[032] Musto Tennessee Insurance Hall of Fame Will Induct Brooks, Rackley, McDonald in July 30 Ceremony

Release date: July 29, 2010


News & Public Affairs contact: Randy Weiler, 615-898-5616 or jweiler@mtsu.edu
Martin Chair of Insurance contact: Dr. Ken Hollman, 615-898-2673
or khollman@mtsu.edu

Musto Tennessee Insurance Hall of Fame Will Induct
Brooks, Rackley, McDonald in July 30 Ceremony


(MURFREESBORO) — Dan Brooks of Rutledge, Joe Rackley of Pulaski and Tom McDonald of Franklin will be inducted into the Robert E. Musto Tennessee Insurance Hall of Fame Friday, July 30, in Murfreesboro.
Induction ceremony festivities will begin at 5:30 p.m. at the Embassy Suites Hotel and Conference Center, 1200 Conference Center Dr., adjacent to Interstate 24 and Medical Center Parkway.
“Once again, we have three outstanding honorees who will be inducted into the hall of fame,” Dr. Ken Hollman, chairholder of the Martin Chair of Insurance at MTSU, said. “They not only have had outstanding careers in the insurance industry and other areas, but they also have been leaders involved in their individual communities. It’s with pride we recognize them.”
Brooks grew up in Jasper, Tenn., graduating from Marion County High School and later earning a B.S. from Austin Peay State University in Clarksville. While successfully coaching the Whitwell High School football Tigers in the early to mid-1970s, he also was attending graduate school at MTSU.
In 1975, Brooks joined State Farm Insurance with the opening of an agency in Dunlap, Tenn., embarking on a 35-year career that saw him spend 27 of those years in east, middle and west Tennessee in various management capacities. He has earned awards and distinctions, overseen award-winning agents, and been on many committees and boards throughout his career before retiring in 2009.
Brooks and his wife, Freda, who have been married 44 years, have three children and four grandchildren.
Joseph M. “Joe” Rackley, a Giles County High School graduate, earned a bachelor of engineering degree in civil engineering from Vanderbilt University. He spent 12 years in the aerospace industry, and gained vast computer programming expertise while at NASA. He inherited his father’s insurance business in Pulaski.
Computers and how they could be utilized in the insurance industry caught his attention in 1979. This led to the founding of Rackley Systems Inc., serving as president and chairman of the board until the company was sold to AMS in 2003. His company provided software solutions to independent insurance agencies and insurance companies.
Rackley and his wife, Diane, have three sons and a daughter, all of whom worked with their father in the business.
Tom McDonald, a native of Jamestown, Tenn., graduated from the Alvin C. York Institute, and he played football and earned a B.S. in education from Austin Peay State University in Clarksville. He has had an outstanding 36-year career in the industry, and retired as a Tennessee Farmers Insurance Company executive.
McDonald quickly moved up the ladder from top-producing agent to director and vice president of sales from 1975 until 1994 when he became chief marketing officer for two years. He then became a regional agency manager for 10 years. He has earned numerous industry and civic recognitions and been a part of many insurance organizations.
His wife, Susan, and other family and friends will join him at the induction.

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Editor’s note: High-resolution, black-and-white photos of Tom McDonald, Dan Brooks and Joe Rackley are available. To request, please contact Randy Weiler in the Office of News & Public Affairs 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.