by Hunter Moss | Oct 21, 2010 | News Slider
President Lowry announced the newly established Nelson and Sue Andrews Institute for Civic Leadership at the quarterly Nashville Business Breakfast today. Several distinguish guests were in attendance including Governor Bredesen and Nashville Mayor Karl Dean. Bearing the names of influential community leaders Nelson and Sue Andrews, who significantly shaped Nashville and the Middle Tennessee community throughout their lives, the institute will continue to promote the Andrews’ legacy of civic leadership through academic programs, community engagement and a leadership council. Former corporate executive and White House veteran Linda Peek Schacht will serve as the institute’s executive director. Since arriving at Lipscomb in 2008, Schacht has taught as associate professor within the departments of history, politics and philosophy and communication. The new institute will focus on establishing a master’s degree in civic leadership in fall 2011. Also, a website (leadingvoices.lipscomb.edu) devoted to civic entrepreneurship will serve as a national interactive link among community leaders, including working papers, regular blogs and results of research. “Nelson Andrews was the model of a successful civic leader, with Sue at his side as partner and friend,” said Lowry. “Over the past couple of years, Mr. Andrews and I discussed the importance of leadership education and training”. The morning’s breakfast concluded with Governor Bredesen speaking on Tennessee’s economic development over the past eight years. Several executives and vice presidents stood behind him as evidence: Hemlock Semiconductor Group’s Rick Doornbus, Volkswagen Group of America’s David Geanacopoulos and Assurion’s Bryon Smith. “I hold a debt to repay Nelson Andrews”, says Governor Bredesen. “He played a huge role in mentoring and preparing me for leadership in government”. The late...
by Benjamin Seamon | Mar 30, 2010 | News Slider
With the 2010 gubernatorial election approaching this fall, 1979 Lipscomb graduate Bayron Binkley has begun to hit the campaign trail. Binkley said dating back to his days at Lipscomb, he has always had a desire to get involved in politics. “Being a political science major in college, you always had that kind of fire of wanting to do something,” Binkley said. “I guess it was probably the tail end of the presidential election when I started to think hard about it. Then about a year-and-a-half ago we actually started going through the motions of making that happen.” Binkley, a Middle Tennessee native, announced his intent to run for office earlier this year. Well-known by many in the Lipscomb community, he has had numerous ties to both the campus school and university. His wife, Patricia, has taught at David Lipscomb Middle School for the last 19 years. Also, all three of Binkley’s sons attended Lipscomb University, including Dale, who currently is enrolled as a junior. Binkley will run as an independent in next fall’s election using the slogan, “An independent voice…an independent choice for Tennessee.” Although running as an independent will give Binkley freedom in choosing his platform, he said there are some challenges that come with not having the support from a party. “From the media standpoint, if you don’t have a ‘D’ or an ‘R’ next to your name you are going to get very little coverage,” Binkley said. “They basically have deemed that if you don’t have that ‘D’ or ‘R’ beside your name that you are probably not worthy or a viable candidate. That is a big challenge.” He also said...
