In order to be a good hitter, you have to learn to hit all kinds of pitches. That really hasn't been a problem for Tennessee Tech outfielder Ashley Potts, a recent College of Business graduate. The 5-foot-8 senior has become one of Tech's most prolific power hitters in the history of the program. Potts has smashed 32 home runs throughout her career while collecting 128 RBI.

But this Golden Eagle standout almost didn't have a career. When she was nine years old, life threw her a serious curve ball -- cancer.

"I had a lymph node that was swollen. I went to the doctor for months and months and they didn't know what it was," Potts recalled. "They ended up doing a biopsy and finding out there was a lymph node that was the size of my fist and one the size of a golf ball. They diagnosed it as Hodgkin's Lymphoma."

Tennessee Tech accounting alumnus Wynne E. Baker, partner in charge of banking at Kraft CPAs, has been elected to the Board of Directors for the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA). He will serve a three year term starting in December. The AICPA Board of Directors acts as the executive committee for the governing council which determines Institute programs and establishes general policies. The Council is made up of elected and appointed members from each of the 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and Guam. The Board oversees management and organizes the various volunteer committees which report to it.

This fall, in an effort to promote safety on Tennessee's roadways, the TTU BusinessMedia Center is partnering with the Tennessee Road Builders Association (TRBA) to promote seatbelt and booster seat safety in Tennessee's elementary schools. The statewide program is being developed by the TRBA Ladies Auxiliary led by President Carol Coleman and the Tennessee Transportation Development Foundation, a non-profit group established by TRBA.

To enhance safety education, the BusinessMedia Center is developing an interactive Website, educational materials, such as bookmarks and posters, a comprehensive media campaign, and a safety education presentation featuring a life-sized, costumed Ollie the Otter safety mascot and an orange and white construction-site barrel representing Ollie's home. An online class is being designed to educate and mobilize "Tennessee Volunteer Seatbelt Safety Advocates" assisting in the state-wide implementation.

Tennessee law requires all children under 4-feet-9- inches to ride in a booster seat. The TRBA safety program is being developed to teach children and their parents about the law, to stress the importance of using booster seats and seatbelts, and to raise awareness of highway construction areas and worker safety. The fully-costumed Ollie the Otter character will visit schools and play an integral role in the educational program.

Scott Maddux visited the College of Business in April as a part of the Distinguished Lecture Series. While in Johnson Hall, he talked to our undergraduate and graduate students.

Mr. Maddux is the General Manager of Smoky Mountain Harley Davidson. He began his professional career after receiving a BS in Marketing and an MBA from TTU. Mr. Maddux, whose hometown is Baxter, Tenn., started a marketing advertising company (Crescent Moon Advertising) in Cookeville. His wife, Monet, eventually became the company's general manager when Scott began raising venture capital for a start-up cigar manufacturer (Caribbean Cigar Company). He then began consulting small to mid-sized companies in areas of mergers and acquisitions, venture capital, and business valuation. In 1997, after having sold Crescent Moon, he purchased Eagle Transportation, a trucking company. As President, he negotiated an arrangement with Lowes Companies to locate a Contractors Yard on Eagle's property, which formed another venture - Pumpkinhead Investments.

Tennessee Tech University's director of MBA studies has been named the L. O. (Buzz) Heidtke Professor of Finance in the College of Business.

Bob Wood follows Deryl Martin to become only the second person to hold the professorship since its creation in 2003. Both are professors of finance in the economics, finance and marketing department of the university's College of Business.

As the Heidtke Professor of Finance, it will be Wood's responsibility to provide expert guidance to undergraduate and graduate students who will be managing a portfolio of three investment funds totaling more than $750,000.