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Executives

EXECUTIVES AT MTSU

DR. SIDNEY A. McPHEE: President President Sidney McPhee

Dr. Sidney A. McPhee was appointed in 2001 as the tenth president of Middle Tennessee State University and, in 2011, he will preside over the observance of the centennial of its founding. Prior to his arrival at MTSU, McPhee was executive vice chancellor for the Tennessee Board of Regents system (TBR) in Nashville. In addition, he served as the TBR's chief academic officer and interim chancellor. Before his appointment at TBR, McPhee served in various senior-level administrative capacities at several major universities, including Oklahoma State University, University of Louisville and University of Memphis.During McPhee's presidency, MTSU has witnessed considerable growth and progress. Student enrollment increased significantly during his tenure and, as a result, MTSU is the No. 1 choice for undergraduates in Tennessee. In the last 10 years, the University has added 23 undergraduate and graduate degree programs, five of which were new Ph.D. degrees (Public History, Literacy Studies, Computational Sciences; Mathematics and Science Education; and Molecular Biosciences). Since McPhee's arrival, two new colleges (Behavioral and Health Sciences and University College) were added, along with 10 new institutes and centers. In 2011, the Carnegie Corp., one of the nation's oldest, largest and most influential foundations, elevated MTSU to Comprehensive/Doctoral status and recognized the University for Community Engagement. Since McPhee's arrival, MTSU has been successful in raising admission standards, resulting in an increase in high-ability students. MTSU has been the institution of choice for midstate valedictorians and salutatorians in recent years and has enrolled a significant number of National Merit scholars and Achievement scholars.

McPhee's presidency also coincided with several major improvements in University facilities. During the past six years, the University has been engaged in capital projects, either proposed, under construction or competed, totaling more than $400 million. A ten-year, $70 million renovation of all student residential housing will be completed by fall 2011. The College of Education moved into its new $31.7 million building in the summer of 2011 and the $70 million Student Union building is scheduled to be completed by the fall of 2012. The University secured private gifts in support of a $6 million baseball stadium, which was completed in 2008. A $19-million expansion of the Health, Wellness and Recreation Center was also completed in 2008.

In 2007, an addition to the Cason-Kennedy Nursing Building was opened and dedicated, bringing the facility to 28,000 square feet, and a new $3 million track and soccer complex was opened in 2007. The University in 2006 received $15 million in state support for the planning and infrastructure development for a proposed $126 million science building. More than $9 million was spent in 2005 to renovate Andrew L. Todd Hall, which now houses the Department of Art and has state-of-the-art equipment for its students and faculty. In addition, the University acquired the 500-acre Guy James property in 2005 to consolidate its highly regarded programs in the School of Agribusiness and Agriscience. The Paul W. Martin Sr. Honors Building, dedicated in 2004, was built with private funding.

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. He is also a graduate of the Harvard University Management Development Program and has completed professional development programs at St. Mary's University of San Antonio, Texas, and Colorado College in Colorado Springs.

McPhee was named Outstanding American University President of 2002 by the American Football Foundation. In 2003, he was listed by Nashville Post business magazine as one of Tennessee's 100 Most Powerful Individuals, and in 2004, he was ranked by Business Tennessee magazine as one of the Top 50 Most Powerful African Americans in the State of Tennessee. In 2006, McPhee was listed by the Chronicle of Higher Education as one of seven university presidents in the U.S. who is shaping intercollegiate athletics on a national scale. In the spring of 2009, McPhee was the keynote speaker for Prairie View A&M Founder's Day celebrations, and in June of that year, he was an invited participant at the International Agricultural University Presidential Forum held in Beijing and sponsored by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.

China Agricultural University in Beijing, one of the country's top universities, awarded McPhee its highest academic award (Honorary Professor) in May 2007. In May 2010, he presented a photo exhibition and lecture series, "China: A Decade Through the Eyes of an American University President,"; in four Chinese cities, Beijing, Hangzhou, Lanzhou, and Changsha. McPhee was appointed in October 2010 as senior advisor to the Chief Executive of Hanban-Confucius Institute Headquarters in Beijing. McPhee delivered a speech, "The American University,"; in five cities in China in May 2011.

As an academician, McPhee's scholarly publications and presentations are extensive. His publications have appeared in local, national and international professional journals. In addition, he is the senior author of a book, Understanding the Campus Culture: An Introduction to College, and has co-authored a chapter for a major college textbook on academic advising. McPhee's scholarly pursuits include several international visits and presentations in locations such as Beijing, Shanghai, Hangzhou, Lanzhou, Changsha, and Dunhuang, China; Mekelle, Ethiopia; Penang, Malaysia; Hong Kong; Moscow and St. Petersburg, Russia; Tokyo and Osaka, Japan; Seoul, South Korea; Jerusalem and Tel Aviv, Israel; Antwerp, Belgium; Montreal, Canada; Oxford, England; Rio de Janeiro, Brazil; and Nassau, Bahamas.

McPhee also served a four-year term on the NCAA Division I Board of Directors (2003 to 2007) and was re-appointed to the board in 2010. He also served a three-year term on the NCAA Executive Committee, two terms as president of the Sun Belt Conference athletic league and was chairman of the SBC's CEO Executive Committee. In May 2005, he was appointed to the NCAA Presidential Commission on the Future of Intercollegiate Athletics. In 2002, President George W. Bush appointed, and the U.S. Senate confirmed, McPhee to the National Council for the Humanities. A past member of the Rutherford County Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors, McPhee chaired its membership council. He is a member of the Murfreesboro Noon Rotary Club and the SunTrust Bank Board of Directors (Nashville) and SunTrust Regional Bank Advisory Board (Murfreesboro). He also served on the Nashville Adventure Science Center Board; the Middle Tennessee Medical Center Board; and the Executive Board of the Boy Scouts of America's Middle Tennessee Council. He co-chaired the Tennessee Legislative Retreat Task Force on Higher Education and was recently reelected to a second three-year term as a commission member of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools.

President McPhee is married to Elizabeth McPhee, and they have two adult children, Seneca and Sidney-Anthony.

Updated: June 2011

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DR. BRAD BARTEL: University Provost

Brad Bartel earned his baccalaureate degree from Brooklyn College in 1970 and his Ph.D. from the University of Missouri in 1974. Both degrees were in Anthropology. An archaeologist specializing in studies of colonialism, mortuary practice, and early human symbolism, Dr. Bartel has conducted field research in Yugoslavia, Turkey, Ireland, and the United States. His projects include the excavation of the Roman city of Sirmium and Roman metallurgical site of Kraku'lu Yordan in Serbia, the Celtic ceremonial site of Dun Ailline in Ireland, and Early Bronze Age cemeteries in western Turkey. In the United States, Dr. Bartel has excavated the San Diego Presidio, the first permanent European settlement on the West coast, the Moravian settlement of Old Salem in North Carolina, and the home sites of Thomas Edison and Henry Ford in Florida. His archaeological research has been supported by grants from the National Science Foundation, National Endowment for the Humanities, and various other foundations. His research has appeared in numerous anthropological journals including World Archaeology, The Journal of Archaeological Science, and the Journal of Field Archaeology.

Dr. Bartel began his professional career at San Diego State University as an assistant professor of Anthropology in 1975. He was promoted to associate professor in 1981. In 1983 he was promoted to Professor and also appointed the Associate Dean of the Graduate Division and Research with responsibility over all of the master's and doctoral programs. In 1991 he became the Dean of the Graduate School and Associate Provost for Research at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. During his tenure, he increased graduate enrollment and research funding, established new research institutes, and developed new master's and doctoral programs. During his time as a graduate dean, Dr. Bartel was responsible for training of all new graduate administrators throughout the South for the Conference of Southern Graduate Schools (CSGS) and was a consultant on the role of graduate certificates for the Council of Graduate Schools (CGS), the national organization for graduate education in the United States.

In 2000, he became the Provost and Executive Vice President at Florida Gulf Coast University located in southwest Florida. This was a newly established state university with dynamic growth. Dr. Bartel was responsible for all facets of the academic enterprise as well as student affairs, public television and radio stations, continuing education and partnerships with the community, and capital construction of academic buildings.

In 2004 he became the President of Fort Lewis College in Durango, Colorado. Fort Lewis College is the designated public liberal arts college of Colorado and the national leader in Native American undergraduate education with students from more than 125 different Native American tribes in attendance. Dr. Bartel's responsibilities included all aspects of college operations. During his tenure, admissions standards were significantly elevated, new degree programs developed, universal opportunities for student service learning created, annual fundraising increased dramatically, two national championships earned in Men's Soccer, and $100 million of capital construction implemented. Dr. Bartel served on the national policy council and undergraduate experience committee of the American Association of State College and Universities (AASCU).

Brad Bartel has been married to Laura Bartel, an anthropologist, for over thirty years. They have two children, Jordan, an assistant editor and feature writer for the B newspaper in Baltimore, Maryland, and Kim, a social worker in Asheville, North Carolina. Brad and Laura also have two pugs who rule their lives.

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JOHN W. COTHERN: Senior Vice President JOHN W. COTHERN: Senior Vice President

John W. Cothern serves as MTSU's Senior Vice President. Previously he served as Vice President of Business and Finance from 2003 until June 2005.

Prior to his arrival at MTSU, Cothern was Assistant Vice President for Business and Finance at the University of Memphis (UM).

Cothern, a Memphis native, is a 1970 graduate of UM (then Memphis State University) with a Bachelor of Science degree in Biology, and he has a Juris Doctor degree (1973) from UM's Cecil C. Humphreys School of Law. Cothern is a licensed attorney, and he had been with the UM Division of Business and Finance since November 1973.

He and his wife Debbie have lived in Nashville since 1998, and he had been commuting to UM since that time. Cothern previously worked with McPhee when McPhee was UM's Senior Vice Provost.

Cothern also worked with Gene Smith, who served as MTSU's interim president prior to McPhee's arrival. Smith was also UM's Vice President for Business and Finance prior to assuming MTSU's interim presidency for a year in Fall 2000.

The Cotherns have two grown children, John and Joanie.

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DR. DEBRA SELLS: Vice President for Student Affairs and Vice Provost for Enrollment and Academic Services

Dr. Debra Sells serves as MTSU's Vice President for Student Affairs and Vice Provost for Academic and Enrollment Services.

Sells joined the administration at Middle Tennessee State University in January of 1996. Prior to arriving at MTSU, she worked for nine years at Arizona State University in Tempe. Dr. Sells has also served in the division of Student Affairs at Grinnell College in Grinnell, Iowa, and at California Polytechnic State University in San Luis Obispo.

Dr. Sells completed her Bachelors of Arts degree in Sociology and Communications at Hope College, located in Holland, Michigan. She completed her Master of Social Work with a concentration in Interpersonal Practice and Clinical Casework at the University of Michigan in 1983. She completed her Doctorate of Education at Arizona State University in 1996 with a dissertation entitled "The Freshman Year Experience: A case study of a freshman living-learning center."

"Our students and their families will know what we value by where we invest our time and our presence,"; says Dr. Sells. "It is critical that we are accessible, involved and engaged with our students. They are the reason we come to work each day.";

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WILLIAM J. BALES: VP for Development & University Relations ILLIAM J. BALES: VP for Development & University Relations

William J. "Joe" Bales, is the Vice President for Development and University Relations at MTSU. With more than 17 years experience in fundraising and institutional advancement, he leads the University's advancement efforts. Bales came to MTSU in 2002 from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, where he spent nearly 15 years in a variety of development and alumni affairs roles. Immediately prior to coming to MTSU, Bales served for more than five years as Assistant Vice President for Corporate Relations. In that role, he was responsible for developing cultivation and solicitation plans for more than 30 major corporations - and providing leadership to all appropriate colleges and constituent development offices. His accomplishments included the creation of a formal corporate partnership plan, the development of an annual-giving blueprint and the launching of an "executive briefing" newsletter for the campus.

Earlier, from 1993 to 1997, Bales was director of development for the university's College of Engineering. During that time, he directed the college's 21st Century Campaign that raised more than $34 million in gifts and pledges from alumni, friends and corporations. The annual average for total giving increased from $2 million to $4.5 million. He also developed a tracking/management system for the college's gift funds composed of more than 200 gift accounts and a $15 million endowment. Before that, Bales served for four years as associate director of institutional advancement for the university's Institute of Agriculture, then later became director of development.

He earned Bachelor of Science and Master of Science degrees in agriculture from UT-Knoxville and served as a graduate teaching assistant and as an instructor in the Department of Animal Science.

"As a native of this state, I strongly believe in the value of higher education and am committed to working to strengthen our educational system," Bales said. "The chance to assist MTSU in meeting the future needs of Tennessee is an exciting challenge. MTSU is one of the best kept secrets in higher education, not only in Tennessee, but across the country. It is gratifying to have the opportunity to work with Dr. McPhee, the university community and MTSU's students and alumni in moving MTSU to the top tier of America's comprehensive universities."

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BRUCE PETRYSHAK: VP for Information Technology & Chief Information Officer Bruce Petryshak - VP of Information Technology and Chief Information Officer

Bruce Petryshak serves as MTSU's Vice President for Information Technology and Chief Information Officer.

Mr. Petryshak arrived at MTSU in August 2010. Prior to joining MTSU he was Chief Information Officer at Bowling Green State University in Ohio for nine years. Mr. Petryshak also served in the Information Technology Division at Kent State University where he was Executive Director of University Information Systems. Mr. Petryshak has held positions in all areas of Information Technology.

Mr. Petryshak holds a Bachelor's Degree in Business Administration, Computer Sciences and a Masters of Business Administration from Kent State University.

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2011 Middle Tennessee State University, a Tennessee Board of Regents institution 1301 East Main Street, Murfreesboro, TN 37132-0001 USA +1.615.898.2300

Middle Tennessee State University, in its educational programs and activities involving students and employees, does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national origin, sex, religion, or age. Furthermore, the university does not discriminate against veterans or individuals with disabilities.

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