Alumna named to 2022 TICUA Hall of Fame

Carson-Newman 1981 alumna Dr. Beth Rushing is a 2022 inductee to the Tennessee Independent Colleges and Universities Association (TICUA) Hall of Fame. TICUA and its member institutions selected 25 alumni, highlighting their contributions to the state, country and world in a variety of disciplines.

“Throughout her career, Dr. Rushing has consistently demonstrated what it means to be a servant-leader,” said C-N President Charles A. Fowler. “Her unwavering commitment to advancing higher education is to be commended, and her example is one our graduates can look to as they prepare for this new life-chapter of serving Christ and serving others.”

Rushing serves as president of the Appalachian College Association (ACA), a consortium of 33 private colleges and universities in Appalachia that offers collaborative opportunities and support for faculty, staff and students at member institutions. Rushing has embraced in leading these institutions in a five-state heart of the region into a new area of attracting, supporting, and educating its students; a work for which she has served and studied since her time at Carson-Newman where she earned her baccalaureate degree in sociology.

From there her interest in studying the development, structure, and functioning of human society led her to Duke University, where she earned her master’s and doctoral degrees in sociology. Her scholarly work has focused on the sociology of work, gender, and health. She served as president of the Southern Sociological Society and of Sociologists for Women in Society. She is a recipient of the Chancellor’s Leadership Award from the University of Washington Tacoma, Phi Kappa Phi Honor Professor at Georgia College, University Teaching Council Award from Kent State University, and Outstanding Faculty Member from Kent State’s Mortar Board, where she began her academic career in the Department of Sociology.

Prior to her 2017 appointment as president of the ACA, Rushing served as chief academic officer at Guilford College, St. Mary’s College of Maryland, and the University of Washington Tacoma. She also served as dean of Arts and Sciences at Georgia College, and department chair at the University of Tennessee at Martin.