[068]Lawrenceburg’s Pettus Receives Distinguished Alumni Award

Release date: Aug. 29, 2008


News & Public Affairs contact: Randy Weiler, 615-898-2919
MTSU Alumni Relations contact: Michelle Stepp, 615-898-2922

MTSU ALUMNUS OF DISTINCTION


(MURFREESBORO) — Timothy E. “Tim” Pettus of Lawrenceburg has been selected as a 2008-09 Middle Tennessee State University Distinguished Alumni Award recipient, the MTSU Alumni Association announced recently.
Pettus is being recognized in the Service to the Community category.
“Certainly to even be considered for alumnus of the year is a huge thrill, but to be selected for the award is an honor I will cherish and remember for a lifetime,” Pettus said.
“I will always be thankful for my four years at MTSU,” added Pettus, who is president and director of First Farmers & Merchants National Bank and Corporation in Lawrenceburg and who earned his bachelor’s from MTSU in 1973. “It provided the opportunity to grow up a little, to get some much needed discipline and try to figure out what I wanted to do going forward.
“Even though I didn't major in finance, the business management path I took prepared me adequately to launch a banking career that is now in its 36th year.”
Pettus said he recalls when “my wife Lynn and I graduated the same day in the then new Murphy Center. Lynn and I have had a wonderful life together with our four children.”
In fact, the children have followed in their parents’ educational footsteps.
“Our oldest son, Will, graduated from MTSU (B.B.A. ’99) and is a very successful system programmer with Texas Pacific Investment House in Fort Worth (Texas),” Tim Pettus said. “George Edward “Jed” Pettus is a senior engineering technology student who will graduate this fall. Martha Kate “Katie” Pettus is a graduate student studying business education.”
Tim Pettus truly is a big believer in MTSU.
“Certainly, MTSU is the University of Middle Tennessee,” he said. “Its size offers many opportunities and its location offers great convenience. It is an honor to be a graduate of MTSU.”
In nominating Pettus, Charles W. Holt Jr. (B.S. ’73) and Ryan P. Durham (B.S. ’98), both of Lawrenceburg, wrote, “Every community, business and organization should have a catalyst for positive action. Tim is that person for every endeavor in which he engages, a unique attribute and quality worth recognizing. Tim’s commitment to societal betterment of Lawrence and Maury counties is unmatched.”
Holt and Durham added that Pettus volunteers for local schools, education foundations and the Boy Scouts; he teaches Sunday school; and he serves as grand jury foreman.
“Professionally,” they said, “Tim’s reputation is prominent, serving as president of … one of the most successful independent banks in Tennessee.”
Twenty-five other people primarily from Maury and Lawrence counties also nominated Pettus.
He is joined in the Distinguished Alumni group along with Linda Hooper (’63) of Whitwell, Tenn., who is being honored in the Professional Achievement category; and Kenneth Wayne “Coon” Victory (’67) of Smyrna, Tenn., who is being saluted in the Service to the University category. Micheal J. Burt (’98, ’02) of Murfreesboro is the Young Alumni Achievement honoree.
Pettus has a lengthy list of service to the community, MTSU and other special honors and recognition. With MTSU, he formed the Lawrence County alumni chapter, he served on the MTSU Foundation in the late 1990s and he has raised money and awarded numerous scholarships to the university through the Lawrence County Education Foundation.
The MTSU Alumni Association annually seeks and accepts nominations for the Distinguished Alumni and Young Alumni Achievement Awards. The selection is made from candidates who have distinguished themselves by obtaining a high level of service to their profession, their community and/or MTSU.
For MTSU news and information, go to mtsunews.com.

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