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- July 28 - Alumni Open House for 2010 summer graduates
- Sept. 4 - Alumni Tailgate at TTU vs Arkansas football game in Fayetteville (Tailgate has been canceled, but game tickets are available through TTU Athletics)Sept. 11 - Alumni Tailgate at TTU vs TCU football game in Ft. Worth
- Sept. 30 - Oct. 2 - Class of '60 Golden Grad Reunion
- Nov. 13 - Tennessee Tech Homecoming 2010
Alumni Open House for 2010 summer graduates
Date: July 28, 2010
The Tennessee Tech Alumni Association invites 2010 summer graduates to an Open House on Wednesday, July 28, 2010, from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. in the lobby of the Jere Whitson Building on the TTU Quad.
We'll have refreshments all day, and every graduating student who comes by will receive a free gift from the Alumni Association and Career Services!
TTU Photo Services will be taking cap and gown portraits throughout the day. Standard regalia is available for the photo session. Mention this posting and the sitting fee will be waived.
Spread the word to your friends who are also graduating!
For more information, visit www.ttualumni.org/events,
e-mail alumni@tntech.edu or call 931-372-3205 or 1-800-889-8730.
TTU vs Arkansas football game and Alumni tailgate
 Date: Sept. 4, 2010
Save the date for TTU's football season opener at the University of Arkansas.
(The Alumni tailgate has been canceled, but game tickets are available through TTU Athletics)
Before the game, enjoy lunch, visit with other TTU alumni, fans and staff and get fired up at the the Alumni tailgate (time and location to be determined).
At the game, show your TTU Pride and wear school colors as you cheer for the Golden Eagles. The game will be played at the University of Arkansas in Donald W. Reynolds Razorback Stadium located on Stadium Dr., in Fayetteville, Ark. (map).
Game tickets are available for purchase now from TTU Athletics online at www.ttusports.com or by calling the Athletics Ticket Office at 931-372-3941.
Visit www.ttualumni.org/events or call TTU Alumni Relations at 1-800-889-8730 or 931-372-3205 for event times and tailgate location.
TTU vs TCU football game and Alumni tailgate
 Date: Sept. 11, 2010
Mark your calendars now for this exciting event!
Get fired up at the TTU Alumni Association pre-game tailgate (location to be determined). Enjoy lunch and visit with other TTU alumni, fans and staff.
Wear your purple and gold and cheer for the Golden Eagles as they take on the Horned Frogs in TCU's Amon G. Carter Stadium, located on Stadium Dr., in Fort Worth, Texas (map).
Purchase game tickets now from TTU Athletics online at www.ttusports.com/ or by calling the Athletics Ticket Office at 931-372-3941.
Visit www.ttualumni.org/events or call TTU Alumni Relations at 1-800-889-8730 or 931-372-3205 for event times and tailgate location.
Class of 1960 Golden Grad Reunion
Dates: Sept. 30 - Oct. 2, 2010
Class of 1960: Mark your calendars now for your TTU Golden Grad Reunion!
We have put together an exciting schedule of events for the Class of 1960 to celebrate their 50th year since graduation.
The reunion begins on Thursday, Sept. 30, with a welcome reception and concludes on Saturday morning, Oct. 2, with a farewell brunch at the Walton House.
View the reunion brochure for a complete schedule of events and information about lodging, cost and registration.
 Each Golden Grad will receive a very special memory book, filled with new and old photos of your classmates, updates of what's been going on in their lives, photos of how it was back then, a current class list and news about Tennessee Tech.
A memory book form (also available online) and other reunion information will be mailed to each Golden Grad. Please complete and return the memory book form no later than Monday, Aug. 16, 2010, for inclusion in the book.
Register by Tuesday, Sept. 28, either online at www.ttualumni.org/reservations, by mail or by calling Alumni Relations at 1-800-889-8730 or 931-372-3205.
Tennessee Tech Homecoming 2010
 Date: Nov. 13, 2010
The date has been set, so mark your calendars now to attend Tennessee Tech's Homecoming 2010.
A variety of activities for students and the public will be held throughout the week and on game day.
As the Homecoming celebration approaches, we'll post more information and a schedule of events at www.ttualumni.org/events.
Please e-mail alumni@tntech.edu or call 931-372-3205 or 1-800-889-8730, if you have an event to add to the schedule or if you have questions about an event.
- $957,000 NSF grant to boost STEM graduates at TTU
- TTU physicists help uncover ‘magic’ nature of tin
- Life on the farm: TTU style
- Tech teams meeting the mark in the classroom, according to the latest APR scores
- Alumni and friends "Pass it on" to current and future students
- GetEducated.com ranks Tennessee Tech University’s Online MBA in Top 21 Best Values
- Middle Tennessee region’s fisheries to see brief, negative flood impact
- NASA’s Wilmore urges spring graduates to make integrity a life mission
$957,000 NSF grant to boost STEM graduates at TTU
The number of “tech” graduates from Tennessee Tech University could rise significantly thanks to a $957,000 grant from the National Science Foundation that focuses on early mathematics success.
The grant funds a project to boost the early success of students taking math classes that feed them into science, technology, engineering and mathematics disciplines. Success in early STEM-related math courses has been identified by TTU faculty as a key driver in retaining STEM students through graduation.
TTU was one of 20 universities nationwide awarded grants under the NSF’s Science Talent Expansion Program’s Division of Undergraduate Education. Some 199 universities overall applied for grants of the type TTU received.
Currently, the annual number of STEM-major graduates at TTU totals between 350-400 people. TTU wants to raise that to 550 or more in five years.
“We competed with universities nationwide and were one of the top 20. It’s very exciting,” said Allan Mills, chairman of TTU’s math department and principal investigator for the grant application. The grant proposal’s other principal investigators were Sally J. Pardue, director of the just-opened Millard Oakley STEM Center; Donald P. Visco, interim associate dean of the College of Engineering; Holly Anthony from the Office of Curriculum and Instruction; and Stephen J. Robinson, chairman of the physics department.  Read more.
TTU physicists help uncover ‘magic’ nature of tin
A team of nuclear physicists with Tennessee Tech University connections is the first to explore and confirm the “magic” nature of a short-lived isotope of tin. Their results are published in tomorrow’s issue of the journal Nature, a highly respected international science weekly.
Scientists have been working in recent years with elements known to have a “magic” number of protons and neutrons. Many isotopes decay so rapidly that their nature can’t be measured readily. By experimenting with closely related isotopes, researchers seek to learn more about how atoms work.
In short, they want to understand nuclear explosions without actually doing them.
The scientists were able to study the “magic” qualities of Tin-132 (an isotope) by measuring characteristics on a neighboring isotope, Tin-133. Isotopes are different types of atoms of the same chemical element, each having a different number of neutrons. In analogy with electrons in atoms, certain numbers of neutrons or protons correspond to closed shells in nuclei, which are exceptionally stable. Tin-132 has 50 protons and 82 neutrons, both known to be a “magic numbers” for stable nuclei, but Tin-132 is radioactive, and it was not known whether similar “magic” qualities would persist for such an exotic isotope.
“This experiment had been planned by a number of facilities around the world. This particular experiment has been listed as a benchmark,” said Raymond L. Kozub, TTU physics professor who is also a researcher at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory. “We just had the opportunity to do it before everybody else.” Read more.
Life on the farm: TTU style
Katie Lehnert lifts herself expertly up and over the high plank-board fence enclosing about 30 cows. She and her team of three other current and recent TTU ag students – all young women in their 20s – have just sorted part of the 600 or so herd, given vaccinations to some and will ready others for sale.
As assistant manager of the Oakley farm in Overton County, Lehnert, 22, oversees an impressive operation. The 1,800-acre farm, owned by Millard Oakley and his wife J.J. Oakley and leased to Tennessee Tech University, supports what is believed to be the state’s second-largest beef cattle herd of mostly brood cows.
Lehnert began working this January as assistant farm manager of the Oakley Sustainable Ag Center after completing her bachelor’s degree in animal science in May 2009.
The most difficult aspects of running a farm of this size aren’t physical. “The hardest part is the economics of a farm. The farm has to make money. It pays our salaries,” Lehnert said.
In an era when many TTU academic programs are considering budget cuts, the farm simply must support itself on the revenue it generates.
“We’re unique among university farms in Tennessee in that we live on generated revenue,” said Jim Ligon, who is TTU’s farm manager for the Oakley Farm as well as the much smaller Shipley Farm located about two miles west of TTU’s Cookeville main campus. “These cows are paying the bills. This is a commercial, real-world farm that lets students perform under real-world conditions.” Read more.
Tech teams meeting the mark in the classroom, according to the latest APR scores
The report cards are in – and they keep getting better.
The vast majority of sports teams at Division I colleges and universities are meeting the mark in the classroom, according to the latest NCAA Academic Progress Rates.
“Division I student-athletes and their teams continue to make steady academic progress,” said NCAA Interim President Jim Isch. “The report cards keep getting better and better for nearly all teams and all schools.”
Three of Tech's teams, women's softball, volleyball and women's golf, were recognized for achieving perfect scores of 1,000 for 2008-2009. Read more.
Alumni and friends "Pass it on" to current and future students
Thanks to the many TTU alumni and friends who have passed on their commitment and passion to education by giving to Tennessee Tech.
Gifts to the TTU Fund allow us to update computer labs, fund scholarships, renovate classrooms, hire the best faculty and much more.
If you'd like to help us make the TTU experience one our students will want to pass on too, please click here.
GetEducated.com ranks Tennessee Tech University’s Online MBA in Top 21 Best Values
Tennessee Tech University's Distance MBA program ranks as one of the "Top 21 Best Values" in the country, according to GetEducated.com in its latest release of top Online MBA Degrees – AACSB Accredited.
“Cost is the No. 1 factor that keeps working Americans from enrolling in higher education. Tennessee Tech University offers residents a chance at a high-quality graduate business degree through distance learning at less than half the cost of the national average. That’s an amazing value,” says Vicky Phillips, GetEducated.com’s founder.
TTU's distance-learning approach features faculty lectures on CD-ROM combined with Internet communication among students and faculty. Case discussions, virtual project teams and other active-learning approaches are used to make a strong connection between academic subjects and the issues facing managers in today's global, highly technological business environment. "Our program has consistently been ranked in this list because we are clear in our mission to offer a quality, affordable education," said Bob Wood, College of Business associate dean and MBA Studies director. Read more.
Middle Tennessee region’s fisheries to see brief, negative flood impact
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The unprecedented flooding that occurred in Middle Tennessee in early May will have a dramatic – but short-lived – negative impact on the region’s fisheries.
Anglers will notice a “missing class” of many fish species in three to four years, said Phil Bettoli, a Tennessee Tech University biology professor and assistant unit leader for the U.S. Geological Survey’s Cooperative Fishery Research Unit based at Tech.
The Middle Tennessee region experienced deadly flooding following heavy rains that began May 1 and continued for three days. The Cumberland River in Nashville crested at 52 feet, its highest since 1937, according to the National Weather Service. Many parts of the region saw three-day rainfall totals between 12 and 15 inches or more.
Several naturally occurring fish species in the Cumberland River – like largemouth bass, sauger and crappie – probably didn’t reproduce this year during the optimal period from mid-April to late-May. If they did, their eggs or young were likely flushed out of their river or stream habitats and died. Trout populations, usually supported by stocking programs, also will be badly affected, he said. In places like the Caney Fork River below Center Hill Dam, the state will simply restock trout because the fishery is so highly valued.
“There will be measurable affects on fish communities, and for the most part, it won’t be good. But it’s short-lived,” Bettoli said. Read more.
NASA’s Wilmore urges spring graduates to make integrity a life mission
NASA astronaut Barry Wilmore has logged hundreds of hours in space, but he gave down-to-earth advice to more than 1,100 Tennessee Tech University graduates during spring commencement on Saturday, May 8.
“Here’s the one word I want you to remember—integrity,” Wilmore said.
“Be a man or woman of your word. Think of others over yourself. When decisions loom, put yourself in the shoes of those who your decisions will affect. Be honest, don’t cheat on your taxes, don’t lie to your boss, don’t cheat on your spouse, don’t deceive so you can get what you want or what you think is best.”
“You’ve got one life. Give it your all for the good of others and you’ll live a much happier and fulfilled life.”
Before addressing the audience, Wilmore accepted a 2010 TTU Outstanding Alumnus Award from President Bob Bell.
Students who graduated from TTU this spring hail from 23 states, 77 Tennessee counties and eight foreign countries. They represented 41 undergraduate fields of study and 16 graduate fields. Nine graduates received doctorates. Following spring commencement, TTU will have granted more than 67,000 degrees. Read more.
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