University presents Alumni Awards at annual ceremony

During homecoming week, Carson-Newman celebrated alumni who represent their alma mater with distinction during its annual Alumni Awards Ceremony on Oct. 21.

Alumni recognized demonstrate the traits of those in Scripture who, often with no fanfare, serve, lead, support and love in a manner indicative of the calling of Christian educators to help C-N students reach their full potential as educated citizens and worldwide servant-leaders.

TRIUMPH AWARDS

Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences
The Honorable Dwight Stokes, Class of 1974

Dwight Stokes’ years at Mossy Creek were active. Various commitments around campus included serving as vice-president of the Student Government Association and sports editor of the campus paper, The Orange and Blue. His O&B duties included writing a column for three years – “Different Stokes for Different Folks.”

While the 1974 graduate may have had an interest in the law when he arrived at Carson-Newman, that passion was honed on this campus. Stokes credits professor Joe Bill Sloan with not only teaching him the art of critical thinking, but as a mentor showing grace and confidence in him as a student. Developed 50 years ago, it is a friendship that continues to this day.

He also tips his cap to Carl Tipton from the Carson-Newman Public Relations Office, who entrusted him with responsibility. While still an undergrad, Stokes occasionally served as “student attorney” for classmates who found themselves in front of the dean of students for disciplinary issues.

Now those disciplinary issues come in front of Judge Stokes.

First elected General Sessions and Juvenile Court judge for Sevier County in 1998, Judge Stokes has been re-elected three more times. His impact and leadership extends beyond the boundaries of Sevier County.

He was named, by two different governors, to the Tennessee Commission of Children and Youth; he served on the Tennessee Court of the Judiciary and the Board of Judicial Conduct or nine  years; has served as president of the Tennessee General Sessions Judges Conference, and as a member of the Disproportionate Minority Contact Commission to Tennessee for 10 years, including a period as vice-chair.

He is a recipient of the Judge Leon Ruben Award by the Tennessee General Sessions Judges Conference “in recognition of outstanding service and devotion to the state of Tennessee in pursuit of justice for all” and the Senator Douglas Henry Outstanding Public Service Award as a champion for all Tennessee children.

In his community, he has served for nearly 20 years as chair of the Sevier County Martin Luther King, Jr. Celebration and on two pastor search committees at First Baptist Sevierville where he is a life deacon.

Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences
Angelia Nystrom, Class of 1989

A member of the class of 1989, Angelia Nystrom has made the most of her time at Carson-Newman and since.

While pursuing a major in political science, Nystrom was a member of the Honors Program and editor of the yearbook. Upon leaving Mossy Creek, she graduated from Mercer University’s Walter F. George School of Law, where she was the recipient of the George Woodruff Scholarship and a member of the Dean’s List.  From there, she earned a degree from Western New England University’s School of Law with a 4.0 grade point average and was named an outstanding graduate.

The current vice president of Advancement and Chief Legal Counsel for the East Tennessee Foundation, which serves 25 counties in East Tennessee, Nystrom spent 18 years in the private practice of law. Her practice areas included estate planning, probate, real estate financing and real estate acquisition and development. She has helped raise nearly $300 million for charitable causes related to education and community needs in East Tennessee.

She is a three-time chair of the Estate Planning and Probate Section and current member of the Executive Committee for the Tennessee Bar Association. She earned the TBA’s President’s Distinguished Service Award as producer of the Legal Handbook for Tennessee Seniors in 2014, which was recognized by the National Association of Bar Executives as most outstanding project for the year. She also is a recipient of the TBA’s President’s Commendation for Outstanding Leadership in the development of the “Basic Legal Resources Guide for Nonprofits.”

She served eight years on the TBA Board, two years as chair and currently serves as General Counsel.

In her community, Nystrom is president of the Smoky Mountain Planned Giving Council, executive vice president and soon-to-be first female president of the Great Smoky Mountain Council of Scouting America; the Greater Knoxville Area Interclub Swimming Association, the Knoxville Downtown Civitan Club and the Knoxville Garden Club.

A former member of the Carson-Newman Alumni Association Board, she helped initiate the project of raising money to convert an existing piece of Carson-Newman property into a beautifully renovated alumni center – the JoAnn and Howard Chitwood Alumni Center at Hale Place.

Biblical and Theological Studies
Dr. David R. Dean, Class of 1960

Like many students, David Dean’s path when he left Mossy Creek was very different from what he had in mind when he arrived. God’s plans often are not ours.

A biology major at Carson-Newman, Dean was going to be a doctor.

Being voted “most intellectual” his senior year, he said he did not feel that way after failing the last class to get him through medical school. Referring to it as the most humiliating experience of his life, Dean did not know what to do. He considered many options, including enlisting in the Navy.

Through encouragement from a friend, he contacted the head of the biology department at Peabody College – now part of Vanderbilt University. On the spot, he offered Dean a position as assistant laboratory teacher. Job secured, tuition paid, Dean earned his masters with a teaching certification in a year and was hired to teach biology at Blue Mountain College in Mississippi.

“It was a good comeback,” David said. “God works wonders in our lives if we listen to Him. But we have to discipline ourselves.”

It was better than a comeback. He taught two years, married his wife Carolyn and they moved to Louisville to attend seminary. There Dean earned his doctor of ministry with a focus on how to use original poetry in ministry. Not what one experiences in biology class or med school.

Now shifting from assisting physical illnesses to spiritual ones, he served 13 years at a church in the suburbs of Boston. From there, he was called to New York City as director for the Metropolitan New York Baptist Association.

There, he served 13 more years. Dean’s time in New York encompassed September 11, 2001. The spiritual needs of the citizens of his city affected by the events of that day were in high demand. More than 20 years later, that moment in time and the days and weeks that followed are still vivid.

His service in New York led the organization to establish the David Dean House in Brooklyn. It fulfilled a dream that Dean had harbored for more than a decade, to provide housing for mission volunteers in the city who could not afford the prices of New York.

Business
Dr. Rachel Inman, Class of 1990

Search the internet for the topic “fields of law” and one gets various responses. At least three articles on 12 types of lawyers and law; a couple more discuss the 21 areas of law and two others expound on 29 fields of law practice. Yet another response was a quote, stating it was an impossible question to answer because the field of law evolves pretty much on a daily basis.

Imagine being an educator, charged with preparing law students for the field – whichever focus they may choose.

1990 Carson-Newman graduate Dr. Rachel Inman does just that. For 20 years, Inman has served as a member of the Law Faculty at the University of Florida and, currently, is the associate dean for Student Affairs at the UF Frederic G. Levin College of Law.

A graduate of the Carson-Newman Business Department, Inman’s impact in that field has come through the influence of the law. Her dedication to the law and her students earned her recognition from the Standing Committee on Professionalism.

The award recognizes a faculty member or administrator, of which there are more than 1,000, of one of Florida’s accredited law schools.

In honoring Inman, the Stand Committee on Professionalism clarified its mission as: “To promote the fundamental ideals and values of professionalism within the legal system and to instill those ideals of character, competence, civility and commitment in all those persons serving and seeking to serve therein.”

Inman not only brings a proactive approach in supporting the teaching of the law, but supporting her students as well. She has sponsored Wellness Wednesdays, a weekly event where students gather to build connections, share experiences and provide support.

In recognition of her efforts, she was appointed to the executive committee of the Student Services Section of the Association of American Law Schools. – It’s mission? To “create best practices for student services at the country’s law school to develop the competencies to become profession and ethical lawyers.”


Education
Thomas Hill, Class of 1975

Celebrating the 50^th anniversary of his graduation from Carson-Newman, Thomas Hill questioned if the committee had made a mistake when notified of his honor. A physical education major, which at the time was under the Education Department umbrella, Hill needed convincing.

In fact, he asked if C-N officials had the right Tom Hill and if the group had checked his GPA.

“You know, I was not the greatest student in the world,” he said. The committee assured him it had not judged his grades and it was no accident. It was explained that the alumni recognitions honor those who, since leaving the classroom at Mossy Creek, have taken their Carson-Newman education and made an impact on the world.

A member of the Eagles baseball team under long-time coach Bobby Wilson, Hill and his GPA, entered a world and a career where he reached the pinnacle. He not only reached the summit of his professional career, he did so multiple times and retired a year-and-a-half ago on top.

The role? Hill spent his fall and winter weekends for the last 25 years as an official in the National Football League. Sixteen of those he served as a side judge. During his last six years he was field judge. The three years in between he alternated the two roles.

In his more than two decades in the pinstripes, Hill worked nearly 400 NFL games, including nine wild card playoff games, three divisional title games, 10 conference championships and five Super Bowls – including Super Bowl 58 between San Francisco and Kansas City – his last game on the field.

While Hill did retire from the field, he did not step away entirely. In fact, he was retained by the NFL as a consultant, holding the title of officiating trainer. In that role, Hill provides guidance and oversight on training and developing current and potential NFL officials.


Family and Consumer Sciences
Allison C. Pelham, Class of 1989

Allison Pelham did not arrive at Mossy Creek as a traditional undergraduate student.

Already married and two years under her belt as an employee at Community Tectonics in Gatlinburg when she transferred to Carson-Newman in 1987, Pelham wasted no time in getting involved on campus.

A student in the Family and Consumer Sciences Department, Pelham was a member of the Kappa Omicron Nu Honor Society which empowers leaders through excellence in scholarship, leadership, and research in the human sciences.

In two short years she received the Braden Home Economics Award, the Family and Consumer Science Medal, the Family and Consumer Science Department Award, the Frank and Jane Orr Hinchey Scholarship and the first Interior Design Society Award and Scholarship for a class project – earning her a trip to the National IDS Convention in Las Vegas.

Graduating from Carson-Newman, she continued her service at Community Tectonics, where she remains as director of Interior Design. Known for its work in the field of education from primary schools to colleges and universities, the work of Pelham and Community Tectonics has been recognized with 38 School of the Year Awards from the Tennessee School Board Association.

In an example of life coming full circle, in 2006 and 2007 Pelham served as the lead interior design consultant during the construction of Blye-Poteat Hall, the home of the Family and Consumer Sciences Department.

Almost since the day she left Mossy Creek, she has served on the Family and Consumer Sciences Advisory Council, serving a rotation as chair of that group. Through the last decade, she has been an active member of Carson-Newman’s Women of Vision organization, serving as chair more than once, including currently.

The Family and Consumer Sciences Department has presented her with its Distinguished Service Award, Carson-Newman’s Student Services division named her Community Advocate of the Year for her work on the O’Brien Veterans Center and she earned the Women of Vision Leadership Award. More than a dozen C-N campus renovation projects have been completed with Pelham serving as project manager.

Health Sciences
Tracy McNair, Class of 2003

Carson-Newman’s health sciences program has developed a reputation, a good one, for quality, highly-prepared graduates entering the medical field.

Carson-Newman’s mission is to help students reach their full potential as educated citizens and worldwide servant-leaders.

Tracy McNair checks both boxes, a quality, highly-prepared graduate in the medical field and a servant-leader.

As a board-certified family nurse practitioner, she is motivated for excellence in taking care of her patients.

“I am passionate about providing outstanding patient care and using my knowledge and compassion towards marking a difference in people’s lives,” she said.

A veteran of the United States Army, McNair’s effort to “be all she can be” has extended beyond her time at Mossy Creek. Despite earning her degrees and establishing herself in the medical field, her appetite for knowledge is continuous.

“I believe learning is a continuous activity,” she said. “We all should go through life willing to learn and teach every day of our lives.”

In Scripture the author of Hebrews makes our instructions very clear.

“And do not neglect doing good and sharing,” it says in the 16^th verse of chapter 13. “for with such sacrifices God is pleased.”

McNair has lived that out, in her personal life, serving as part of medical mission trips to Africa and volunteering to assist with Army readiness checkups, and her professional life as well.

Natural and Applied Sciences
Dr. Carla Lamb, Class of 1988

Dr. Carla Lamb, is the director of Interventional Pulmonology at Lahey Hospital and Medical Center in Burlington, Massachusetts.

A graduate of the class of ’88, Lamb was captain of the cheer squad, Homecoming Queen, Ms. Carson-Newman, and a recipient of the Algernon Sidney-Sullivan Award.

She received her medical residency training and pulmonary/critical care fellowship training at the Naval Medical Center in San Diego, California, where she also served on active duty as a lieutenant commander in the United States Navy.

With a primary interest in early diagnosis and treatments for both benign and malignant thoracic and pleural diseases, Lamb is board certified in Internal Medicine, Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine.

She holds a number of leadership positions in the field with both national and international organizations including board member and educational chairperson for the American Association for Bronchology and Interventional Pulmonology.  She has served on the steering committee for the Interventional Pulmonary Network of the American College of Chest Physicians and on the editorial board and a peer reviewer of leading medical journals.

An active member of the ACCP expert panel for guidelines for sedation and analgesia for bronchoscopy as well as development of the educational curriculum for interventional pulmonary fellowships, Lamb is also one of the founding members of the Association for Interventional Pulmonary Program Directors  (AIPPD).

She actively has participated in a number of clinical research projects spanning bronchial thermoplasty for treatment of asthma, comparative trials of treatment modalities for malignant pleural effusions, evaluation of new technologies for earlier bronchoscopic identification of early stages of lung cancer.

Lamb co –founded Women in Interventional Pulmonology and is the first female president of the American Association for Bronchology and Interventional Pulmonology.

She is a recipient of the Pasquale Ciaglia Memorial Award in Interventional Pulmonary Medicine, the Chadwick Medal for meritorious contributions in pulmonary medicine, and the Sam Moschella Educator of the Year.


BEACON AWARD
Caleb (Class of 2006) and Alice Crothers (Class of 2005)

Caleb Crothers was a Knoxville police officer and Alice Crothers was a successful administrator in the medical field when their life changed in 2015.Caleb’s father developed cancer. The question surfaced of “Who would run the family’s dairy farm in Maryland?” Not just any dairy farm. Long Green Farms had been milking cows since 1759 – 17 years before America declared independence. It was a life-altering decision.

Caleb left the police force and, young family in tow, Alice, who had grown up in Knoxville, nowhere near a farm, much less running one, joined her husband as he became the eighth generation to oversee Long Green Farms.And what an impact they have made.The Crothers partnered with Appalachian Stream Restoration and Wetland Studies to reconstruct and realign more than 14,200 feet of streambank of a creek that feeds into North East Creek, a direct tributary of the Chesapeake Bay. The project included planting 60,000 trees.To prevent soil erosion from farm fields, the Crothers plant 300 acres of cover crops to slow the velocity of rainfall and melting snow. To prevent disturbing the soil structure, they utilize a no-till planter for corn, soybeans, orchard grass and rye grown on the farm to feed the milking herd of 140 to 150 cows, as well as the replacement heifers. They have preserved more than 500 of Long Green Farms through the Cecil Land Trust.

Eschewing commercial fertilizers, the Crothers employ a dragline system and utilize manure from their own farm. A system has been developed to distribute rainwater to prevent erosion.

The family’s resource-saving efforts earned them a 2022 Maryland Leopold Conservation Award, sponsored by the Sand County Foundation and American Farmland Trust.

In addition to their farming, they are advocates for the industry. Caleb has served as a board member of the Cecil County Farm Bureau since 2020 and a board member of the National Dairy Research and Promotion Board with the United States Department of Agriculture.Alice hosts the Adopt a Cow program for the state of Maryland with the American Dairy Association Northeast. She also serves as an Associate on the Cecil County Soil Conservation District Board and as a Regional Council Representative for Land O’ Lakes.


DISTINGUISHED ACHIEVEMENT
Dawn Coppock, Class of 1983

There is an old saying when referring to someone knowledgeable in a specific area. People will say “they wrote the book on that.”

Dawn Coppock actually did write the book on adoption law in Tennessee.Thirty years ago, 1995, the Tennessee Legislature completely rewrote, top to bottom, the state adoption code. That kicked off a succession of legislative activity designed to fine-tune the legislation but at times actually made things more complex. When the overhaul was “complete,” the state’s adoption code was more than twice the length than its predecessor.A lot of folks had questions. Coppock decided they needed answers.

Researching and writing in the evenings after her young children were in bed, she published the first edition of Coppock on Tennessee Adoption Law.

Those in the field, at least in Tennessee, say there are few areas of the law in the state that have a bench book as helpful and comprehensive as Coppock’s book of Tennessee adoption law.The book, however, is not her only contribution to adoption law. She puts words into action. In the ever-evolving world of the law, as she has continued her research and updated new editions, Coppock has worked behind the scenes working with peers and state legislators identifying areas for improvement in the state code.She was the singularly most important voice behind the formation of the Tennessee Bar Association Adoption Section in 2018, and she continues to serve as a member of the Executive Committee of that section.Coppock has served as a fellow in the American Academy of Adoptions and Assisted Reproduction Attorneys and in 2004, the U.S. Congressional Coalition on Adoption named her an “Angel in Adoption.” Six years later, she received the Bill Williams Service Award for service to Tennessee children in state custody who are awaiting adoption.

She is the founder of Good Law, a seminar company where she teaches practitioners the ins and outs of adoption law.It is likely it would be impossible to estimate the number of children who have found loving, adoptive homes through Coppock’s service. But we know there are members of our Carson-Newman family who are among them.

Although she officially retired this year, her work continues and her legacy will never end.

LEGACY AWARD
Peek Family  — 1925 through 2000s

One of the main qualifiers for a family to be considered for the Legacy Award is to have a minimum of three generations of the family attend Carson-Newman. This year’s recipient family hit that mark during the Carter Administration.

Next year, Carson-Newman celebrates its 175^th Anniversary.

For more than half of that time – at least 100 years — a member of the Peek family or occupants of various branches of the family tree have seen graduates walk across the stage at Mossy Creek.

In fact, since the 1925-26 academic year, more than two dozen members of the family have earned degrees – spanning at least seven different decades.

Those two dozen-plus alumni from the trunk of the tree branch to at least nine other families, yet again, confirming the high level of instances where Carson-Newman students not only earn a Christ-centered education but often leave Mossy Creek having met their future spouse.

Once Alvin Sperry Peek graduated in 1926, the die was cast. From there, four children of Alvin and Lady Ruth made their way to Mossy Creek. Three of those offspring saw children of their own attend Carson-Newman.

From 1951 through the 2000s, every decade welcomed a member of the Peek family.

Living out our mission of reaching their full potential as educated citizens and worldwide servant-leaders, members of this family have worked as attorneys, in marketing, insurance and real estate. The family produced teachers for every level of learning: elementary school teachers, music education instructors, special education teachers and college professors.

They served in ministry, as pastors in churches all over the South and in administration with the International Mission Board. And they served our country in the military.

In doing so, they have more than fulfilled the mission of Carson-Newman serving their communities and the world as educated citizens and worldwide servant-leader

VISION AWARD
Mike Turner, Class of 1973

In more than 50 years filling various roles at Mossy Creek, Mike Turner was always looking ahead. Of course he wanted to succeed in the moment, but he always was looking for what was next, how to be better.

He was a student, a football player. He later became a member of the staff, becoming offensive coordinator for some of the most successful Eagle squads in history. Then, upon the retirement of his friend and mentor, Ken Sparks, he was named the 18^th head coach for Carson-Newman.

But it was so much more than Xs and Os for Turner. He assisted wherever he was asked. Wherever he could make a difference.

He served as director of the Eagle club, chief fundraiser for the University’s Athletics Department. Despite retiring more than half a decade ago, Coach Turner still helps in the coordination efforts each year of a reunion for former football players and as color commentator on Eagle football broadcasts.

A little more than two years ago, Turner had one of his visions. While the Ken Sparks Athletic Center was a wonderful facility, it was missing something. He decided the KSAC needed a large fully-illuminated sign of the University’s official eagle head. “Big enough to been seen from space” he said.

Within a year, the money had been raised and the sign installed.

The results are in the numbers. In nearly 40 years as a player, assistant coach and then head coach, Turner was involved in 346 wins and just 95 losses. As the Eagles’ head coach he was 24-10, the .705 winning percentage is the third best in program history.

But for Coach Turner, it was more than wins and losses and money raised.

Upon his retirement, he said of his time here, it was “much more than a job and much more than a career. It was a ministry as a coaching staff. It brought many great blessings to me as a man, and a great blessing to me and my family to be a part of this.”

SERVANT LEADERSHIP
Sheldon Livesay, Class of 1971

In 1988, 1971 Carson-Newman graduate Sheldon Livesay was working at a family-owned business, the Rogersville Milling Company in his hometown.

But he felt a tug, … a call to do more. As a Christian and rooted in his relationship with Christ, Livesay found himself taking a leap of faith.He knew East Tennessee, and his home region in particular, had a history of chronic poverty. And Livesay wanted to try to do something about it. Through the prayer and support of his church, he and his family began to assist those in need by distributing emergency food supplies from the bedroom of their home.Like many who have a passion for serving others, Livesay began recruiting folks to help with the mission. These were the beginnings for Of One Accord Ministry. Within two years the services moved from the bedroom of their home and was incorporated. Since that time, the ministry has expanded into serving not only those in need in Hawkins and Hancock counties, but partnering with missionaries and efforts in at least half a dozen countries.Over the years, he has proven to be both a hearer of the Word and a doer. He remains a man of deep faith and steward to his community.

In 2024 alone, Of One Accord served more than 74,000 people with goods and services totaling more than $6.2 million. Of One Accord distributed more than 1.3 million pounds of food from its three food pantries, more than 1,400 food boxes at Thanksgiving and nearly 4,000 at Christmas. Winter coat and diaper distribution, back-to-school backpack and home repairs all were part of the organization’s activities.

But the thing with the highest value of all, participating in 135 decisions to accept Christ among those they served.

R. R. Turner Spirit of Carson-Newman Award
Donnie Newman

The R.R. Turner Award does not necessarily go to an alum. It was established by the Carson-Newman Alumni Association and named for the former beloved professor. Created to honor current faculty and staff whose commitment and service personify the spirit of Carson-Newman University – it goes each year to one who exemplifies the highest ideals of service and leadership on campus and considered to be the pinnacle of excellence and performance in their roles here at Mossy Creek.

The 2025 honoree does just that and accomplishes the feat by saying very little. Few of those on campus know the full scope of what this year’s recipient does or how it all comes together.

This Homecoming week is a perfect example. Three or four events – or more – happening in a day, every day. They are not necessarily connected by department or any component other than they are happening on campus and assistance is needed.

Regardless of how many things are taking place, attendees walk in and there the recipient is, going about the business so quietly that sometimes we take it for granted. We just assume.

This year’s recipient is one of the first to arrive and one of the last to leave – unless another event is getting ready to start. It has been that way for 39 years. This year’s recipient is Donnie Newman.