NASHVILLE, Tenn. (TSU News Service) – When it comes to education, Kevin Scott has no other choice but to succeed.
“My parents didn’t play. Growing up at home my grades always came first,” says Scott, a Nashville native who has a passion for building, tinkering and fixing things.
Scott’s passion is no accident. He was raised around people who were “always building or fixing things.” His father owns a mechanic and towing business that he inherited from Kevin’s grandfather.
“That’s where my interest in electronics started, being able to create and play with emerging technology,” says Scott, a senior electrical engineering major at Tennessee State University.
In May, Scott will graduate from TSU with a degree in electrical engineering and a concentration in computer engineering. He has potential job offers waiting for him with aerospace research and engineering giants like Lockheed Martin and AMRDEC or the Army Aviation and Missile Research Development and Engineering Center, upon graduation.
Scott says the “strong and highly accredited” engineering program at TSU made his decision to stay local very easy. At TSU, he maintained the same high academic zeal he had always had. He is completing his engineering program in four years, which ordinarily lasts five years.
“I have been blessed with great professors and mentors at TSU who have been very nurturing and show personal interest in my success,” says Scott, who will be graduating with a near 3.5 grade point average.
An Academic standout at Nashville’s John Overton High School, Scott credits strong TSU disciplines and early preparation for his success. At Overton, Scott was part of the STEM Academy, and a member of the Technology Student Association, which helped him to develop the fundamentals of engineering, robotics and programming. He had earned 12 college credit hours by the time he graduated high school. He was awarded a Presidential Scholarship to attend TSU, from where both his parents – Kevin, Sr., and Joy Scott – had graduated.
“The scholarship was a sign that I should stay locally and take advantage of the opportunity I had been blessed with,” says Scott. “In fact I had always been involved with TSU and many of my family members had also attended TSU.”
A member of the Honors College, Scott is the Student Branch Chair of the Institute of Electrical/Electronic Engineers, member of the National Society of Black Engineers, and Eta Kappa Nu Zeta Kappa Chapter Electrical Engineering Honor Society. He is also a teaching assistant, and Lab Manager for STEM Scouts by Boy Scout of America.
“This journey through Tennessee State University has been a life-changing experience. From the connections I have made, the opportunities that I have been granted, and from the education I have received, coming into this final stretch of my undergraduate degree, I know that I am ready to THINK, WORK, SERVE, and LEAD,” says Scott.
Dr. Coreen Jackson, interim dean of the Honors College and one of those Scott credits for his success, says, “Kevin is one of those rare people whose achievement and ambition are way beyond his years.”
“Kevin has done an exceptional job in his academics at Tennessee State University,” says Jackson. “He has had excellent training in his engineering classes, received personal mentorship from his professors in the College of Engineering and the Honors College, and is well prepared to make his mark on the world.”
Over his college career, Scott also received recognitions and scholarship awards from the Music City Bowl Tradition of Service, the NFL Retired Players Inspiration, IBM Master The Mainframe Part 2 Completion, and the National Society of Collegiate Scholars.
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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, 25 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.