MURFREESBORO, Tenn. — Middle Tennessee State University recently recognized 220 faculty and staff for their 4,480 combined years of service to students and the campus community.

Honorees recently gathered for a special luncheon and reception in early December in the Student Union Ballroom, where the employees were recognized in five-year increments, beginning with their 10th anniversaries.

2024 marked 45 years of service for the longest-tenured employee Larry Burriss, a professor in the School of journalism and Strategic Media within the College of Media and Entertainment.

During his career at the university, Burriss has served as director of the School of Journalism, dean of the then College of Mass Communication and president of the MTSU Faculty Senate.

Some of his publications and presentations include studies of presidential press conferences, NASA photography, radio news, legal issues related to adolescent use of social networking sites, legal research and more. Burris also contributes a weekly media commentary segment to Murfreesboro radio station WGNS Radio.

Additional 2024 honorees and their departments with 25 years of service or more include:

40 years of service

Ronald Bombardi, Department of Philosophy and Religious Studies.
William Ilsley Sr., Department of Chemistry.
Sharon Parente, Library User Services. 
LeAnn Sensing, Financial Aid and Scholarships, Financial Aid Office.

35 years of service

Dina Cancryn,Department of Music.
Terry Dorris, Department of Aerospace.
David Loucky, Department of Music.
Ronald Malone, Events and Transportation Services.
Brian Miller, Department of Biology.
Greg Schmidt, Department of Psychology.
Sesan “Kim” Sokoya, Department of Management.
Roy Thomas, Department of Management.
Donna Victory, Registrar’s Office.
John Vile, University Honors College.
Cornelia Wills, Office of Student Success.
Laurie Witherow, Enrollment Management, Provost’s Office.
William Yelverton, Department of Music.
Maureen Young, Office of International Affairs.

30 years of service

Elizabeth Alexander, Unified Communications, Information Technology Division.
Frank Bailey, Department of Biology.
Adonijah Bakari, Department of History.
Claudia Barnett, Department of English.
Rajesh Barnwal, Department of Mathematical Sciences.
Earl Bogle, Construction Administration and Capital Maintenance Services.
Janine Brink, Division of Business and Finance (retired).
David Carleton, Department of Political and Global Affairs.
Teresa Davis,Department of Psychology.
Alton Dellinger, Department of Recording Industry.
Becky Evans, Post Office, Division of Business and Finance.
Margaret Fontanesi-Seime, Department of Social Work.
Dana Fuller, Department of Psychology.
Marion Hollings, Department of English.
Robert Howard, Department of Biology.
Amy Jetton, Department of Biology.
Lisa Jones, Human Resources Services.
Paul Kline, Department of Chemistry.
Michael Linton, Department of Music.
Steven Livingston, Department of Political and Global Studies.
Preston MacDougall, Department of Chemistry.
Barbara Money, Housing Administration, Division of Student Affairs.
Susan Myers-Shirk, Department of History.
Melodie Phillips, Department of Marketing.
James Piekarski, Department of Recording Industry.
Angela Price, Provost’s Office.
Lori Pugh, Human Resource Services.
Joan Raines, Department of University Studies.
Preston Rishaw, Department of Art and Design.
John Schmidt, Enterprise Support Services, Information Technology Division.
Melbra Simmons, True Blue TV, Division of Marketing and Communications.
Kevin Smith, Department of Sociology and Anthropology.
Terry Ward, Department of Accounting.
Elizabeth Williams, Advancement Services.

25 years of service

Don Aliquo, Department of Music.
Shawn Alverson, Blue ID Office, Division of Student Affairs.
Charles Baum, Department of Economics and Finance.
Alan Boehm,Walker Library (retired).
Kevin Breault, Department of Sociology and Anthropology.
Donald Burden, Department of Chemistry.
James Butler, Information Technology Division.
Keith Chilson, Tennessee Miller Coliseum.
David Foote, Department of Management.
Timothy Greer, Department of Information Systems and Analytics.
Patricia Head, President’s Office.
Martha Hixon, Department of English (retired).
Shannon Jobe, Business Office, Division of Business and Finance.
Nancy Kelker, Department of Art and Design.
Matthew Klukowski, Department of Biology.
Eric Klumpe, Department of Physics and Astronomy (retired).
Gretchen Leming, College of Business Advising.
Cen Li, Department of Computer Science.
Patrick McCarthy, Department of Psychology.
Karl McClain, Custodial Services, Facilities Services Department.
Peter McClusky, Department of English.
Tammy Melton, Department of Chemistry.
Steven Morris, Department of Information Systems and Analytics.
Lynn Nelson, Department of History.
Soraya Nogueira, Department of World Language Literature and Cultures.
Beng Ooi, Department of Chemistry.
Curtis Phillips, Custodial Services, Facilities Services Department.
Philip Phillips, University Honors College.
Lisa Pruitt, Department of History.
Tracey Read, Parking and Transportation Services.
Rebecca Seipelt-Thiemann, Department of Biology.
William Shadrake, Network Services, Information Technology Division.
Warren Torney, Department of English.
Jacqueline Victory, Student Organizations and Service, Division of Student Affairs.
Joe Whitefield, Facilities Services Administration.

MTSU employs more than 2,220 full-time employees campuswide. The university honors its employees regularly with opportunities that include the MTSU Employee Recognition Program for administrators, classified and technical/service personnel and the MTSU Foundation Awards and Faculty Recognition presentations for faculty.

For more information about MTSU employee recognition programs, visit the university’s Human Resource Services department at www.mtsu.edu/hrs.

— DeAnn Hays (deann.hays@mtsu.edu)