The Tennessee Tech Alumni Association announced the winners of the 2004 Outstanding Service Awards this week as part of the series of awards given annually during Homecoming festivities.

The Distinguished Alumnus, Outstanding Young Alumnus and Outstanding Service awards are the highest bestowed by the university's alumni association, recognizing those who have demonstrated professional excellence and achievement or outstanding service to the university.

The awards reception and ceremony begins at 4 p.m., Friday, Nov. 5, in the Tech Pride Room, and everyone is invited to attend.

This year’s Outstanding Service Award winners are Jim Hicks, senior vice president of Community Bank of the Cumberlands, and the Southern Middle Tennessee Alumni Chapter.

Jim Hicks. A Cookeville banker for more than 38 years, Jim Hicks has used his role as a community leader to serve the university in a variety of ways. Now senior vice president of the Community Bank of the Cumberlands, Hicks continues to dedicate himself to supporting the university through scholarships, professional leadership and personal concern.

As American Bank and Trust president, he arranged for the bank to donate the TTU Tennis Center on North Willow Avenue, which was one of the largest donations to the university at that time. During his tenure at AmSouth, he coordinated bank efforts to provide monies to support two annual scholarships in the College of Business Administration.

Particularly active through the college’s foundation, Hicks has served as president, vice president and secretary of the Board of Trustees and currently serves a board member. Through the foundation, he established the Jim and Evon Hicks Scholarship for an undergraduate business major. He is also a past winner of the college’s Louis Johnson Outstanding Alumnus Award.

During recent efforts to renovate spaces in Johnson Hall, Hicks supported the Tommy Lynn Executive Suite and Virginia Plummer Reception Room projects.

Hicks is frequently involved with other colleges and groups of students. He’s served on numerous TTU job search committees and was a College of Arts and Sciences Board of Visitors Founding Member. He formerly served as chapter adviser for Sigma Chi Fraternity and as a member of the University Christian Center Advisory Board.

Southern Middle Tennessee Alumni Chapter. A group of alumni in and around Maury County has turned Columbia’s world-famous Mule Day into a goldmine for Tennessee Tech students for some 30 years.

Alumnus Randy Wilmore nominated the Southern Middle Tennessee Alumni Chapter for this year’s service award because the chapter has raised more than $637,000 and funded more than 200 scholarships during that time.

“It may be out of the ordinary to nominate a group of people rather than an individual, but after moving to Columbia and becoming a part of this unique Tech community, it would be unfair to nominate one person for all the years of service and commitment that a group has made over the years,” he says.

As the exclusive souvenir provider for Mule Day, the chapter sells caps, T-shirts, buttons, annual theme mugs and belt buckles. The group’s souvenir sales had humble beginnings in 1975 when a group of young alumni bought buttons for 35 cents made at TTU and sold them at Mule Day.

Bob Morgan, the chapter’s current president, says the genesis for the Mule Day fund-raiser came from alumnus Wilson Barnett, who was both chapter president and president of Mule Day in the early '70s.

The chapter’s strong support of Tennessee Tech reaches beyond the scholarships, Morgan says.

“With 52 members, 10 of those second-generation Tech graduates, we work throughout the year at local, state and national levels to promote the university,” Morgan says. “Some of us have served on the national alumni board and as officers, and in Maury County we work through high school counselors to make sure students are well-informed about Tennessee Tech.”

The chapter annually recognizes high school and junior college transfer students who make Tennessee Tech their choice by featuring their photos in the local newspaper. Morgan says chapter representatives are frequently called on to talk to prospective students during college fairs and other gatherings.

Current year Mule Day souvenirs are available at www.muleday.com.