Executives

Executives at MTSU


Dr. Sidney A. McPhee: President

President Sidney McPhee

Dr. Sidney A. McPhee, the 10th president of Middle Tennessee State University, has presided over one of the most remarkable periods of growth and progress in the institution’s more than 110 years of service.

Since McPhee’s presidency began in 2001, the university has been successful in completing more than $1.5 billion in improvements in academic, athletic and campus facilities.

Those new facilities include the $40.1-million, 54,000-square-foot building for our School of Concrete and Construction Management, which opened in October 2022; a $39.6 million, 91,000-square-foot Academic Classroom Building for the College of Behavioral and Health Sciences, which opened in the summer of 2020; and the $147 million Science Corridor of Innovation, and includes the 250,000-square-foot Science Building, which opened in August 2014, and the renovation of Wiser-Patten and Davis science buildings. Construction is underway on a new home for Engineering Technology ($74.8 million) and a Student-Athlete Performance Center ($66 million).

With an enrollment of more than 20,000 students, MTSU has been recognized for offering the greatest return on investment in Tennessee higher education. It is the No. 1 provider of college graduates to the greater Nashville economy; the third-largest producer of college graduates in the state; and one of the top producer of low-income (Pell Grant-eligible) graduates in Tennessee (in all, over 40% of MTSU’s undergraduate population receives Pell aid). MTSU’s standing as a destination of choice for first-generation students and its long success in helping underserved students overcome obstacles often posed by tuition and fees are well established. MTSU is also a top choice of the state’s transfer students and is home to the Charlie and Hazel Daniels Veterans and Military Family Center, one of the largest academic support centers of its kind in the nation.

Since McPhee’s arrival, MTSU has been successful in raising admission standards, which resulted in an increase in enrollment of high-ability students. He has overseen the addition of about 50 undergraduate and graduate degree programs, two colleges, and about 20 institutes and centers.

He has also worked to strengthen MTSU’s international initiatives on the Murfreesboro campus and abroad. MTSU boasts about 40 university partnerships in 17 different countries and enrolls more international students than any other university in the state of Tennessee.

McPhee earned his bachelor’s degree (with highest honors, summa cum laude) from Prairie View A&M University in Texas; a master’s degree from the University of Miami, Coral Gables, Fla.; and a doctorate in applied behavioral studies in education from Oklahoma State University.

His work as an academic has appeared in numerous local, national, and international professional journals. His scholarly pursuits include international lectures and presentations in numerous countries, including China, Japan, South Korea, Israel, Belgium, Canada, England, Brazil, Ethiopia, Kenya, and the Bahamas.

McPhee was recently elected to a third term on the NCAA Division I Board of Directors, representing Conference USA. He was on the board from 2010 to 2013 as the Sun Belt Conference’s representative and also served from 2003 to 2