Middle Tennessee State University alumnus Andy Womack is adding two more honors to his long list of accolades — including the Rutherford County Chamber of Commerce Business Legend of the Year and Murfreesboro City Schools Foundation honoree alongside wife, Cherry Womack.
A State Farm Insurance agent over 40 years and a former three-term state senator, Womack was honored by the chamber for his acumen in the insurance industry at an awards ceremony Feb. 15 at Embassy Suites Hotel & Conference Center in Murfreesboro, Tennessee.
The Womacks will be honored at the 17th annual Excellence in Education Celebration on April 26 at Copper Ridge for their commitment to public education. Previous honorees include MTSU President Sidney A. McPhee and his wife, Elizabeth McPhee.
Leader in insurance industry, public education
Even before graduating from MTSU in 1970 with bachelor’s degree in psychology, Womack worked as a fire company supervisor for State Farm Insurance until 1972, when he joined New York Life Insurance Co. in Nashville as an agent and then manager for nine years.
In 1981 he returned to State Farm as an agent. Over those 43 years, he’s received numerous recognitions including the President’s Club Qualifier in 2004 (Top 50 of 16,000 State Farm agents) and Crystal Excellence Award in 2007. He received the Bronze Tablet and Silver Scroll from the company and has been inducted into the State Farm Legion of Honor.
Womack, whose wife served as a high school teacher for 25 years, has been a staunch supporter of public education at the elementary, secondary and university levels.
The son of the late MTSU Professor Emeritus Bob Womack, the former Democratic Tennessee senator has been dedicated to his alma mater, where his family roots run deep. His older siblings — Price, Paul, Helen, Ben and Sarah — are also MTSU graduates, along with many of their children and extended family. The Womack Educational Leadership Department in the MTSU College of Education was dedicated in honor of the family in 2012.
As senator serving Rutherford and Bedford counties from 1988-2000, Womack chaired the Senate Education Committee, where he sponsored the Education Improvement Act of 1992 that rewrote all the K-12 statues for Tennessee Public schools. A military veteran who served in Vietnam, Woman also co-chaired the Joint Committee on Veteran Affairs.
His leadership in the senate also helped provide funding for MTSU facilities including the Business and Aerospace Building, James E. Walker Library and the John Bragg Media and Entertainment Building. His papers from his time in the legislature are available at the Albert Gore Research Center at MTSU.
Womack is also a member of the MTSU Foundation, Blue Raider Athletic Association and MTSU National Alumni Association.
Womack has been dedicated to his community as well. He was a devoted Little League Baseball coach for 24 years and his involvement extends to various leadership roles in organizations such as the Optimist Club, First Baptist Church, Southern Regional Education Board, two terms as board chair for United Way of Rutherford and Cannon Counties, and chairman of the board for the Rutherford County Chamber of Commerce.
— Nancy DeGennaro (Nancy.DeGennaro@mtsu.edu)
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