumnus/a Award.
Submit nominations in one of the following ways:
Mail: Austin Peay State University
Alumni and Annual Giving
P.O. Box 4676
Clarksville, TN 37044
In person: Pace Alumni Center at Emerald Hill
751 N. Second Street
By Phone: (931) 221-7979 or
1-800-264-2586
By fax: (931) 221-6292
E-mail: alumni@apsu.edu
The Outstanding Alumnus/a Award is given to a
graduate of Austin Peay State University. It recognizes
outstanding accomplishments in one’s profession,
business, community, state or nation, that
have brought a high level of honor and pride to the
University.
The Outstanding Young Alumnus/a Award is given
to a graduate of Austin Peay State University who is
age 42 or younger. It recognizes outstanding
accomplishments in one’s profession, business,
community, state or nation, that have brought a
high level of honor and pride to the University.
The Outstanding Service Award was established
to give special recognition to individuals who,
through fund raising, recruiting, advocacy or faithful
service, have brought honor and distinction to
Austin Peay State University. This award, which may
be given to an individual who is not an alumnus/a,
represents the highest honor conferred upon alumni
and friends of the University.
African-American Alumni
Chapter Reception
Morgan University Center Ballroom
Nursing Alumni Chapter
Reception
McReynolds Building
Nov. 14
Alumni/Admissions Reception
Memphis
Nov. 15
Alumni/Admissions Reception
Jackson
Nov. 28
Alumni/Admissions Reception
Knoxville
Update your alumni
information online at
www.apsu.edu
The Class of 1955 celebrated its 50-Year Reunion April 23, 2005, with 20 classmates returning for the festivities.
Shelia Boone
Austin Peay/Fall 2005
22
PEAY Alum FACT: Terry Beth Stringer (’00) is the assistant director for marketing at Austin Peay.

fall 2005 9/19/05 11:03 AM Page 25
Katrina roars; Austin Peay responds
By: DENNIE B. BURKE
Executive Director of Public Relations and Marketing
Sara Laughlin is one of the fortunate ones.
Although her family had to evacuate from
their New Orleans home, they got out before
Katrina roared through.
And, unlike many New Orleans residents,
she didn’t have to leave her dogs behind. All
three of them—Rodney, Winston and Jack—
made the trek northward with the family, who
took temporary refuge in Houston and then
in Baton Rouge.
When they realized they would not be able
to go home for many, many months, the family
headed to Clarksville, where her aunt and
uncle welcomed them.
Fall classes began at Austin Peay Aug. 29.
On that same day, Laughlin was set to start
her junior year as an elementary education
major at New Orleans’ Loyola University.
Little did she know that, a few days later, she
would become an APSU student—one of
thousands displaced by the hurricane.
Despite the sudden rerouting of their entire
lives, the Laughlin family feels blessed.
Although their home sustained significant
wind damage, it is still standing in one of the
few New Orleans parishes that was not flooded.
The family plans to return—but when?
They returned earlier this week to check on
their property—but local police quickly said
they had to leave by sun down—an enforced
curfew. But who would want to live there
right now any way?
Laughlin says, “There’s no electricity. No grocery
stores. No gasoline. It’s like a war zone.”
Now enrolled at Rossview High School,
Clarksville, her brother, Michael Jr., a senior,
and sister Jordan, a sophomore, hope to return
by December, but there are challenges.
Neither parent has a job waiting. April, her
mother, worked at City Park just outside of
downtown New Orleans. Laughlin knows that
City Park—still under water—will not be high
on the restoration list. “I worked there, too,
part time,” she says. “It’s so beautiful—one of
the four largest parks in the country. You
could fit all of (NYC) Central Park inside it.”
The law offices of her father, Michael, an
attorney, were located above Canal Place
Shopping Center where Saks Fifth Avenue
Department Store burned. Although his office
did not burn, it is inaccessible so, like thousands
of others, he, too, is seeking employment, perhaps
with a law firm in another city—at least, in
the short term. Until they can go home.
His daughter was one of seven displaced
students who, as of Sept, 9, 2005, have found
a new home at Austin Peay, and others are
Sanding outside her aunt and uncle’s Clarksville home, Sara Laughlin displays a photo of her family’s New
Orleans home after Hurricane Katrina, as her brother, Michael Jr., and sister, Jordan, hold two of the family’s
three dogs. Their mother, April, second from left, remains in Clarksville, too, while their father returns to
the Gulf area to start rebuilding his career as an attorney
expected to enroll in coming weeks.
Laughlin says she feels comfortable at Austin
Peay. Loyola University, a private Jesuit university
with 7,500 students, is about the same size
as Austin Peay’s main campus.
“Everyone here has been so nice,”
Laughlin says. “The first day of class, people
were giving me their e-mail addresses and
phone numbers and telling me to call if I
needed anything.”
But, then, isn’t that the Austin Peay tradition?
The day after the long Labor Day weekend,
APSU’s Admissions Office began receiving
inquiries from students enrolled in affected Gulf
Coast colleges and universities.
On the main campus, the faculty was asked
to allow students to enroll through the 14h
day of class. “At Austin Peay, we’re known
for working closely with all our students,”
McDonald says, “Providing help for these
displaced students is an extension of that.”
APSU also has a late fall term to offer
these students, since the APSU Center @ Fort
Campbell’s Fall II Term does not begin registration
until Oct. 3-7. Students who enroll for
Fall II can finish a full term in eight weeks,
so they can complete fall classes by
December 2005.
Displaced students also are inquiring about
APSU’s nine degrees that are offered fully online.
In addition to welcoming displaced students,
APSU reached out to the victims of
Katrina in other ways. As of Sept. 9, 2005:
• At the Sept. 10 football game, the athletics
department accepted donations of money
or nonperishable items for hurricane victims.
More than 1,200 pounds of food and
supplies and $660 were collected and
delivered to the local Red Cross.
• Students with the Baptist Collegiate
Ministries are going to volunteer in the
affected areas during Fall Break.
• Staffing a table in the University Center
lobby, members of the APSU Staff Support
Council collected bottled water and nonperishable
items, to be trucked to the
affected areas.
• The All State staff collected money for
relief efforts.
• The APSU Greek community raised more
than $2,100 for the victims of Katrina.
• Alpha Sigma Alpha and Sigma Chi collected
donations for the Red Cross relief efforts.
• APSU’s Office of Student Counseling
Services provided counseling for any students,
faculty or staff impacted emotionally
by the hurricane.
Other initiatives are ongoing.
Reach out and touch someone
The Internet Association Corp. is providing a link
on the Alumni Online Community Web site to
enable our alumni to share their thoughts and
reach out to fellow alumni in the areas devastated
by Hurricane Katrina.
You can post information and messages and invite
others to post and view messages by going to the
link,“Support of Hurricane Katrina Relief,” on the
Alumni Online Community. Any questions about the
postings should go to alumni@apsu.edu.
Austin Peay/Fall 2005
23

fall 2005 9/19/05 11:03 AM Page 26
Sports News
APSU returns to OVC
Heaven in 2007!
Should we or shouldn’t we? That’s what
Austin Peay officials were asking after the
University’s 13 percent enrollment increase in
Fall 2004.
Should Austin Peay attempt something that
never had been done before: a full-throttle
return from non-scholarship football to the
highest competitive levels of the Ohio Valley
Conference?
After nearly six months of unprecedented
financial support from Austin Peay alumni
and supporters, the answer APSU President
Sherry Hoppe and OVC Commissioner Jon
A. Steinbrecher gave in April 2005 was a
resounding yes.
Thirty years after winning the OVC football
championship, Govs football will return
to the OVC in 2007.
A little background
The Govs’ departure from the OVC came
as a shock to many, including then-Head
Coach Roy Gregory. He was on a recruiting
trip in Rome, Ga., when then-President Sal
Rinella made the announcement in December
1996. Citing budget issues, poor performance
and concerns about gender equity, Rinella
removed the team from scholarship football
competition.
The Governors had competed in the
Conference from 1963-96, earning an OVC
title in 1977. Look at the OVC record book,
and you’ll see the names of several former
Govs football players, including former
receiver Harold Roberts (1967-70), who still
Ohio Valley Conference Commissioner Jon
Steinbrecher, left, welcomed back Austin Peay,
President Sherry Hoppe and Athletics Director Dave
Loos to the OVC in football, beginning in 2007.
holds the League record for most single-game
(20) and career (232) receptions.
But that time seemed to be over for good.
Gregory, who had invested six years with
Photo: Robert Smith, The Leaf-Chronicle
In an April Nashville press conference attended by most of the region's media, Dr. Sherry Hoppe announced
Austin Peay's intentions on returning to scholarship football in 2006 and the OVC a year later.
Austin Peay, remained committed to serving
the University, so he accepted Rinella’s offer
to become Austin Peay’s first assistant athletics
director for marketing and promotion.
Austin Peay joined the non-scholarship
Pioneer Football League following the 1996
season. But fans never stopped asking, when
are the Govs going to get back into the OVC?
24
Austin Peay/Fall 2005
PEAY Alum FACT: Curtis Johnson (’86), Clarksville, is Tennessee House Representative for District 68.
Way to grow!
In Fall 2004, APSU became the fastestgrowing
public university in Tennessee.
Enrollment was up 13 percent, and as enrollment
increases, so do available funds.
It was the right time to look into the possibility
of a return to scholarship football.
Hoppe, Athletics Director Dave Loos and
Mitch Robinson, vice president for finance
and administration, began studying Austin
Peay’s five-year projected growth. They
determined that the University could afford to
fund 45 football scholarships–the minimum
amount required to re-enter the OVC–but that
wouldn’t be enough to compete at the highest
levels of the conference.
During the later years of the University’s
participation in the OVC, the Govs found
themselves playing at a disadvantage, down by
up to 20 scholarships compared to other OVC
members. No one wanted to repeat those times.
Instead, Gregory–now executive director of
University advancement–was given the challenge
of a lifetime: to launch a campaign asking
former football players and boosters to
donate $750,000 to pay for 15 scholarships a
year over the next five years to enhance the
University’s contribution.
Making that goal would mean the
Governors could return to the OVC with 60
scholarship players–as many as any other
OVC team. It would mean Austin Peay
wouldn’t be just a Conference member, but
eligible to compete for the Conference and
national championships.
But the question remained, could the Govs’
former players and supporters be counted on
to carry Austin Peay to another win?
Back in the game
The fundraising campaign officially began
in November 2004. Along with financial
commitments, University officials started
receiving telephone calls, e-mails, letters,
cards and personal visits from excited alumni
and fans.
In fact, the groundswell of support was so
strong that by the Football Reunion in Spring
2005, Hoppe was ready to make an announcement:
The OVC Board of Presidents had agreed
to reinstate Austin Peay into the Conference.
The press conference at the Hilton Suites
in Nashville erupted into applause.
“This is an exciting moment in the history
of athletics at APSU,” said Hoppe. “I am
excited for our alums, including our former
football players, and campus and community
Photo: Robert Smith, The Leaf-Chronicle

fall 2005 9/19/05 11:03 AM Page 27
leaders who strongly believed we should be
playing at the scholarship level in the OVC.
“APSU’s public and internal images were
diminished when scholarship football was
dropped. I think it affected how students
viewed this University. I see this as an investment
in Austin Peay’s future.”
The University will leave the PFL after the
2005 football season. In 2006, the Govs will
assume partial-scholarship status as a
Division I-AA independent, then rejoin the
OVC as a full-scholarship member in 2007.
“I am excited to see Austin Peay reinstate
scholarship football and resume competition
in the Ohio Valley Conference,” said OVC
Commissioner Jon A. Steinbrecher. “This
speaks volumes to the institution’s desire and
that of its supporters to compete at the highest
level of I-AA football.”
In fact, Austin Peay’s Division I-AA football
program is the first to drop scholarship
football and later return with a program capable
of supporting the full 60 scholarships
required to be eligible to compete in a national
championship.
Steinbrecher called it a “bold” and “masterful”
move, praising Austin Peay for coming back
at the upper levels instead of the minimum.
Bubba’s Back!
The leading scorer in Austin Peay men’s
basketball history is back.
Charles “Bubba” Wells, the 1997 Ohio
Valley Conference “Player of the Year” and
two-time OVC “Male Athlete of the Year,”
has returned to the Governors basketball program
as a full-time assistant to Head Coach
Dave Loos.
“This is the next step for me,” Wells said.
“Playing is tough to give up, but I am ready
to take that step, and this is the place where I
wanted to start.”
Considered by many to be the most popular
player in OVC history, Wells finished his
career with 2,267 points, ranking him third
all-time in the OVC. He was a three-time,
first-team All-OVC choice after being named
the league’s “Freshman of the Year” in 1993-
94. Wells also was two-time Tennessee
Sportswriters College Basketball “Player of
the Year.”
Looking for
Austin Peay
sports schedules,
news and the
most up-to-date
information?
Get it all online at
www.apsu.edu
His jersey (13) was retired Jan. 22, 1998,
and he was inducted into the APSU Athletics
Hall of Fame, Feb. 8, 2003.
As a sophomore, Wells averaged 19.3
points per game (ppg) and followed that up
with 26.3 ppg (third in nation) in 1995-96,
earning the OVC Tourney MVP in leading the
Govs to a championship and NCAA tournament
appearance.
But it was his senior year that drew nation-
continued on page 32
The game plan
At this writing, the scholarship football
campaign has surpassed its original goal of
$750,000, with more than $788,000 in commitments.
In addition, Head Coach Carroll
McCray has committed to raising $100,000
annually from guaranteed games against bigger
schools on the road to be put toward the
scholarship football budget.
In 2007, the Governors will play an eightgame
conference schedule and compete for
the team’s first OVC championship in 30
years. The new schedule will include rivalry
games destined to become permanent fixtures
(APSU vs. TSU, APSU vs. Murray).
However, the scholarship football fundraising
campaign will continue with a new goal
in mind: to raise enough money to fund the
program with an endowment in 2010. If met,
this goal would bring a new beginning to
Austin Peay’s membership in the OVC–one
without an end.
If you would like to contribute to the
APSU Scholarship Football Campaign, send
your donation to the Advancement Office,
APSU Box 4417, Clarksville, TN 37044.
Pledge cards are available online at
http://www.apsu.edu/development.
Charles “Bubba” Wells, center, returns to Austin Peay as part of the men’s basketball coaching staff led by
head coach Dave Loos, left, and assistant coach Scott Combs. Wells is now an assistant coach also.
Austin Peay/Fall 2005
25

fall 2005 9/19/05 11:03 AM Page 28
Class notes
Photos contributed unless noted otherwise.
1960
MARLON D.
CROW (’68),
Clarksville, has
been elected to
his third term as
treasurer of
Tennesseans for
the Arts. He is
Marlon D. Crow
assistant director
of the publications division in the
Tennessee Secretary of State’s
Office.
FRED L. LANDISS
(’69, ’70), senior
vice president
and director of
marketing and
public relations
for F&M Bank,
led a session on
Fred L. Landiss
bank marketing
and branding for 17 Russian and
Ukranian bankers in Nashville. He
also was quoted in Bank Marketing’s
May 2005 cover story.
JOSEPH LEWIS (’69) received the
2005 Most Influential African-
Personal Information
Name
Street
American of Lake County Vision
Award. He is the division manufacturing
director for the cheese and dairy
sector of Kraft Foods. In 2002, he
earned the Kraft Operations
Leadership Award.
JOHN MCGEE (’69), an executive
associate of the Institute for
Independent Business, has opened
Solutions For Results LLC in Highland
Village, Texas.
1970
DAVID BIBB
(’70), deputy
administrator of
the U.S. General
Services
Administration
(GSA), was profiled
in Corporate
David Bibb
Real Estate
Leader magazine’s January 2005
cover story, “David Bibb and the GSA
Team: Revolutionizing Real Estate in
the U.S. Government.” He and his
wife, REBECCA TAYLOR BIBB (’72),
have two children, Elizabeth and
Been promoted? Honored? Awarded?
Recently moved? Married? Had a baby? What’s the scoop about you and your family?
We want to hear from you!
Date
(first) (middle) (maiden) (last)
City State Zip
✁
Jonathan. The family resides near
Washington, D.C.
JEFF BIBB (’76), founding partner of
BLF Marketing, Clarksville, was quoted
in the cover story of the May 2005
issue of Bank Marketing magazine,
which is published by the American
Bankers’ Association. He and his wife,
Sharon, have two children, Landon and
Chelsey.
NEBBIE BINKLEY (’74) has joined
Legends Bank as assistant vice president
and serves as the Bank Security
Act officer and internal auditor.
Thomas Wayne
Chester
Colleges/universities attended (include undergraduate and professional schools even if
degrees were not earned)
Institution
Major/Minor
Degree
THOMAS WAYNE
CHESTER (’73), a
32-year career
employee in state
government, has
been promoted to
deputy commissioner
of the
Tennessee
Department of
General Services. He and his wife,
Betty, have a son, Drew, 12. The
family lives in Mount Juliet.
Kenneth W. Daniel
Year
KENNETH W.
DANIEL (’71) is a
mortgage planner
for Franklin
American
Mortgage
Company,
Clarksville.
RALPH A. DEAVER (’73) is the
CEO/owner of Central Sales and
Services Inc., Waverly. He and his
wife, Janet, have three children:
Satyra, Jonathon and Daniel.
VICKIE DUNCAN (’74), a registered
nurse, has been promoted to director
of quality management for Gateway
Health Systems, Clarksville. A 23-
year Gateway employee, she has
more than 30 years of clinical and
health care education experience.
RONNIE FUQUA (’73), who has
coached in Clarksville-Montgomery
County for 29 years, has been named
defensive coordinator for Clarksville
Academy. The school is returning to
varsity football in Fall 2005.
Phone SSN Grad Class
E-mail address
I would like my name and e-mail address to be included in an online directory of APSU
alumni: ❏ Yes ❏ No
Campus Affiliations and Activities
Family Information
Spouse’s Name
SSN Did spouse attend APSU? Grad Class
Spouse’s Employer
Personal News
Address
Position
Children’s names and ages
Phone
Employer
Address
Position
If retired, former occupation and retirement date
Phone
Attended APSU? Class SSN
Please return survey to Alumni Office, P.O. Box 4676, Clarksville, TN 37044,
or complete the online form at www.apsu.edu/alumni
26 Austin Peay/Fall 2005
PEAY Alum FACT: Dr. Marla Crow Brumit (’93) is medical director of the Carolinas Blood Services Region, American Red Cross, Charlotte, N.C.

fall 2005 9/19/05 11:03 AM Page 29
Class notes
DR. JOE GREER
(’70), Memphis,
has been appointed
to the
Tennessee Board
of Dentistry by
Gov. Phil
Dr. Joe Greer Bredesen. Greer
and his wife,
Estella, have three adult children.
BRADY LINK (’72) has been named
2005 Administrator of the Year by the
Kentucky Association of School
Administrators. He has served as
superintendent of Graves County
(Ky.) Schools since 2000.
JOHN R. MEACHAM (’70),
Clarksville, has been named a territory
manager for Ariat International of
Union City, Calif. He previously
served as an account manager for
Birkenstock USA. His wife, KAREN
(VICKREY) MEACHAM (’69), is a
teacher at Kenwood High School.
CLINT REYNOLDS (’73), with A.E.
Reynolds Insurance Agency Inc.,
Tennessee Ridge, earned the No. 21
position in Auto-Owners Insurance
Company’s 2004 President’s Club.
Reynolds has represented Auto-
Owners Insurance since 1986.
GARY SCOTT (’72), chair and CEO of
PineTrust Bank, was called on as an
expert source for Bank Marketing’s
May 2005 cover story. The magazine
is published by the American
Bankers’ Association.
GARY SHEPHARD (’73) is the new
head football coach for Clarksville
Academy.
PHIL WOOD (’72) hosts “MLB Home
Plate,” the all-baseball channel on
XM Satellite Radio in Washington,
D.C. He also is the baseball columnist
for the Washington Examiner.
Wood and PHIL STINNET (’72)
recently played a mini-tour of minor
league ballparks with their rock
band, The Phil Brothers Band, which
dates back to their days at APSU.
SHEILA (MAYHEW) YORK (’71),
author of “Star
Struck Dead,”
has been named
vice president of
Banc of America
Securities. She
resides in New
York City.
Sheila (Mayhew)
York
1980
DAVID ALFORD
(’89), artistic
director of the
Tennessee
Repertory
Theatre, was featured
in The
Tennessean on
David Alford
April 17, 2005,
for bringing “The Piano Lesson” to
Nashville theatre.
MARK E. BOONE (’84), vice president
of Legends Financial Services, has
been named to LPL Financial
Services’ 2004 Freedom Club, which
recognizes LPL’s financial advisers
for their achievements in client service
and integrity.
MICHAEL E. BROWN (’89, ’92), a
math teacher at Montgomery Central
High School, and his wife, CON-
STANCE (’95, ’96), a chemistry and
physics teacher at McEwen High
School, were among the first to
observe and photograph a new
supernova in the nearby Whirlpool
Galaxy as participants in the Teacher
Leaders in Research Based Science
Education program conducted by the
National Optical Astronomy
Observatory. The Browns also serve
on the National Educational Advisory
Board for the Space Weather Sounds
Scavenger Hunt (SWSSH), a radio
telescope project for students in
grades K-12, in conjunction with
NASA. They have two daughters,
Amanda and Summer. The family
resides in McEwen.
DR. MONTE GATES (’89) has been
named an assistant professor in the
Schools of Medicine and Life
Sciences, Keele University, Keele,
Staffordshire, England. He was
inducted into APSU’s chapter of The
Honor Society of Phi Kappa Phi in
April 2005.
KEVIN HACKNEY (’89) is a realtor
with American Heritage Company,
Nashville.
JACKIE HERNANDEZ (’86) is the
newsletter editor of Tennessee
Aviation, a publication of the Tennessee
Department of Transportation
Aeronautics Division. She also serves
as an administrative secretary.
THE REV. RON LOUGHRY (’84, ’86),
executive director of Fern
Creek/Highview United Ministries, a
Austin Peay/Fall 2005
social service agency supported by 18
churches, was honored with the Heart
of Gold Award. He is a minister within
the Christian Church Disciples of Christ
and adjunct faculty for the Jefferson
Community College history department.
ROSE (DAWSON) LYLE (’80) has been
named assistant principal of
Kenwood High School, Clarksville.
She previously taught at New
Providence Middle School. She and
her husband, William, have two children,
Jason and Jennifer.
JOHN MORROW (’88) has been promoted
to vice president for lending at
Legends Bank. He serves on the
board of the APSU Governors Club.
LT. CMDR. ANTHONY “JUICE” SIM-
MONS (’89) is serving on the USS
Chafee.
1990
GEORGIA ASBURY (’97), community
resource officer for the Sumner
County (Tenn.) Board of Probation
and Parole, is helping to develop a
statewide program rewarding businesses
with tax credits for employing
recently released offenders. She
recently presented a seminar on this
topic to the Forward Sumner
Economic Council.
DR. ERIN (EMRICH) CHAMBERS (’98)
has joined the medical staff of
Hilcrest Clinic, Erin. Chambers completed
her family medicine residency
in June 2005 at the University of
Tennessee. She and her husband,
Phillip, have a daughter, Caroline, 1.
DR. TIMOTHY
FOX (’90) is the
director of the
division of medical
physics and
the division of
computational
Dr. Timothy Fox
research and
informatics for
Emory University School of
Medicine’s department of radiation
oncology, as well as assistant professor
of radiation oncology at the
school. He was inducted into APSU’s
chapter of The Honor Society of Phi
Kappa Phi in April 2005.
1ST LT. MONIKA GONZALEZ (’99),
332ND Air Expeditionary Wing,
works in the laboratory at the Air
Force Theater Hospital in Balad Air
Base, Iraq. Gonzalez worked at
Gateway Medical Center, Clarksville,
before joining the military after 9/11.
CHRIS GREENE (’96), director of
youth and music at First United
Methodist Church in Dickson, was
named to The Tennessean’s annual
“Top 40 Under 40,” which recognizes
the state’s young community leaders.
Greene created and administers the
Resurrector’s Mission Camp, which
identifies needy members of the
community and sends volunteers to
repair their homes.
APRIL HILLERY GRIFFIN (’98), a
geography teacher and soccer coach
at Cosby High School, received the
Dr. Shirley Beck Outstanding
Graduate Student in Education
Award from Tusculum College. She
also has been invited to present a
paper on project-based learning at
Burgas Freedom University in
Burgas, Bulgaria. She lives in
Newport, Tenn.
Dr. Amy Hodges
Hamilton
DR. AMY
HODGES HAMIL-
TON (’99) is
director of undergraduate
writing
and assistant
professor of
English at
Vanderbilt
University.
JEFF HARDIN (’90), an associate professor
of English at Columbia State
Community College, recently published
his first full-length poetry collection,
“Fall Sanctuary.” He also won
the Nicholas Roerich Prize, a prestigious
national poetry award.
JENNIFER HOLLINGSWORTH (’99,
’02) has been named U.S. managing
editor of “International Artist” magazine.
KRISTI NICOLE LANEY (’98, ’00) has
moved to Farmville, Va., to begin
nursing school. She previously taught
seventh-grade math and science in
Charlottesville, Va.
KYLE D. LUTHER (’99) has been promoted
to assistant vice president,
commercial lender at Planters Bank,
Clarksville. He serves on the board of
directors of the APSU Governors
Club and is a member of the
Downtown Kiwanis Club.
GARY MILLER PERRY (’94), paramedic
supervisor for the Montgomery
27

fall 2005 9/19/05 11:03 AM Page 30
Class notes
County (Tenn.) Emergency Medical
Service and deputy coroner of the
county, was named to The
Tennessean’s annual “Top 40 Under
40,” which recognizes the state’s
young community leaders. Perry also
was recognized as a Tennessee
Secondary School Athletic
Association Young Official of the Year.
ANNE M. PRESTON (’92) is a nursing
supervisor for the Women’s and
Children’s Hospital in Lafayette, La.
She earned her Master of Science in
Nursing from Syracuse University in
1998. She resides in New Iberia, La.
J.P. ROBINSON III (’97) has been
named senior director of creative
services for Geffen Records. The
artists he works with include
Weezer, Snoop Dogg, Mary J. Blige
and Mos Def. He lives in Santa
Monica, Calif.
KIMBERLY DAWN (THREATT) RUNY-
ON (’95, ’00) teaches seventh-grade
math and sponsors the cheerleading
squad at North Stewart Elementary
School, Big Rock. She and her husband,
Jason, who works in the lab at
Conwood in Clarksville, live in Dover.
Tabitha (Vires)
Swearingen
live in Orlinda, Tenn.
TABITHA (VIRES)
SWEARINGEN
(’95, ’00) has
been elected to
serve as an
Orlinda city commissioner.
She
and her husband,
Tim, a technician
with BellSouth,
MANNY TYN-
DALL (’98), special
agent for the
Office of
Inspector
General, has
been selected to
attend the 223rd
Manny Tyndall
session of the
FBI National Academy, a professional
10-week course of study for U.S.
and international law enforcement
leaders. Participation is by invitation
only, through a nomination process.
2000
JULIE BURKHALTER (’05) was the
inaugural recipient of HCA’s TriStar
Family Hospitals postgraduate scholarship.
She will begin physical therapy
school at The University of Texas
Southwestern Medical Center in Fall
2005.
BENJAMIN K. DEAN (’01), son of
DAVID (’78) and SARA B. (’83) DEAN
of Springfield, is working at the law
firm of Batson, Nolan, Brice,
Williamson and Girsky of Clarksville
and Springfield. He received his law
degree from the University of
Memphis last May.
JUSTIN DICKENS (’03) is the public
relations assistant for the
Indianapolis Colts.
BRUCE GANTNER (’04) returned
June 15 to work as a civilian in Iraq.
PHYLLIS GOBBELL (’02) won the
2006 Tennessee Arts Commission
Fellowship for her story, “Tellico,”
which was published in APSU’s literary
magazine, Zone 3.
JEFF MAULT
(’04) has signed
a minor league
contract with
the Seattle
Mariners.
FELICIA
Jeff Mault
ROBERTS (’05)
was named to
the 2005 Tennessee Titans cheerleading
team.
MAKEBA WEBB
(’00), an APSU
admissions
counselor, was
one of five
young women
chosen by Ebony
Makeba Webb magazine for its
“Win a Date
with an Ebony Bachelor” contest.
The story was featured in the July 4
issue of JET. Webb and her 7-monthold
son, Tyler, live in Clarksville.
BIRTHS
Ainsley Rebecca
Bastin
family resides in Nashville.
CARINDA N.
(BASSO)
BASTIN (’98)
and David Bastin
announce the
birth of their
daughter,
Ainsley Rebecca
Bastin, on Sept.
3, 2004. The
VICTORIA J. BEALS (’02) and SFC
Michael Beals announce the arrival
of their son, Matthew Beals, born in
August 2004. Matthew joins siblings
Dakota, 14, Samantha, 11, and
Jimmy, 10. The family resides in Fort
Huachuca, Ariz.
BOBBI JO (COZBY) CAULFIELD (’03)
and Ryan Patrick Caulfield announce
the birth of their daughter, Hannah
Jo Caulfield, on April 24, 2005. Mrs.
Caulfield is a writer and a stay-athome
mother. Her husband is
employed by the U.S. Army. The family
resides in Clarksville.
DANA ALLAN CRAVEY (’94) and
Alecia Cravey announce the arrival
of their daughter, Hannah Blythe
Cravey, on June 28, 2005. Cravey is
a professional representative for
Merck and Co., Columbus, Ga.
Margaret
(Maggie) Dunn
MEREDITH
(STEDMAN)
DUNN (’03) and
CPT Bryan Dunn
announce the
birth of their
daughter,
Margaret Lillian
(Maggie) Dunn,
on April 2, 2005.
Mrs. Dunn is a part-time editor for
“Lexiteria,” an online dictionary for
middle-school students. Her husband
is commander of the 1st Staff and
Faculty Company at Fort Eustis, Va.
The family resides in Williamsburg, Va.
CARRIE (PELLUM) HOWELL (’98, ’01)
and David Howell announce the birth
of their daughter, Grace Macenzie
Howell, on April 12, 2005. Grace
joins siblings Elizabeth, Samantha
and Caroline. Mrs. Howell is a
teacher with the Stewart County
Board of Education. Her husband is
an engineer for TECO in Metropolis,
Ill. The family lives in Dover.
CYNTHIA F. (WOODS) LOONEY (’93)
and Rance Looney announce the
birth of their son, Mason Gage
Looney, on July 21, 2004. Gage joins
siblings Madeline, 8, and Macey, 6.
Mrs. Looney is technical service
manager at Cargill Pork LLC. Her
husband is employed by Tyson
Foods. The family resides in
Hattieville, Ark.
ADAM (’00) and AMANDA (’98)
MARKHAM, Nashville, announce the
birth of their daughter, Mia Elaine
Markham, on May 9, 2005. Mr.
Markham is vehicle acquisition coordinator
for the Middle Tennessee region
of Enterprise Rent A Car. Mrs.
Markham is program manager for the
Girl Scout Council of Cumberland Valley.
KATHLEEN (VANCE) RAY (’01) and
Scott Ray announce the birth of their
son, Bryson Scott Ray, on Sept. 6, 2004.
The family resides in Paducah, Ky.
Mahari Talia
Scott
KIMBERLY
SCOTT (’04) and
Scott E. Scott
announce the
birth of their
daughter, Mahari
Talia Scott, on
April 22, 2005.
Mahari joins siblings
Alexis, 9,
and Zyiair, 6. Mrs. Scott is a technical
clerk for University advancement
at APSU. Her husband is employed at
Quebecor World, Clarksville.
DEATHS
JOHN EDWARD CAMPBELL (’62) died
May 14, 2005, in Cleveland, Ohio. He
was one of the first African-American
students to enroll at APSU in 1958.
He had retired as president and CEO
of Northeast Ohio Neighborhood
Services. He is survived by his wife,
Linda Dukes-Campbell, Beachwood,
Ohio; a son, Edward, Cleveland; a sister,
Patricia Jenkins Lewis, New
York; and two grandchildren.
LARRY MICHAEL ELLIS (’65) died
May 23, 2005, in Clarksville. He was
a U.S. Navy veteran and retired from
the State of Tennessee, where he
was director of the Governor’s
Highway Safety Program. He is survived
by his mother, Omega Sheppard
Ellis, Clarksville; his wife, Linda
Powers Ellis, Clarksville; a son,
James Michael Ellis, Chesapeake,
Va.; two daughters, Michelle
Rodriguez, Miami, and Mercedes
Merci Chartrand, Clarksville; a brother,
Terry Ellis, Clarksville; two sisters,
Diane Ellis and Donna Ellis, both of
Clarksville; and six grandchildren.
GRACE V. HYDE (’36, ’45) died March
16, 2005, in Franklin. She had retired
from Jo Burns School as a senior
English teacher. Hyde is survived by
her brother, Justice Hyde, Franklin.
JAMES STONE (’50), a member of
APSU’s Athletics Hall of Fame, died
June 11, 2005, in Winterhaven, Fla.
28
Austin Peay/Fall 2005
PEAY Alum FACT: Stephen R. Frost (’72) is research director for AARP Publications, New York City.

fall 2005 9/19/05 11:03 AM Page 31
The former forward/center, who
played for Dave Aaron’s first four
teams (1946-50), was 82. He was
the University’s first All-American
selection. He is survived by his wife,
Louise.
MILTON M. YOUNG (’57) died May 26,
2005, in Richardson, Texas. A foundation
in his name has been set up at
Richardson Regional Medical Center.
WEDDINGS
Kacy (Johnson)
Chambers
KACY (JOHNSON)
CHAMBERS (’03)
and Marquentis
Chambers were
married Dec. 21,
2003, at
Woodland Hills in
Memphis. Mrs.
Chambers teaches
at Bright
Horizons Family Solutions. Her husband
is a retail
technical support
analyst for Publix
Super Markets.
Kristy Lynn
(Pickett)
Homburger
KRISTY LYNN
(PICKETT) HOM-
BURGER (’01) and
Albert Thomas
Homburger Jr.
were married
June 3, 2005. She is completing her
master’s degree at the University of
Tennessee-Knoxville in Fall 2005.
Correction: Leslie Hunt was misidentified
as an APSU alumna in the
Spring 2005 edition of Austin Peay.
She is pursuing a doctorate at the
University of Memphis.
In Memoriam
The Hon. Charles E.
Bush
Montgomery County’s first
African-American judge, Charles E.
Bush (’72,’76), died Feb. 9, 2005. He
was 55.
After a 13-year career as an attorney,
Bush was elected General
Sessions/Juvenile Count judge in
1995. He was appointed to fill the
judgeship of a newly created third
division of General Sessions Court
and then was elected to the position
in 1996.
Bush served as an assistant district
attorney in Montgomery County
for six years after he was an assistant
state attorney in Nashville.
Milam Lewis, a former
Montgomery County commissioner
and retired patrol lieutenant with the
Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office,
said, “I think (Judge Bush) was very
fair in his decisions, but strong
enough to make the right decisions.
He did a great job for
Clarksville…when he was a judge,
he was well known and people
respected him.”
Bush earned his bachelor’s
degree in history and political science
and his master’s degree in history
from APSU. He received his law
degree in 1982 from Indiana
University School of Law and was
admitted to the Indiana Bar in 1983
and the Tennessee Bar in 1985.
David Hackworth
A renowned
military analyst
and author,
retired Col. David
Hackworth (’64)
died May 4, 2005,
while in Mexico,
receiving treatment
for bladder
cancer.
Among numerous
honors,
Hackworth earned
nine Silver Stars,
four Legions of
Merit, eight Bronze
Stars, eight Purple
Hearts and four
Army
Commendation
Medals during four
tours of duty in
Vietnam.
While still in the Army, Hackworth
began to speak out against the war.
His opinion was a thorn in the side
of the Army, so he retired from the
military in 1971 and gave up all his
medals. In the 1980s, the medals
were reissued to him by the Army.
In an editorial, The Leaf-Chronicle
said: “Whether or not you always
agree with his point of view, there’s
no doubt that David Hackworth, 74,
put himself on the side of the soldiers.”
While stationed at Fort Campbell
in the early 1960s, before deploying
to Vietnam in 1965 with the101st
Airborne Division (Air Assault),
Hackworth earned a bachelor’s
degree in history from APSU. At the
time, he had been in the service 20
years, attending colleges on and off.
In 2002 while in Clarksville for a
reception and book signing hosted by
the APSUNAA, Hackworth told a
reporter for The Leaf-Chronicle,
“Every time I got close (to graduating),
I got transferred … I had given
up, but my boss at Fort Campbell …
ordered me to go to Austin Peay.
“I got the degree and was able to
become a regular Army officer. That
opened doors to all the Army schools
and let me move onward and
upward. Austin Peay had a very profound
influence on my life, because
it put me in the fast lane.”
A former Newsweek correspondent,
Hackworth provided guest
commentary on CNN, MBNBC and
FOX during the first Gulf War and the
war in Afghanistan. His column,
“Defending America” appeared
weekly in newspapers across the
country. His books included “The
Vietnam Primer,” best-seller “About
Face,” “Hazardous Duty” and “Steel
My Soldiers Hearts.”
He is survived by his wife, Eilhy, a
stepdaughter and four children from
previous marriages.
Bob Bird
Robert “Bob”
Bird, 60, executive
director of
human resources
at APSU, died
June 16, 2005, at
his home in
Clarksville after a
long illness.
The Chattanooga native was a
retired U.S. Army lieutenant colonel
and a Vietnam veteran. He worked at
APSU from 1988 until his death.
A memorial service was held
June 19 at McReynolds-Nave &
Larson Funeral Home.
Bird is survived by his wife,
Margaret “Peggy” Louise Ohm Bird,
Clarksville; two sons, Robert Bird Jr.,
Warner Robins, Ga., and William
Bird, Madison, Miss.; a brother,
Richard Bird, Fairfax, Va.; and a
grandson.
Austin Peay/Fall 2005
29

fall 2005 9/19/05 11:03 AM Page 32
Feedback
I recently read the alumni magazine and
(found) absolutely nothing about the new
Master of Science in Management. This program
is a first for APSU and is proving to be
very popular.
Many of us … are APSU alumni and found
it disappointing … not to have the program
mentioned. The inaugural class will graduate
this summer. Please find space in the next
issue for a mention of this program.
Michelle O’Neill (‘03)
Clarksville
(Editor’s Note: Congratulations to the first
graduates of the M.S.M.!)
My wife and I enjoyed reading about all
the accomplishments of APSU and alumni,
especially … classmates, Jim and Nancy
Gibbons and Howard “Red” Smith.
Jim (’52) and Dot (’54) Nolen
Louisville, Ky.
I came here in February 2003 from St.
Louis as a newly married soldier’s wife.
Upon arriving, I was here one week and
my husband was sent to Iraq. Clarksville
made me feel very welcomed, and I want to
thank you for your expressions of concern for
myself and my husband.
While I was here in Clarksville, I got to
enjoy the benefits of being a citizen of
Clarksville for this period of time, and it has
been great.
I also enrolled in Austin Peay State
University while living in Clarksville, and I
want to thank all of my teachers and professors
for their care, concern and direction. This event
has truly changed my life and shaped me.
I was delighted to see Kevin Kennedy Jr.
elected as Student Government Association
president. He is a friendly, smart Christian,
and I know he will do a great job.
I want to encourage the citizens of
Clarksville to continue to make this town a
warm, friendly place to visit and to keep up
the positive reception that it gives to all military
wives and families.
My husband is being reassigned to Fort
Bragg, and we are leaving this community. So
to all of those who have made a significant
contribution to my life from Clarksville and
Austin Peay, I want to say thank you from the
bottom of my heart.
Michelle Reese
Clarksville
(Letter to the Editor, 5/11/05. Reprinted with permission
of The Leaf-Chronicle)
Thank you for all you sent me to use in my
Austin Peay report. It was a big help. I made
a 110 on it.
Jordan Hinshaw
Elizabethton
A young Austin Peay? A future student? Last year,
Jordan Hinshaw, Elizabethton, received help on a
class project from staff in APSU’s Office of Public
Relations and Marketing. His class assignment
was to give a report on a former Tennessee governor,
and he chose the late Gov. Austin Peay. To
provide good information, APSU staff mailed him a
copy of “The History of Austin Peay State
University, 1927-2002.” In return, his proud mother
sent a photo of her son—dressed up as Gov.
Austin Peay—following his report. The young man
scored an impressive 110. Way to go, Jordan!
How goes the world? The elections (here in
Iraq) … went pretty smooth, but it took the
effort of every soldier in this squadron. The
work we accomplished cannot be fully understood
with just words.
In our squadron’s area of operations (1 million
people, 112 polling sites, 13 District
Election Sites and 550 soldiers), we executed
16- to 18-hour patrols for four days straight.
On the day of elections on three hours of
sleep, we started patrols to prevent insurgent
disruption of the process.
The people amazed us with the turnout—
over 70 percent! But 20 minutes into it, my
patrol was hit with a small arms ambush.
Approximately 30 minutes later, (there was) a
rocket and mortar attack in the vicinity of one
of the polling sites, followed by an attempted
interview by (ABC news anchor) Peter
Jennings, (which was) interrupted by a sniper.
By 10 a.m. we were tired as hell, but had
(we thought) another eight or nine hours left
in our day before the polls closed and the ballots
were picked up by contracted security.
The day continued to be chaotic … (but) the
people … sang, danced and held up their inkstained
fingers in contempt for the insurgents
and as a symbol of pride.
The polls shut down and we started … to
get reports that most didn’t have a plan to get
the ballots to where they needed to go, so we
coordinated for the Iraqi Security Forces to
get their vehicles and move them to the
District Election Sites. So we get to the
polling site, and the guys don’t know what to
do, so we get them organized and coordinate
(for them) to transport ballots and all is well.
It is about 11:30 p.m., so we move out and
as soon as we get within one kilometer of the
site, “swoosh-swoosh!” Dismount and maneuver
with night vision goggles… after an hour,
we cannot regain contact with the enemy. We
finally complete the task and return to base at
1 a.m. with a patrol time of 6 a.m.
It was an honor to be involved in this historic
event. Most people read and write about
history, but the soldiers and marines on the
ground those four days made history! Our
efforts have changed the world and Iraq in a
way that is hard to describe. That is what we
are proud of the most.
Maj. Nathan “Nate” Hines III (‘89)
1-7 Cavalry, 1st Cavalry Division
Baghdad, Iraq
Maj. Nathan Hines III
30 Austin Peay/Fall 2005
PEAY Alum FACT: Mike Carn (’76) is director of golf course maintenance at Belfair Golf Club, Hilton Head Island, S.C.

fall 2005 9/19/05 11:03 AM Page 33
Outstanding Alumni Awards (continued from page 11)
He teamed up with NASCAR driver Mike
Garvey to form Peak Performance
Motorsports, with Garvey driving the No. 66
Peak Fitness Ford Taurus in races nationwide.
Imbued with more energy than that under
the hood of No. 66, Stec is set on building his
race team the same way he built his line of
health clubs—full speed ahead to the checkered
flag.
Stec and his wife, Melissa, have two
daughters, Lauren and Samantha.
2005 Outstanding Alumnus
Dr. Ronald I. Miller (’65)
In 2004, Ron Miller was inducted into the
Phi Kappa Phi Academic Hall of Fame at
APSU.
A physicist and senior intelligence officer
at the Defense Intelligence Agency’s Missile
and Space Intelligence Center (DIA/MSIC),
Redstone Arsenal, Ala., Miller is the Defense
Intelligence Agency’s member of the Directed
Energy Weapons Subcommittee (DEWS) of
the U.S. Intelligence Community in
Washington, D.C.
After graduating from APSU with degrees
in mathematics and physics, Miller earned a
master’s degree in physics from Clemson
University and a doctorate in physics from
Southeastern Institute of Technology. He has
taught physics part time at four universities.
He has been part of the Directed Energy
Weapons Group since 1977, serving as chief
from 1987-2002. Prior to that, from 1970-77,
he was a physicist for Boeing Aerospace
Company in Huntsville, Ala., and Seattle,
Wash. At Boeing, he made contributions to
NASA research programs studying the solidification
of materials in the micro-gravity environment
of space. This work involved experiments
on Skylab, the Apollo-Soyuz mission
and various sub-orbital rocket flights.
At MSIC, Miller has been responsible for
the management and technical direction of
scientific and technical analyses of foreign
directed energy weapon systems as well as
the anti-satellite, anti-ballistic missile and air
defense missions. Intelligence analyses
include developing mathematical models and
computer simulations of these systems and
performing engagement simulations of the
DEW systems against targets to assess the
threat of directed energy weapons to U.S.
forces and interests.
As chair of the DEW Subcommittee from
1990-98, Miller managed these efforts for all
DEW missions at the national level. He now
serves as adviser on foreign DEW systems to
the Departments of Defense, State and
Energy and to the United States Congress.
He is the author of more than 50 scientific
journal articles and government reports in the
fields of liquid state physics, low temperature
physics, electromagnetic field theory and
laser science and systems engineering. A
member and associate fellow of the American
Physical Society, he also belongs to the
Directed Energy Professional Society. He is
listed in such biographical reference works as
“Who’s Who in Aviation and Aerospace” and
“Who’s Who in America.”
Miller has received numerous NASA,
Intelligence Community and Department of
Defense honors, including the 1999 National
Intelligence Medal of Achievement, NASA
New Technology Award, U.S. Army and
Defense Intelligence Agency Outstanding
Performance Awards and the Exceptional
Intelligence Analyst Award.
He and his wife, Jan, have two grown
daughters and two grandsons.
2005 Outstanding Alumna Award
Carla Nester, M.D. (’87)
Austin Peay/Fall 2005
After serving as chief resident in internal
medicine at The University of North Carolina
(UNC) Hospitals in 2002-03, Dr. Carla Nester
was selected for a four-year fellowship in the
UNC Division of Nephrology and
Hypertension.
She will complete the fellowship in 2007
and will be eligible for board certification in
both adult and pediatric nephrology.
Nester completed her certification as a
medical technologist in 1983 and worked as a
civilian employee at a number of Army hospitals,
both in the United States and Germany,
from 1983-94.
She was living at Fort Campbell, Ky., during
1986-88 when she, as a nontraditional
student, enrolled at APSU. She earned a
bachelor’s degree in biology in 1987.
In 1989, she moved to Fort Bragg, N.C.,
and organized a new section of the laboratory
there, before going to work at Kaiser
Permanente, Springfield, Va. Because of her
leadership responsibilities at these and other
assignments, she went on to further her training
by earning a Master of Science in Health
Services Administration from Central
Michigan University in 1990.
A lifelong learner, Nester gained acceptance
at Penn State University College of
Medicine, Hershey, Pa., and left Germany to
enroll there in 1994. During her four years of
medical school, she served as president of the
Medical and Graduate School Government,
editor of the medical literary magazine, “Wild
Onions,” and coordinator of the Bethesda
Mission Food Project, a weekly collection
and delivery of food to a homeless shelter.
She shared her knowledge and expertise
through teaching physical diagnosis for second-year
students and did research leading to
a publication in the Journal of General
Internal Medicine.
While a resident at UNC, Nester was asked
to serve on a national Committee for Health
Care Policy for the American College of
Physicians-American Society of Internal
Medicine and as a representative to their
national Council of Residents.
During the first part of her fellowship, she
authored a chapter on glomerulonephritis for
a pediatric nephrology textbook and prepared
other scientific work for publication. In June
2005, she traveled to Heidelberg, Germany,
where she was an invited speaker at the
International Conference on
Glomerulonephritis.
Being named to Beta Beta Beta (national
undergraduate biology honorary) while at
APSU set a precedent for Nester’s future
awards. She was given the Department of the
Army’s Commander’s Award for Public
Service in 1984. During medical school, she
received the American Medical Women’s
Association Janet M. Glasgow Achievement
Award and the Kienle Award for
Humanitarian Contributions. In 1998, she
was elected to a lifelong membership in
Alpha Omega Alpha, a national medical
honor society.
During her UNC residency, she completed
certification in Advanced Life Support,
Pediatric Advanced Life Support and
Neonatal Advanced Life Support.
She is a member of the American College
of Physicians, American Society of Clinical
Pathologists, and the American Medical
Association. Licensed to practice medicine in
North Carolina, Nester is board certified by
both the American Board of Internal
Medicine and the American Board of
Pediatrics.
Engaged to Dr. Dale Bieber, Nester has a
son, Samuel.
31

fall 2005 9/19/05 11:03 AM Page 34
Wells (continued from page 25)
wide attention. He missed the season’s first
12 games with a stress fracture in his left
tibia, which required surgery. He had undergone
similar surgery following the 1994-95
season, needing five months to rehabilitate.
However, this time the rehab process took
less than five weeks, and in his debut game,
he scored 39 points in 28 minutes.
As a result, the performance and the surgery
were featured in USA Today. He went
on to become the nation’s unofficial scoring
leader (he did not have enough games played
to qualify for the official title), averaging
31.7 ppg.
The Dallas Mavericks drafted Wells in
1997. He played one season before being
traded to the Phoenix Suns and then to the
Chicago Bulls. A torn Achilles tendon and
other injuries slowed his professional career,
although he played in the Philippines and the
Euro League in Greece for two seasons. The
last two years, he played for the Harlem
Globetrotters.
“I learned about the game at many levels
and around the world from several coaches,
and believe I have a lot to give back to the
game,” Wells said.
Rowdy leads Baseball Govs
to O’Reilly tourney title
Although APSU’s baseball team didn’t
make its bid for an Ohio Valley Conference
regular-season title three-peat, it triumphed
Memorial Day weekend.
That’s when the Govs ended their O’Reilly
OVC Baseball Tournament drought by capturing
the tourney title and earning APSU’s
first NCAA Regional berth since 1996. In
fact, the 2005 Govs finished the season at 38-
24, the most wins since 1996. The Govs also
recorded a second-place OVC regular-season
record.
The APSU season story was pitching,
pitching and more pitching. Rowdy Hardy, a
junior left-hander from Bethel Springs, compiled
an 11-6 record and 2.70 ERA in 2005,
ranking in the Top 20 nationally in victories.
He was named the OVC’s “Pitcher of the
Year,” first-team all-conference and secondteam
ABCA All-South Region while leading
the league in five statistical categories:
innings pitched (126.2), strikeouts (96), walks
allowed (24), games started (16) and walks
allowed per nine innings (1.71). Hardy is the
first pitcher in Austin Peay history and only
Governors Bass Tournament hooks another record
A record 260 boats entered the 2005 Governors Bass Tournament, breaking the 2004 record by 19 and raising
more than $26,000. The team of Doug Storey and Ramie Colson of Cadiz, Ky., won the 11th annual tournament,
held at Paris Landing State Park. The team checked in a five-bass limit weighing 20.05-pounds to take
the $3,000 first-place prize. They earned another $1,000 for winning the tournament in a Triton bass boat.
The first Big Bass Award of $1,470 went to Sam Henry of Murray, Ky., for landing a 6.60-pound largemouth.
With the winners are Dave Loos, left, and Rip Watts, right.
the third in OVC history to record two 10-
win seasons during his career.
The Govs also got strong pitching performances
from sophomore Shawn Kelley,
Louisville, who pitched in the NCAA
Knoxville Regional. Senior Devin Thomas,
Rio Rancho, N.M., was the team’s third conference
starter. However, Dickson’s Brad
Daniel turned in the season’s most remarkable
feat. The team’s closer for the entire regular
season, the junior right-hander was asked
to start the conference tournament’s championship
game and responded with his first
career complete-game shutout, a stunning 5-0
victory against regular-season champion
Jacksonville (Fla.) State.
Offensively, Austin Peay was led by senior
Jared Walker, Nashville, who flirted with .400
most of the season before settling on a teambest
.367. He was named first-team All-OVC
as a shortstop after making the move from
third base. Senior Chris Hyde, Knoxville, and
junior Jacob Schroeder, Lexington, each led
the team with seven home runs. Hyde became
the third player in school history to record 30
career home runs. He, along with Walker,
also became members of the Govs exclusive
200-hit club.
Looking ahead to the 2006 campaign, the
Govs will return all four pitchers who played
in APSU’s NCAA regional tournament. The
Govs also return their entire outfield from
2005, but will see three new faces in the
infield.
Mault’s pro career begins
anew
Former Austin
Peay pitcher Jeff
Mault has joined the
Seattle Mariners
organization.
The 2004 graduate,
who was
released from an
independent league
team in 2004, was
given an opportunity to show his stuff while
with an independent league all-star team in
Florida during major league baseball’s spring
training. Mault impressed Mariners scouts
enough that the organization signed the righthander
to a free agent contract.
He was assigned to the Everett AquaSox, a
Class A Short Season affiliate of the
Mariners.
Mault is the second Austin Peay player in
the Mariners’ organization, joining lefty
George Sherrill who is with the Tacoma
Rainiers, a Class AAA team.
Peek chosen as Hamilton
Award winner
Austin Peay senior women’s basketball
player Cassandra Peek, who excelled as a student-athlete
both on and off the court,
received the OVC’s 2005 Steve Hamilton
Sportsmanship Award. She is the third APSU
32 Austin Peay/Fall 2005
PEAY Alum FACT: Marlon Crow (’68) is assistant director of publications for the Tennessee Department of State, Nashville.

fall 2005 9/19/05 11:03 AM Page 35
student-athlete and fifth women’s basketball
player to receive the award, which was established
in 1998.
Peek was a member of two OVC regularseason
and three OVC tournament championships,
also playing in three NCAA tournaments.
Selected as team captain for the 2004-
05 campaign, she finished her career as the
third player in school history to make 100
three-pointers and dish out 300 assists, ranking
fourth all-time with 335 helpers. The
Austin Peay Student Organization and Leader
Board named her the 2004-05 Female Athlete
Leader of the Year.
A health and human performance major,
Peek also excelled in the classroom. She was
named to the Athletics Director’s Honor Roll
seven times, twice to the OVC
Commissioner’s Honor Roll and twice was
nominated for Academic All-America. She
also received the 2004-05 Female Joy Award.
pursue a postgraduate education in the field
of medicine, nursing, physical therapy, athletics
training or other health sciences field. The
scholarship is part of a corporate partnership
between HCA TriStar and the OVC.
Burkhalter, a senior outside hitter on the
Austin Peay volleyball squad, led the Lady
Govs in digs in each of her four seasons and
became the fifth member of the program’s
“Double-Grand Club,” topping both the
1,000-kill and 1,000-dig plateaus. She graduated
magna cum laude with a bachelor’s
degree in biology and began physical therapy
school at The University of Texas
Southwestern Medical Center this fall.
Kessel playing for German
football league team
Former APSU offensive lineman Brandon
Kessel is playing defense for the Hannover
Musketeers in the German Football League.
The 6-1, 277-pound Kessel started at
offensive guard this past season for the Govs
until a knee injury sidelined him midway
through season.
The Hawthorne Woods, Ill., native was
joined in Germany by former APSU
Offensive Coordinator Ken Jones, who is
working with Kessel as the team’s defensive
coordinator.
Venable earns OVC, ESPN
The Magazine honors
Junior infielder Brianna Venable, who
broke APSU’s career home run record last
season (26), was named second-team All-
Ohio Valley Conference softball, as well as
ESPN The Magazine second-team Academic
All-District IV softball.
On the field, the second baseman was
APSU’s only .300 hitter (.311) with a teambest
10 home runs, four triples, 27 runs
scored and 30 RBI. Her .601 slugging percentage
made her the first player in school
history to have two seasons of .600 or better
slugging percentages.
Off the field, Venable is a junior mass
communication major with a 3.78 GPA. The
Edmonds, Wash., native four times has been a
member of the Dean’s List. Twice she has
been selected to the Ohio Valley Conference
Commissioner’s Honor Roll and has been a
member of the Athletics Director’s Honor
Roll each semester.
Burkhalter awarded first
HCA Postgraduate
Scholarship
Austin Peay student-athlete Julie
Burkhalter was the inaugural recipient of the
HCA’s TriStar Family of Hospitals postgraduate
scholarship.
The $2,500 scholarship is awarded to a
graduating Ohio Valley Conference studentathlete
or student manager/trainer who will
Ryan Taylor and Cassandra Peek were selected as recipients of the prestigious Joy Award.
Four honored as APSU’s finest student-athletes
A quartet of athletes was recognized with APSU’s most esteemed athletic honors.
Junior pitching star Rowdy Hardy, a preseason second-team Louisville Slugger All-American,
was named Most Outstanding Male Athlete.
Junior track star Sherlonda Johnson, who for a second straight season qualified for NCAA
Regionals in the long jump and accounted for 17 of APSU’s 23 points in the OVC Indoor Track
championships, was named Most Outstanding Female Athlete.
Football standout Ryan Taylor, who was one of APSU’s top tacklers in each of his three seasons
and overcame what was thought to be season-ending surgery to return to the starting lineup
late in the 2004 season, was named Male Joy Award recipient as the most valuable senior athlete.
And Cassandra Peek, who was an integral part of three straight OVC basketball championships,
was named the Female Joy Award recipient.
Robert Smith/The Leaf-Chronicle
Austin Peay/Fall 2005
33

fall 2005 9/19/05 11:03 AM Page 36
In a moving ceremony, six graduating ROTC cadets take the oath of office as the U.S. Army’s newest commissioned officers during APSU’s May 2005
Commencement. They are, left to right: 2nd Lt. Jennifer White, Medical Service Corps; 2nd Lt. Joshua Sisson, Infantry; 2nd Lt. James Harrell, Infantry; 2nd Lt.
Sharone Green, Quartermaster Corps; 2nd Lt. Jamie Garay, Nurse Corps; and 2nd Lt. Tiffany Chapman, Veterinary Corps. Since 1979, more than 43,000 soldiers have
attended APSU. This fall, as the 20,000 soldiers of 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault) re-deploy to Iraq, we wish them a safe tour and a speedy return. Austin Peay
State University Salutes Our Soldiers!
Alicia Archuleta/The Leaf-Chronicle
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