Belmont recognized Nashville Chief of Police and Belmont alumnus Steve Anderson during Saturday’s 2:30 p.m. spring commencement ceremony with an honorary Doctorate of Humanities degree. Honorary degrees have been presented by American colleges and universities since 1962 in recognition of meritorious humanitarian service, as well as scholarly and creative attainments. Belmont has bestowed this award selectively as the highest honor conferred by the University.
Chief Anderson graduated from Belmont in 1979 with a degree in criminal justice, went on to graduate from Nashville School of Law with a Doctor of Jurisprudence Degree, served in the United States Air Force and ultimately went on to serve the Nashville community as a public servant. A 40-year veteran of the Metro Nashville Police Department, Chief Anderson served in a number of roles prior to his 2010 appointment as Chief of Police. He was an administrative assistant to three former chiefs, led the Administrative Service Bureau, Investigative Service Bureau and Field Operations Bureau, served as a law instructor at the MNPD Training Academy and provided on-site legal advice to the SWAT Team.
Belmont President Dr. Bob Fisher said the University is proud of the impact Chief Anderson has made on the greater Nashville community and is honored to provide him with a second Belmont degree.
“The strong relationships Chief Anderson has built with neighborhood and communities, his commitment to protecting those who are threatened by domestic violence and his voice of reconciliation to people who feel disenfranchised are clear demonstrations of his remarkable concern for others,” Dr. Fisher said. “The high standard of professional excellence and emphasis on education in the Metro Police culture, along with the dramatic reduction of crime in Nashville, speak to the strong leadership Chief Anderson has provided within the department and the Nashville community.”
“I am sincerely humbled that the great school I attended as Belmont College in the 1970s, and from where I graduated 36 years ago while a police officer, has chosen to honor me at the 2015 spring commencement,” Chief Anderson said. “Just as Nashville and the police department have significantly grown and evolved over the past four decades, so, too, has Belmont. The education I received here helped prepare me for the constant challenges of a law enforcement career. I am proud to be a Belmont graduate, and I am proud of what this university means to Nashville.”
Chief Anderson’s contributions to Nashville are plentiful as he has overseen unprecedented growth in Metro’s police department, forged strong and lasting partnerships with key members of the community and significantly reduced the city’s crime statistics since beginning his position as Chief in 2010. Additionally, Chief Anderson has been honored with a number of awards including the Tennessee Association of Chiefs of Police (TCAP) President’s Award, TCAP’s Middle Tennessee Chief of the Year and the Statewide Voice for Victims Award during National Crime Victim’s Week.
For the students in Belmont Biology Professor Dr. John Niedzwiecki’s Animal Behavior course, spending hours each week at the Nashville Zoo was not a way to avoid studying, but a large part of their coursework. As a semester-long lab project designed to give students the opportunity to observe and research animal behavior in a hands-on way, students were paired in groups of two, assigned an animal to work with and together, came up with a testable hypothesis to study.
Professor and Chair of the Biology Department Dr. Darlene Panvini taught a botany class in Fall 2014 that visited the Historic Sam Davis Home and Plantation in Smyrna multiple times as part of the class’s service learning component. The students collected leaf samples from more than 40 trees on the property to apply for arboretum certification with the Tennessee Urban Forestry Council. Panvini’s Fall 2012 botany class did similar work to advance the arboretum on Belmont’s campus towards reaching certification by the Nashville Tree Foundation.
With a focus on the central theme “Belief in Something Greater,” Belmont University will celebrate its 125th anniversary during the next academic year. Founded in 1890 by Ida Hood and Susan Heron, two bold and unconventional school teachers, the all-female Belmont College has transitioned and grown through the years into a co-ed, Division I, nationally acclaimed institution boasting more than 7,200 students. The anniversary affords Belmont the opportunity to commemorate its distinctive and dramatic history through a variety of special events, speakers and weeks designed to focus on particular elements of the Belmont legacy.
Associate Professor of Music Business Dr. Cheryl Slay Carr was recently interviewed on the television talk show, “Mind Your Music Business.”
In April, pharmacy students in the Ambulatory Care Pharmacy course led educational classes at Room In The Inn, a community of participants, guests, volunteers and staff who work together to offer hope to Nashville’s homeless population. The organization serves more than 4,000 homeless individuals each year.
Student Catie Martin stated, “I thoroughly enjoyed the time we spent teaching the clients at Room at the Inn. It was a very rewarding experience to be able to teach these individuals about diseases and to see how much they already knew!”
