NASHVILLE, Tenn. (TSU News Service) – The blue print all started in Watson Hall dormitory seven years ago. Now three TSU alum who are founders of a major national restaurant chain, has been nominated as semifinalists for the esteemed James Beard Foundation’s Outstanding Restaurateur Culinary Award. The semifinalists were announced on January 25.
Slim & Husky’s Pizza Beeria owners Clinton Gray, Derrick Moore and Emanuel Reed are nominated in the category of Outstanding Restaurateur. The award recognizes exceptional talent and achievement in the culinary arts, hospitality, media, and broader food system.
“To be nominated for a James Beard award within our industry is the equivalent to an Oscars or Grammy nomination,” said Gray, speaking on behalf of his partners. “The best part is knowing that we are representing more than just Slim & Husky’s. Our entire community and culture are behind us, and we can feel the energy.”
Slim & Husky’s Pizza Beeria has been nominated as semifinalists for the esteemed James Beard Foundation’s Outstanding Restaurateur Culinary Award.
During an event at TSU last Fall, the trio spoke to incoming freshmen about a dream they had in their college dorm, kicking off their business with $3,000. Something that grew into a multi-million-dollar company with branches across the country.
“Slim & Husky’s was born right here at TSU, in these dorms,” Gray reminded the students during the event.
“As freshmen and college students, we had the same dream as most of you to make a difference, but we had a plan and we worked on it.”
Slim & Husky’s opened its first restaurant in North Nashville just minutes away from the TSU campus. They now have a chain of restaurants in Memphis, Chattanooga, Atlanta and Sacramento. The pizza beeria will also open a location on Morehouse College campus in Atlanta, GA, in February.
James Beard Foundation nominees will be announced on March 29, with the winners being honored at a ceremony on Monday, June 5, 2023, at the Lyric Opera of Chicago.
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (TSU News Service) – Turner Construction Company awarded three $15,000 scholarships for engineering students and will fund $65,000 to the department in Tuition Assistance Program grants to qualified students. TSU and Turner have partnered in efforts to support STEM students, and specifically those majoring in engineering. A check presentation and roundtable discussion were held to highlight the partnership.
More than 50 students attended along with TSU President Glenda Glover, executives from the company, and alumni in engineering. In addition to the scholarships, roundtable discussion focused on internships, career opportunities in the field of engineering and HBCU impact.
The three scholarship winners of Turner award are: Gregory Hobbs, Havilah Akachukwu and Ethiopine Choping.
Gregory Hobbs, left, Havilah Akachukwu, center, and Ethiopine Choping, right, were awarded $15,000 scholarships from Turner Construction Company. (Photo by Alexis Clark)
Akachukwu, a junior from Nigeria majoring in Mechanical Engineering, said she is thankful for the awarded funds and thought the overall event was amazing.
“To be able to see people in the industry take out time from their busy schedules to be there, just to talk about ways in which we, the students in engineering could help ourselves was wonderful,” Akachukwu said. She looks forward to one day becoming a design engineer and thanked Turner for believing in the university as majority of the panelists were either HBCU or TSU graduates.
“For the efforts they have put into our school and the students, I am grateful. They were all lovely and tried their best to communicate and interact with every student present.” Choping, a civil engineering major from Alaska, was shocked when she was notified about the scholarship and mentioned how informative the event was.
“I learned that there are different paths to take to be successful and each path is unique,” Choping said. “As long as you’re putting in effort, you will get the results you want.”
Hobbs, an Architectural Engineering major from Alabama, said that he prayed about receiving the scholarship to help cut cost of his tuition.
“The Turner Company event was wonderful,” Hobbs said. “The speakers provided a lot of insight on making it through school and choosing the correct career path. They spoke on managing school, personal life, and mental health.” Hobbs said the panelist assured him how much TSU alumni take care of one another and appreciated the insight.
Students, TSU President Glenda Glover, and engineering department staff listens during roundtable discussion from Turner panelists about career goals in the field and HBCU impact. (Photo by Alexis Clark)
“I learned that TSU is a family,” Hobbs said. Everyone wants you to succeed and are willing to help you.”
Charles Stewart, Vice President, Diverse Recruiting and Outreach, said the program is about, “the development of the student, helping the university enhance their pipeline and develop their students to be prepared to step out in the communities where we work every day, and be able to work with companies like ours.”
TSU graduate Jimmie Jones, told the students that the foundation of being able to be his true self at the university is one of the reasons he is a superintendent at Turner now. “The biggest things I received from here (TSU) is the support from my peers.”
Charles Stewart speaks about his company experience and program efforts. (Photo by Bethany Legg)
Dr. Catherine Armwood-Gordon, Interim Chair and Associate Professor for the Department of Civil and Architectural Engineering, said having TSU and HBCU alumni as part of the panel was a great way to show representation.
“It allows students to relate and form relationships with people in the industry and company who at one point were exactly where they are now,” Armwood-Gordon said. “Allowing them to see the possibilities of their future with their degrees and understand that the time, commitment, and rigorousness of the degree will pay off in the end. The College of Engineering is grateful for Turner Construction Company investing in our students by providing scholarships and support to student activities and engagement.”
Along with Jones, panelist Don Hardin Jr., and the event moderator Susan Vanderbilt, are all TSU alumni. Vanderbilt is the executive director and owner of Entrée Savvy, LLC, while Hardin is the owner of Don Hardin Group, the firm that designed and constructed the National Museum of African American Music located downtown.
The panel also included Stewart, Valarie Franklin, a Senior Associate/Client Relationship Manager for Moody Nolan, and the companies Lead Estimator, Cerise Inganji.
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (TSU News Service) – Kevin W. Williams (’83) has been elected to a public member position with the American Medical Association, according to a recent announcement released by the 168-year-old organization.
Kevin W. Williams
A former senior executive with General Motors, Williams joins the nation’s largest and most prominent physician organization on its 21-member board which sets standards and policy for the medical profession. He is only the fourth person to hold the public member position on the governing board, which added the first public member to its Board of Trustees in 2002. Williams will begin his four-year term at the conclusion of the AMA Annual Meeting in June 2016.
“Mr. Williams brings a wealth of knowledge and skills to the AMA board from his private sector career as a high-level leader with national and international business experience,” said Stephen R. Permut, M.D., AMA Board chair, in a release. “We look forward to his new perspectives that will help enrich our continuing efforts to address the leading health care issues facing our nation.”
Over the course of his 31-year career at GM, Williams accumulated extensive experience where he held numerous global roles. Most recently, he served as board chairman, president and managing director of General Motors (GM) of Canada Ltd. He also served as president and managing director of GM de Mexico, and GM North American vice president of quality.
Williams began his GM career in 1983 as a reliability analyst at Buick City in Flint, Michigan, and over the years he took on diverse key leadership roles as global executive director of Supplier Quality; global executive director of Supplier Quality, Development, and Supplier Diversity for Worldwide Purchasing; and executive director of Supplier Quality for GM Europe with responsibilities spanning 22 countries and 1,500 employees.
Williams has a demonstrated passion for giving back. He is a board member of the United Negro College Fund Foundation, a former trustee of Genesys Health System of Michigan, a former chairman of the Society of Automotive Engineers’ AWorld in Motion Advisory Committee, and continues to support his alma mater by serving on the TSU Foundation Board of Trustees.
A native of Lexington Park, Maryland, Williams earned a bachelor’s in Business Management from Tennessee State University in 1983 and a master’s in Business Administration from Central Michigan University in 1989. In 2002, Williams completed the GM Senior Executive Development Program.
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, 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.
Michael D. Johnson, Jr. has made a career of empowering, connecting and marketing youth culture by exposing his peers and young adults to their untapped potential and unchartered opportunities.
Currently, he is employed with the United States Department of Defense as a Student Training & Academic Recruitment Representative. In this role, he works with students and veterans interested in internship, co-op, scholarship and job opportunities with the federal government.
In September 2015, Johnson participated in Tennessee State University’s Career Development Center’s Fall Career Fair providing information to students on how to hone the skills necessary to bolster their academic and career opportunities. The informational session welcomed all majors and classifications to participate.
He is the founder and president of the National Brotherhood Chain, Inc., an organization focused on linking high school and collegiate men with successful professionals striving to propel African-American men into economic, social and political spheres of brotherhood and power worldwide.
“It is our duty and purpose to keep young brothers encouraged, focused and inspired to keep pushing themselves pass their potential,” according to comments on Johnson’s website. “Programs such as the Brotherhood Chain are specifically designed to grant young brothers those opportunities that are not commonly provided to them.”
Johnson is a Flint, Michigan native who made his way to Tennessee State University in 2010 after being recruited as part of the Men’s Track & Field team, where he later became an Ohio Valley Conference finalist and champion. In addition to his athletic achievements, high scholastic achievement has always been his top priority. In 2014, he graduated Magna Cum Laude with a degree in Criminal Justice and Psychology. Prior to graduating, he served as Mr. Tennessee State University for the 73rd Administration of the Student Government Association. In 2015, he earned a master’s degree in Criminal Justice, also from TSU. He hopes to enroll in law school in fall 2016 with the goal of establishing his own law firm and becoming a sports/entertainment attorney.
He is an active member of Phi Alpha Delta Law Fraternity, 100 Black Men, the Golden Key International Honor Society, and Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc.
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, 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.
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (TSU News Service) – The Honorable Curtis L. Collier has been selected to receive the prestigious 2015 American Inns of Court Professionalism Award for the Sixth Circuit. The award will be presented May 14, at the Sixth Circuit’s Annual Judicial Conference in Detroit by Chief Judge R. Guy Cole Jr., and Judge Pamela L. Reeves. Collier is only the second judge from Tennessee, the second African-American and the second District judge to receive the award.
A native of Arkansas, Collier earned a B.S. degree in chemistry from Tennessee State University in 1971, where he was an Air Force ROTC scholarship recipient. Collier received his J.D. in 1974 from Duke University.
Collier is a Senior U.S. District Judge for the Eastern District of Tennessee, and was nominated to the post by President William J. Clinton in 1995. Previously, Collier served as Supervisory Assistant U.S. Attorney in charge of the Chattanooga Branch Office of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the district.
Collier spent the early part of his career in the office of the U.S. attorney in New Orleans, Louisiana, eventually rising to become Deputy Chief of the Criminal Division and Chief of the General Crimes Unit. He was an adjunct professor of trial advocacy at Tulane University Law School. He also has taught at the Department of Justice National Advocacy Center at the University of South Carolina and at the Department of Justice in Washington, D.C.
He served active duty in the U.S. Air Force as a captain in the Judge Advocate General’s Department, fulfilling various roles at postings in Georgia, the Philippines, and California. Collier litigated approximately 30 cases before Courts-Martial or administrative boards.
Collier is a member of the Justices Ray L. Brock Jr. and Robert E. Cooper American Inn of Court, as well as his respective local, state and national bar associations. He serves on the Criminal Law Committee of the Judicial Conference of the United States and the Federal Judicial Center’s District Judge Education Advisory Committee.
The American Inns of Court Professionalism Awards are awarded in participating federal circuits, to a lawyer or judge whose life and practice display sterling character, unquestioned integrity, and dedication to the highest standards of the legal profession and the rule of law. The award is presented at the circuit’s judicial conference and recipients will be recognized in October at the 2015 American Inns of Court Celebration of Excellence at the Supreme Court of the United States.
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 45 undergraduate, 24 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.
NASHVILLE. Tenn. (TSU News Service) – Tennessee State University graduates continue to make major inroads in industry and the corporate and professional world.
Bryan Williams, senior partner of a New York City law firm who earned a B.S. degree from TSU in 1978, was recently elected chair of the Board of Trustees of the National Conference of Bar Examiners. The NCBE develops tests that are used as part of the bar examination in every jurisdiction in the United States.
A founding partner with Pettus and Williams, a Manhattan-based law firm, Williams is no stranger to the NCBE and the law profession. He was a longtime member of the Policy Committee for the Multistate Bar Examination, the organization’s flagship test that is administered in all states with the exception of Louisiana. In New York, he is a member of the State Board of Law Examiners.
Williams, who was elected at the August meeting of the NCBE, becomes only the second African-American male to chair the Board of Trustees in the organization’s 83-year history. He began his legal career as an assistant district attorney in the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office and practiced commercial litigation at the Wall Street law firms of Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom, and Deforest & Duer.
Attributing his career success and leadership skills to his TSU preparation, Williams said his new role will give him the opportunity to lead “a very distinguished board of attorneys” representing the entire country who are responsible for ensuring that new attorneys are qualified to practice law.
“Tennessee State University played an integral part in building my skills of leadership when I served as SGA president,” said Williams, who earned his law degree at Howard University, where he graduated cum laude.
“I will be forever grateful to TSU for giving me the foundation that has allowed me to succeed in the legal profession,” Williams added.
The Indianapolis native is a member of the New York State Bar Association Committee on the Bar Exam, the Howard Law Alumni Association, and the New York County Lawyers’ Association. A staunch supporter of his alma mater, Williams is a member of the New York Chapter of the Tennessee State University National Alumni Association, and a member of the President’s Society, a donor category of supporters who regularly give to the University.
Williams is also involved in a number of community, religious, and fraternal organizations, serving as a member of the Board of Deacons of the historic Canaan Baptist Church of Christ in Harlem and a past member of the Board of Directors of the Lakeland Education Foundation in Westchester County, New York. A life member of Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity, he is general counsel to the fraternity’s Northeastern Province, a former president of the fraternity’s New Rochelle–White Plains Alumni Chapter, and a former chairman of the fraternity’s New York City Alumni Scholarship Foundation.
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 42 undergraduate, 24 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.
