Two families who have proven to be among our most steadfast supporters were honored by the Tennessee Board of Regents at two separate ceremonies on campus recently. Judy and Jerry Davis of Jacksonville, Fla., received the annual TBR Regents' Award for Excellence in Philanthropy, while the Edwards family of Jamestown, Tenn., received the TBR Chancellor's Award for Excellence in Philanthropy.

Regents' Award for Excellence in Philanthropy. In the past seven years, Judy and Jerry Davis have donated or pledged more than $3.75 million for scholarships, classroom technology and teaching tools, library resources, and the nursing building fund. As chair of the TTU Foundation Board of Directors, Judy is currently leading the most ambitious fund-raising endeavor in university history.

Judy, a 1967 TTU alumnus in elementary education, and her husband, Jerry, co-founded and sold Computer Management Sciences Inc., a hugely successful business. Both battled and overcame cancer to find that their experiences affected their lives and influenced their generous nature.

They began by playing a significant role in our first campus-wide capital campaign, creating the Horace M. Jeffers Memorial Scholarship Endowment and the Horace M. Jeffers Scholars Fund, both in memory of Judy Davis’ father, and the 21st Century Production and Teaching Laboratories Endowment in the College of Education. They have also given $1 million to the Angelo and Jennette Volpe Library and $100,000 to our School of Nursing.

The couple, who maintain a home in Oneida, Tenn., also looked close to home to help students reach their potential. Recognizing the Scott County-Oneida area as one of the poorest regions in the state, the Davises provide full scholarships to 12 Oneida High School graduates each year to attend Tennessee Tech. Currently, 50 students are attending TTU as a result of this program.

The couple’s generosity also extends to Jerry’s alma mater, the University of Florida, where they support the College of Medicine with endowments created to support research, technology and faculty expertise and the College of Journalism and Communication.

Regents’ Award recipients are nominated by university presidents and are selected by the board based on the generous giving of time and resources to TBR institutions, major influence on volunteers, effective example setting, ethical leadership and exceptional civic responsibility and integrity. TTU alumnus Harry Stonecipher received the 2003 Regents’ Award.

Chancellor's Award for Excellence in Philanthropy. Carl and Ginny Edwards, along with their son and daughter-in-law, Scott and Mary Alice Edwards, have been a catalyst for encouraging others to support and attend TTU, in addition to providing significant monetary contributions to TTU.

“The Edwards appreciate the value of higher education and the effect it can have on an individual, a family, a business and a community,” says President Bob Bell.

Together the Edwards ran the family business, Micro Metals of Jamestown, and raised two sons, Rick and Scott, who grew up knowing college educations and Micro Metals were in their futures. After Rick graduated in 1981 with an industrial engineering degree from TTU, he assumed the role of vice president of operations at Micro Metals.

Scott, a 1987 TTU business management graduate, took over as sales manager, and his wife, Mary Alice, a 1989 TTU accounting graduate, also joined the company.

During this time of growth and success, an automobile accident took Rick’s life and seriously injured Carl. Just one year later, Carl faced and survived stomach cancer. Meanwhile, the family turned to Scott to run the company. Today, as CEO, he oversees a company known worldwide for its organizational efficiency.

“I wasn’t totally prepared to take on the role, but credit our success to a deep faith in God, a work ethic derived from my parents and grandparents, and Tennessee Tech,” says Scott.

As individuals and through the company, the Edwards family supports many good causes in the community, but their special focus traditionally has been on Tennessee Tech.

Carl and Ginny began by endowing a scholarship in Rick’s memory through our College of Engineering. Scott established a College of Business Administration endowment and honored his mother, a nurse, with the Virginia Edwards Nursing Scholarship. In his parents' name he also provided a significant gift to furnish a physiology lab. His funding of a state-of-the-art education classroom honors his brother and sister-in-law, Sue, a teacher.

Scott also serves as a member of the College of Business Administration Foundation and the Board of Advisors of the School of Interdisciplinary Studies and Extended Education.

Chancellor’s Awards for Excellence in Philanthropy are given annually to individuals or organizations who give generously of their resources and make outstanding volunteer efforts in raising money for a TBR institution.