MURFREESBORO, Tenn. — Former state Rep. John Hood, MTSU’s director of government and community affairs, was named Thursday by the Rutherford County Chamber of Commerce as recipient of its 2018 Doug Young Lifetime Achievement Award for his service to the university and community.
Hood, whose career spans six decades with posts in radio, banking, human resources, higher education and government service at the city, county and state levels, will be honored at the chamber’s annual Business at its Best event on Jan. 31 at the Embassy Suites Murfreesboro Hotel & Conference Center.
The chamber also will recognize Saint Thomas Rutherford Hospital President and CEO Gordon Ferguson as 2018 Business Legend of the Year; real estate executive John Harney as the 2018 Business Person of the Year; and Smyrna Police Chief and MTSU alumnus Kevin Arnold as recipient of the Leadership Rutherford 2018 Pinnacle Award.
“A Rutherford County native, Hood’s blood runs True Blue,” the chamber noted in its press release.
Prior to Hood’s current position at MTSU, he represented the 48th District in the Tennessee General Assembly’s House of Representatives from 1996 to 2008. Preceding his political service, he spent 20 years as vice president of marketing for SunTrust Bank; 10 years at MTSU as the first director of development, followed by assistant to the president; six years as personnel manager for Samsonite Corporation; and 10 years in radio with WGNS-AM and WMTS-FM.
Hood was a member of the Rutherford County Quarterly Court, now the County Commission, from 1968 to 1978 and the Murfreesboro City School Board from 1967 to 1983.
In 1954, Hood received a bachelor’s degree from MTSU followed by his master’s degree in education in 1974. He is a military veteran, having served in the U.S. Army from 1954 to 1956.
Hood’s history of community service is one that spans decades. Affiliations include the Exchange Club of Murfreesboro, United Way of Rutherford & Cannon counties, Read to Succeed and the Rutherford County Chamber of Commerce, where he has served as a diplomat for the past 18 years.
Previous leadership roles include national president of the Exchange Clubs of America; chairman of the Rutherford County Chamber of Commerce; president of the Tennessee School Boards Association; chairman of the Tennessee Advisory Board for the AAA Auto Club Group; president of the MTSU National Alumni Association; and treasurer of the Rutherford County Emergency Communications District.
He was the 2012 recipient of the Murfreesboro City Schools Foundation’s Excellence in Education Award. In 2014, the Rutherford County Chamber of Commerce named Hood Business Legend of the Year.
Hood was inducted in to the Tennessee Journalism Hall of fame in 2016, and in 2017 he was honored with the American Red Cross “Hero” Award.
John and his late wife, Marilyn, have three children, Garry W. Hood, Rebecca Hagan and Mark R. Hood; and four grandchildren, Christin H. Waters, twins Grady and Cooper Hood and John Robin Hood.
Reservations for the 11:30 a.m. Jan. 31 event are $50 for Chamber members and $65 for non-members. To reserve a seat, contact the Chamber at 615-893-6565 or visit www.rutherfordchamber.org.
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