Tag Archives: Lesia Crumpton-Young

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State Lawmakers Converge on TSU Campus on ‘Tennessee General Assembly Day’

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (TSU News Service) – State lawmakers got a chance to see Tennessee State University’s excellence up close earlier this month.

Several legislators – from the Senate and House of Representatives – visited and toured the campus on Nov. 14 in what was termed, “Experience TSU: Tennessee General Assembly Day at Tennessee State University.”

This was a departure from the annual “TSU Day at the Capitol,” when university administrators, students, faculty, alumni and friends converge on Legislative Plaza to showcase TSU’s research and other innovative initiatives. The next TSU Day at the Capitol will be on Feb. 12.

TSU alums and state lawmakers, Rep. Harold Love, Jr.; and Senator-elect Brenda Gilmore, said it was important for their fellow lawmakers to visit the TSU campus. (Photo by Michael McLendon, TSU Media Relations)

Joining the lawmakers at TSU were the Tennessee Commissioner of Agriculture, Jai Templeton, and representatives from the USDA’s Farm Service Agency, Natural Resource Conservation Service, and Rural Development.

“We are very pleased to welcome you to Tennessee State University and our beautiful campus on behalf of our President, Dr. Glenda Glover,” said Dr. Curtis Johnson, chief of staff and associate vice president.

“Many of you may be familiar with our campus and for some of you, this may be your first time, but we are just glad that you included us in your busy schedules to make this day possible and to see for yourselves some of the great things taking place at this institution.”

At a luncheon in the President’s Dining Room prior to touring facilities on campus, the lawmakers received briefings and slide presentations from administrators on the university’s 2019 Legislative Priorities for funding consideration by the General Assembly.

Lawmakers and USDA officials watch a computer animation in the CAVE presented by Omari Paul, a 2nd-year Ph.D. student in Computer Information Systems Engineering. (Photo by Emmanuel Freeman, TSU Media Relations)

The priorities include the creation of a STEM Institute, a Community Behavioral and Mental Health Center, the Cumberland Shores Research and Innovative Park, emergency funding for students, and safety and security.

“With the heightened demand for diversification in the STEM work force, an institute would provide research, professional development and training in recruiting and retaining minorities in STEM programs in Tennessee and nationally,” said Dr. Lesia Crumpton-Young, vice president for Research and Institutional Advancement.

With TSU one of only two HBCU’s offering a Ph.D. in psychology in the nation, Crumpton-Young told the lawmakers a community behavioral and mental health center would allow Ph.D. students in psychology to complete their clinical training on campus, instead of at Vanderbilt University, as they currently do.

A group of students from the TSU Career Development Center and the center director, Charles Jennings, right, make a presentation to the visiting legislators at the luncheon in the President’s Dining Room. (Photo by MIchael McLendon, TSU Media Relations)

Two TSU alums and state lawmakers, Rep. Harold Love, Jr., and Senator-elect Brenda Gilmore, were among those present. They said the presence of their colleagues on campus allows them to see “where the money is going.”

“This is so vital because when Tennessee State is engaged and asking for money for campus improvements, security upgrades and for general operation, oftentimes legislators have never been to the campus,” Love said. “By having them on campus, we get to highlight all the wonderful things that are going on at TSU.”

Gilmore shared similar sentiment.

“TSU has so much to offer. They have some of the best and brightest students,” she said.  “I commend TSU for arranging this visit. This is a good start. TSU needs a greater presence, telling the story of what the university is and what the needs are.”

Following the luncheon, lawmakers toured various sites on campus, escorted by TSU’s Assistant Vice President for Public Relations and Communications, Kelli Sharpe, and Johnson.

Leon Roberts, coordinator of the TSU Dental Hygiene program, talks to visitors about the services offered by the Dental Hygiene Clinic. (Photo by Emmanuel Freeman, TSU Media Relations)

Stops included a round-table discussion with administrators and the Dean of the College of Agriculture, Dr. Chandra Reddy, as well as a tour of the Food and Biosciences and Technology Lab, a cutting-edge facility.

State Sen. Frank S. Nicely, 8th District, said he is impressed with work going on at TSU, especially in agriculture.

“I enjoy very much hearing about TSU as a land-grant university,” said Nicely, who is 1st vice-chair of the Senate Energy, Agriculture and Natural Resources Committee. “I am excited about the work you are doing with small farmers and reaching out to more counties with your extension program.”

Next, the group stopped in the College of Engineering, where they observed various animations in the CAVE or Computer Assisted for Virtual Environments, a facility for multi-disciplinary research, as well as the Advanced Materials Lab.

The group’s final stop was at TSU’s state-of-the-art Dental Hygiene Clinic, which provides a wide range of reduced-cost dental services to nearly 600 patients in the Nashville community a year.

Department of Media Relations

Tennessee State University
3500 John Merritt Boulevard
Nashville, Tennessee 37209
615.963.5331

About Tennessee State University

With more than 8,000 students, Tennessee State University is Nashville’s only public university, and is a comprehensive, urban, co-educational, land-grant university offering 38 bachelor’s degree programs, 24 master’s degree programs and seven doctoral degrees. TSU has earned a top 20 ranking for Historically Black Colleges and Universities according to U.S. News and World Report, and rated as one of the top universities in the country by Washington Monthly for social mobility, research and community service. Founded in 1912, Tennessee State University celebrated 100 years in Nashville during 2012. Visit the University online at tnstate.edu.

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TSU Faculty and Staff Fired Up and Ready to Embrace New Academic Year, Challenged to Strive for Greatness

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (TSU News Service) – Tennessee State University President Glenda Glover welcomed faculty and staff back to the university on Monday, and challenged them to strive for “greatness.”

“This is an exciting time because the history of TSU is still being written,” Glover said at the Faculty-Staff Institute. “We’ve been called to greatness. We are building our TSU legacy.”

She said the university has some challenges, but that they can be overcome by working together.

“It takes all of us to make TSU work,” Glover said. “We are team TSU.”

Part of the president’s discussion was about enrollment, which she said has been affected by the state’s program that offers high school graduates free tuition at a two-year institution in Tennessee, and higher admission standards TSU implemented in 2016 to attract better and brighter students.

She noted the higher standards are paying off because the university is attracting more quality students, including two highly sought after high school seniors from Memphis.

Jayla Woods, a graduate of Whitehaven High School, received nearly $9 million in scholarship offers. A fellow student, Meaghen Jones, got more than $10 million in offers. Both will be at TSU when classes start this month.

“We’ve moved to quality over quantity,” Glover said.

She also pointed out the university is continuing to excel in research, as well as campus growth. In the next few months, ground is expected to be broken on a new Health Sciences Building and two new residence halls.

As for research funding, TSU ended the past year with $52 million, which was $8 million more than the previous year and placed Tennessee State No. 2 among historically black colleges and universities in new research funding.

Dr. Lesia Crumpton-Young, TSU’s vice president of research and institutional advancement, said she’s excited about the future of TSU.

“I’m looking forward to this year,” she said. “The plan is to keep the momentum, and actually accelerate this year with larger initiatives, that once again still provide greater impact to the research we’re doing.”

Tequila Johnson, chair of the Staff Senate, said she was pleased to hear the positive outcomes and outlooks shared by President Glover, as well as others who presented during the retreat.

“I think it was a great opportunity to be able to fellowship with staff and faculty members,” Johnson said. “It was also a good opportunity to be able to hear some of the ideas that staff have in relationship to customer service and how we can work together to improve satisfaction.”

Assistant College of Business professor Isaac Addae said the Faculty-Staff Institute was “very effective in setting the tone for the upcoming semester.”

“Dr. Glover’s holistic approach to student-centered customer service, and reiterating to faculty that it takes all of us, is a step in the right direction,” he said. “As an alumnus and business faculty member, I was proud to see the upward trend of enrollment in our academic unit. I am inspired to do my part to embrace the Team TSU mindset and provide excellence in teaching, research and service to the institution.”

Dr. De’Etra Young, assistant professor of Urban Forestry in the College of Agriculture, said the information shared during the retreat provided inspiration for the year ahead.

“I thought it was great.  I thought it set the tone to build teamwork and collaboration and putting students first,” she said.  “I really liked the president’s message of ‘Team TSU,’ and using that throughout the year to build the TSU family and putting that at the forefront.”

Kiana Hughes, who earned a master’s degree from TSU in 2017 and now works as Title III program coordinator and completion coach, echoed similar sentiments.

“Being a recent graduate I really enjoyed seeing the actual numbers and the growth of the university. Also, being a recent graduate of a graduate program I am really excited to see the way the graduate school is progressing,” Hughes said.

Hughes, who received her undergraduate degree from TSU in Exercise Science HPSS (Human Performance Science), said she looks forward to a great year at the university.

“One thing I want to see and I am really excited about is faculty and staff coming together to make TSU a better environment over all. I am really excited about that, “Hughes said.

Following the annual faculty and staff institute employees gathered for lunch on the campus lawn where they continued to fellowship and share excitement about the new academic year.

 

Department of Media Relations

Tennessee State University
3500 John Merritt Boulevard
Nashville, Tennessee 37209
615.963.5331

About Tennessee State University

With more than 8,000 students, Tennessee State University is Nashville’s only public university, and is a comprehensive, urban, co-educational, land-grant university offering 38 bachelor’s degree programs, 24 master’s degree programs and seven doctoral degrees. TSU has earned a top 20 ranking for Historically Black Colleges and Universities according to U.S. News and World Report, and rated as one of the top universities in the country by Washington Monthly for social mobility, research and community service. Founded in 1912, Tennessee State University celebrated 100 years in Nashville during 2012. Visit the University online at tnstate.edu.

Alumni, EVENTS, FACULTY, FEATURED, NEWS, Research and Sponsored Programs, SCHOOLS AND COLLEGES

Multimillionaire Entrepreneur Lectures TSU Students on Success, Establishes Endowed Scholarship

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (TSU News Service) – Multimillionaire entrepreneur Dr. Bill Pickard has a message for TSU students: “Anybody, from anywhere, can accomplish anything.”

“But to do so, ‘you gotta put the work in,’” Pickard said, quoting a line from Grammy-Award winning singer Drake.

Pickard, chairman of Global Automotive Alliance and co-managing partner of MGM Grand Detroit Casino, was the guest lecturer at the Distinguished Lecture Series in the Forum on Monday, April 10.

Following his lecture, the LaGrange, Georgia, native, who is also CEO of Bearwood Management Company and co-owner of five Black-owned newspapers, established an endowed scholarship in the name of Kevin Williams, a TSU alumnus, Foundation Board member and retired president of General Motors of Canada.

He said the endowment was in appreciation of a long friendship, and credited Williams with helping to expand his (Pickard) GAA conglomerate of logistics and manufacturing companies with more than $1.5 billion in sales.

“When I met Kevin we were doing about $100 million, and when he left, we were doing about half a billion, that’s relationship,” Pickard told the packed auditorium with mostly students from the College of Business.

On his own life story, Pickard, who earned a Ph.D. from The Ohio State University, said he started off at a community college after high school, because of poor grades. Many did not give him much chance for success, he said.

“I completed college, earned a master’s degree, became a social worker, and life was good,” said Pickard, who credits a “strong” faith in God for his success “I had an opportunity to earn my Ph.D. and I did.”

According to his bio, Pickard’s entrepreneurial career began with a McDonald’s franchisee in Detroit, becoming one of the top-10 Blacks in America to have a McDonald’s franchise.

“It is not where you start but where you go,” said Pickard, reminding the students of his “Seven Proven Principles of Entrepreneurship,” outlined in his book Millionaire Moves – vision, opportunity, finance, relationships, talent and skillset, failure, faith.

“To be successful you must have vision. Your vision must be greater than the window you are looking through. What that means is that you will never be what you cannot see,” Pickard said.

Williams, in whose name Pickard established the scholarship endowment, said he is glad many will benefit from Pickard’s gift.

“This recognition goes to a lot of people beyond myself,” he said, as he recognized his wife, Arlene, who “makes the machine go.”

Maya Moore, a junior finance major, was part of a panel of Business College students who listened to Pickard. She was very impressed by the speaker’s very simple and encouraging presentation.

“I encourage students to read his book, because just as he spoke, the book lays it down in layman terms for our generation to understand,” Moore said. “Like he said, if you put the work in, with a clear vision, you can accomplish anything.”

Earlier, Dr. Lesia Crumpton-Young, vice president for Research and Institutional Advancement, welcomed Pickard on behalf of President Glenda Glover, who was traveling on business.

“President Glover and the entire TSU family are glad and honored to welcome Dr. Pickard.” Crumpton-Young said. “Certainly, we are excited to hear him and learn from his great wealth of knowledge.”

The Dean of the College of Business, Dr. Millicent Lownes-Jackson, thanked Dr. Pickard for the scholarship endowment.

“This is a very, very special day for the College of Business and for me particularly, since Kevin was my former student,” Lownes-Jackson said. “The College of Business is just so thankful for this donation, and everyone who receives that scholarship will have the challenge to emulate the character and success of two phenomenal business icons – Kevin Williams and Dr. Bill Pickard.”

Department of Media Relations

Tennessee State University
3500 John Merritt Boulevard
Nashville, Tennessee 37209
615.963.5331

About Tennessee State University

With more than 9,000 students, Tennessee State University is Nashville’s only public university, and is a comprehensive, urban, co-educational, land-grant university offering 38 undergraduate, 25 graduate and seven doctoral programs. TSU has earned a top 20 ranking for Historically Black Colleges and Universities according to U.S. News and World Report, and rated as one of the top universities in the country by Washington Monthly for social mobility, research and community service. Founded in 1912, Tennessee State University celebrated 100 years in Nashville during 2012. Visit the University online at tnstate.edu.

FACULTY, NEWS

Longtime Educator, Scientist Named Associate Vice President for Research and Sponsored Programs at TSU

Dr. Lesia Crumpton-Young
Dr. Lesia Crumpton-Young

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (TSU News Service) – Tennessee State University has appointed a new Associate Vice President for Research and Sponsored Programs. She is Dr. Lesia Crumpton-Young, a longtime educator, multiple-award winning scientist, and director of the Center for Advancing Faculty Excellence at the University of Central Florida.

Crumpton-Young, who will also serve as the University’s Chief Research Officer, will assist the Vice President for Academic Affairs in the development of the vision, direction, and guidance of the University’s research mission and policy formulation. Additionally, she will provide oversight for the research process, education and creative thinking, as well as promote the creation of an environment that encourages and supports leading-edge scholarly research.

An industrial engineer by training, Crumpton-Young has had a long experience as a professor, a research scientist, and a university administrator. Prior to her recent role at the University of Central Florida, where she served in several other capacities, she was the associate provost at Texas A&M University; program director in the Education and Human Resource Directorate of the National Science Foundation; and associate dean of Engineering at Mississippi State University.

A recipient of the Presidential Award for Excellence in Science, Mathematics and Engineering Mentoring, she has been the principal investigator and co-PI on many public and private grants totaling several million dollars. A prolific writer, Crumpton-Young has published and co-published several articles on engineering leadership, innovation and STEM education.

Crumpton-Young, who will also be responsible for patents, copyrights, and technology transfers at TSU, holds a Ph.D., an M.S. and a B.S. in Industrial Engineering from Texas A&M University.

She begins her new assignment on June 1.

 

 

 

Department of Media Relations
Tennessee State University
3500 John Merritt Boulevard
Nashville, Tennessee 37209
615.963.5331

 

About Tennessee State University

With nearly 9,000 students, Tennessee State University is Nashville’s only public university, and is a comprehensive, urban, co-educational, land-grant university offering 38 undergraduate, 22 graduate and seven doctoral programs. TSU has earned a top 20 ranking for Historically Black Colleges and Universities according to U.S. News and World Report, and rated as one of the top universities in the country by Washington Monthly for social mobility, research and community service. Founded in 1912, Tennessee State University celebrated 100 years in Nashville during 2012. Visit the University online at tnstate.edu.