Tennessee Tech Foundation elects new chair

Hudson.
Hudson.
Hudson.

COOKEVILLE – The Tennessee Tech University Foundation’s board of directors recently elected a new chair.

Tom Hudson, president of Matteson-Hudson, a Nashville-based industrial and commercial general contractor, succeeds Tom Jones, general manager of Research Electronics International (REI).

The board consists of Tech supporters and distinguished alumni. Hudson has held other leadership roles in addition to the Tech Foundation position, including serving with the Advisory Council for Engineering and the Academy for Renaissance Engineering.

“Years ago, when Tom began volunteering at Tech, he was drawn to the university because he was impressed with the quality of our engineering graduates he had either hired or been exposed to,” said Kevin H. Braswell, vice president for university advancement. “Tom’s election as chair of the Foundation board evidences his fellow board members’ high regard for him and his long-term commitment to our students, and I am personally very grateful that Tom has accepted this new role.”

Hudson began his support for Tech to help advance manufacturing in Tennessee. He is a member of university’s President’s Club, its highest level of donor recognition, and of the True 2 Tech club for almost two decades of continuous giving. Hudson’s gifts led to the establishment of three funds to support students: the Matteson-Hudson Engineering Endowment, the Thomas M. Hudson Endowment for Engineering Excellence and the Matteson-Hudson Engineering Scholarship.

“(Tom) was drawn to the university because he was impressed with the quality of our engineering graduates.”

Tech honored Hudson with its 2009 Engineer of Distinction award. He has been an important contributor to STEM education at the university with financial support to the College of Engineering to improve the student experience.

Matteson-Hudson, founded in 1980, is as a full-service industrial and commercial general contractor, and Hudson led the planning and construction of business facilities in more than half of the counties in Tennessee, as well as significant rebuilding work in South Carolina and Florida after Hurricanes Hugo and Andrew, and in Clarksville after its devastating 1999 tornado. The company also developed four manufacturing facilities in the Clarksville-Montgomery County corporate business park.

A Nashville native, Hudson graduated from Montgomery Bell Academy, earned his bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering from Georgia Tech and his master of business administration from the Colgate Darden School of Business at the University of Virginia. Prior to the founding of Matteson-Hudson, he worked for Rodgers International, BV in Nashville, Riyadh, Amsterdam and Athens, and with two other contractors in Nashville and Atlanta.

Other members of the Foundation board of directors include:

  • Dr. Philip Oldham, co-chair, President, Tennessee Tech
  • Dr. Claire Stinson, treasurer, vice president, planning/finance, Tennessee Tech
  • Dr. Kevin Braswell, executive director & secretary, vice president, university advancement, Tennessee Tech University
  • Dr. Allen Atkins, VP of technology, McDonnell Douglas Corp./Boeing (retired)
  • David Cooley (BS, education, 1984), vice-chair, Cooley Public Strategies (principal)
  • Trudy Harper (BS, electrical engineering, 1983)
  • Ashraf Islam (BS, engineering, 1968), CEO, AIA Engineers Ltd.
  • Thomas H. Jones, general manager, Research Electronics International
  • Allen McCampbell (BS, business administration, 1965), senior vice president, American General Life & Accident Insurance (retired)
  • Garry McNabb (BS, accounting, 1979), CEO, Cash Express LLC
  • Millard Oakley, former member, Tennessee Board of Regents
  • Ottis Phillips (BS, mechanical engineering, 1974), vice-chair elect president, Mid South Distributing Inc.
  • Chris Privon (BS, mechanical engineering, 1979)
  • Gen. Don Rodgers (BS, engineering, 1957), Lieutenant General, U.S. Army (retired)
  • Dr. June Scobee Rodgers, founding chair, Challenger Center for Space Science Education
  • John W. Rose (BS, agriculture, 1988), president, Boson Software LLC
  • Purna Saggurti (MS, chemical engineering, 1982), chairman of global & corporate investment banking, Bank of America Merrill Lynch
  • Harry Stonecipher (BS, physics, 1960), president & CEO, The Boeing Company (retired)
  • Michael Swallows (BS, marketing, 1970), owner/president, The Swallows Agency
  • Nathan Tudor (BS, political science, 2002), COO/vice president, CHRISTUS Spohn Hospital Beeville
  • Michael Winchester (BS, history, 1975), president, Winchester, Sellers, Foster & Steele PC

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