WANTED

that students in all majors receive a solid “ground-level education” primarily,
and emphasize their choice of major secondarily. “It’s that ground-level education
that I think is valuable,” he says.
He does not anticipate seeing Tusculum College becoming what one past
president called, with tongue in cheek, a “Harvard by the Nolichuckey.” He
believes the College will for many years deal with many “first-generation college
students,” i.e., students who are the first in their families to attend college.
Such students “present particular needs that have to be addressed,” he says.
“And they deserve an education. A democratic society requires an educated
electorate. So they are worth educating.”
Dr. Sexton himself came from a family that he describes as professional rather
than academic. But his father, a C.P.A., and mother valued higher education and
were determined their two sons would have it. College education “was in the
cards from the get-go” for the Sexton Brothers, Dr. Sexton says.
As Dr. Sexton finished out the 2004-2005 academic year, his friends and
colleagues at Tusculum College began to realize his departure from the
full-time faculty was at hand. Various recognitions and honors were given to
the popular professor.
One was a simple recognition of his long employment at the College, presented at the annual Honors
Convocation held near the end of the academic year. In making the presentation, Tusculum College
President Dr. Dolphus E. Henry said, "Those who know Dr. Sexton can name several traits easily
identifiable with the man: his love of history, devotion to scholarship, faithfulness to his beloved
Tusculum College, his devotion to his family. But one trait most of all will, I think, mark Don Sexton’s
legacy at this college: He truly cares about his students."
At the same convocation, Dr. Sexton was presented the Kay W. Leonard Outstanding Service to
Students Award, given by the Greene County Partnership in memory of the late Kay Leonard, a former
chair of the Greeneville City Board of Education.
As he gave that award, Partnership Chairman Tom Johnson said, "As the Janet Anderson Lunstedt
Professor of History at Tusculum College, today’s honoree has played a particularly noteworthy and
distinguished role in the history program at Tusculum College. Though he is now entering retirement,
Tusculum College will continue to benefit from his teaching in an adjunct capacity, and his continued
community presence as a special friend of Tusculum College."
Dr. Sexton was also honored, along with Professor of Education Dr. Carol Hartman, a fellow 2005
retiree, in a year-end reception hosted by fellow faculty members. Dozens of well-wishers came to the
Chalmers Conference Center to congratulate the retirees.
Dr. Sexton was recognized again when the Tusculum College Board of Trustees issued a resolution in
honor of his excellence and long history of service to the College. That resolution was framed and
presented to Dr. Sexton at the annual President's Dinner in May. The Board also voted to grant him
emeritus status as a professor.
Dr. Sexton has earned other recognitions in his career. In 1983 he was presented the Moncado Prize
Award by the American Military Institute due to an article he had written entitled "Phantoms of the
North: British Deceptions in Scandanavia, 1941-1944." The article was published in the magazine
Military Affairs. Deception and espionage in World War II continue to interest Dr. Sexton, who is
completing a scholarly book on the subject in anticipation of publication by a university press.
Dr. Sexton also received the McClure Fellowship in International Relations from the University of
Tennessee in 1973. And at Tusculum College, he held the Janet Anderson Lunstedt Memorial Endowed
Professorship of Humanities, which was established in 1991 through the estate of Carl A. Lunstedt '38,
of Manchester, N.H., as a tribute to his wife.
What will Dr. Sexton do in retirement? He plans to continue writing, enjoy his adjunct teaching,
work around his house (he's already tackled a bookshelf project), travel, and enjoy his family. He and
his wife, Peg, have two adult children who remain close to their parents.
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Dr. Sexton and Dr. Carol
Hartman at a reception
held in the spring in
their honor. Both faculty
members retired at the
close of the 2004-2005
academic year.
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