[343] Martin Lectureship Brings 'Reforming Education' Message by Knox County Mayor Ragsdale March 23

Release date: March 8, 2010


News & Public Affairs contact: Randy Weiler, 615-898-5616 or jweiler@mtsu.edu
Honors College contact: Dean John Vile, 615-898-2152 or jvile@mtsu.edu

Martin Lectureship Brings ‘Reforming Education’
Message by Knox County Mayor Ragsdale March 23


(MURFREESBORO, TN) – Knox County Mayor Mike Ragsdale will present “Reforming Education in a Time of Austerity” at 1 p.m. Tuesday, March 23, in Honors Amphitheatre Room 106 of the Paul W. Martin Sr. Honors Building.
Ragsdale’s talk, which is free and open to the public and MTSU community, is
part of the University Honors College’s Martin Lectureship Series.
“Mike Ragsdale has accomplished educational reform (in Knox County) at a time when budgets are tight,” Honors Dean John Vile said. “It seemed a natural kind
of fit the way education has been in the news. … If ever there was a time for
models of reform, now is a good time.”
Vile said Ragsdale, who was invited by brothers H. Lee and Paul W. Martin Jr.,
will donate his honorarium to the Institute of Leadership Excellence, which is held at MTSU in the summer. The Martins provide funding for the Lectureship.
Ragsdale will be honored during an invitation-only luncheon starting at 11:30
a.m. in the Honors building.
The Knox County mayor began serving in August 2002 and began his second term in September 2006. Ragsdale has pursued four priorities: education,
economic growth, seniors and veterans, and a more efficient government.
He serves as president of the County Executives of America, an organization of more than 700 chief elected county officials.
While serving as county mayor, Ragsdale has received the Vision Award from
Technology 20/20 and the Courthouse Award from the National Association of
Counties, one of three awarded annually. He was given the Outstanding Service
Award from the Disabled American Veterans of East Tennessee and the Military
Order of the Purple Heart.
Past Martin Lectureship speakers include retired U. S. Army Gen.
Hugh Shelton, former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, in April 2005; the
late Myles Brand, former president of the National Collegiate Athletic
Association, in October 2005; Dr. H. Lee Martin in November 2006; Gov. Phil
Bredesen in November 2007; and the Hon. Judge Martha Craig Daughtrey in
March 2009.
For more information, call 615-898-2152.

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Media welcomed.

Note: A high-resolution jpeg photo of Mike Ragsdale is available. To obtain, please contact News and Public Affairs’ Randy Weiler by calling 615-898-5616 or e-mail jweiler@mtsu.edu.


With three Nobel Prize winners among its alumni and former faculty, Middle Tennessee State University confers master’s degrees in 10 areas, the Specialist in Education degree, the Doctor of Arts degree and the Doctor of Philosophy degree. MTSU is ranked among the top 100 public universities in the nation in the Forbes “America’s Best Colleges” 2009 survey.

For MTSU news and information, go to mtsunews.com.