Tennessee Tech Board of Trustees

Ms. Trudy Harper retired in 2012 from her role as President of Tenaska Power Services Co., the power marketing affiliate of Tenaska, one of the largest non-regulated developers and owners of power plants in the United States. Before leading Tenaska Power Services Co., Ms. Harper was General Manager of Business Development for Tenaska's independent power plant development efforts.

Ms. Harper has been involved in numerous activities in the electric power industry, serving on many boards and chairing the Members Committee of the North American Electric Reliability Corporation. Ms. Harper was the 2010 recipient of the Gulf Coast Power Association's Pat Wood Power Star Award for her contributions to the deregulation of the Texas power market.

Before joining Tenaska in 1992, Ms. Harper held various transmission and generation planning and state and federal regulatory affairs positions with Texas Utilities Electric Company in Dallas, TX.

Ms. Harper earned Bachelor of Science and Master of Science degrees in electrical engineering with an electric power emphasis from Tennessee Tech University and a Master of Business Administration with a finance emphasis from Southern Methodist University. Ms. Harper was named Outstanding Alumnus and Engineer of Distinction by Tennessee Tech in 2016 and 2014, respectively.

Ms. Harper serves on the boards of the Siskin Hospital for Rehabilitation, the Tennessee Tech Foundation, and SPARC (the Chattanooga area chapter of Disabled Sports USA).

She also serves as chair of the Executive Committee.

Since retirement Ms. Harper has returned to her hometown of Soddy-Daisy, Tennessee, where she lives on the lake with her husband Roger Knipp.

Mr. Tom Jones is president of Research Electronics International, one of the leading designers, developers, and manufacturers of counter surveillance equipment.

Mr. Jones served in the U.S. Navy, later serving as an instructor at the Naval Nuclear Power School in Orlando, Florida, teaching math and electrical engineering. He also has worked as a defense contractor supporting the Ballistic Missile Defense Organization.

He serves on the Advisory Board for Tech’s Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, and in 2003 was a panelist at an open forum on homeland security held on campus.

Mr. Jones graduated from Tech in 1986 with a degree in electrical engineering, and holds a master’s degree in engineering from the University of Central Florida.

He serves on the Audit and Business Committee.

Mr. Fred Lowery, a Tech alumnus, serves as senior vice president and president of Life Sciences Solutions and Laboratory Products at Thermo Fisher Scientific, the world leader in serving science, with revenues of more than $24 billion and approximately 70,000 employees globally. He also was recently appointed to the DuPont Board of Directors.

After graduating from Austin-East High School in Knoxville, Tennessee, in 1988, Lowery attended Tech on a football scholarship.

“At Tech, I learned how to frame and solve problems from my experience in engineering,” he said. “But I also learned how to interact with people in a way to bring out the best in every situation. Being able to frame a problem and come up with the right answer is important, but inspiring people to embrace a solution or, better yet, empowering them to improve it, is a much higher calling.”

Lowery says Tech’s student population must reflect the current and future workforce demographics and the demographics of the country, and he has made it his mission to help lead Tech’s Ethnic Diversity Scholarship Initiative to its $2 million goal. While Tech’s student body has become more diverse throughout the years, Lowery has made it his mission to ensure this continues to grow.

Lowery established the Fred M. Lowery Award Scholarship to encourage students from Austin-East High School to attend Tech. He also established the Chi Lambda Chapter Omega Psi Phi Fraternity Scholarship to attract more black male students to Tech.

“My philanthropic efforts are centered on helping people reach their potential and supporting the institutions that have been the most influential in my life,” said Lowery.

Mr. Lowery graduated from Tech in 1994 with a degree in mechanical engineering, and holds a master’s degree in manufacturing management from Kettering University (formerly General Motors Institute of Engineering and Management).

He serves on the Executive Committee.

Dr. Jeannette Luna is chair and associate professor of the department of earth sciences at Tennessee Tech. She has served the Tech community for more than a decade, beginning as an assistant professor in 2012. 

In her years at Tech, Dr. Luna has served as president of the Tennessee Tech Faculty Senate and received the 2020-2021 College of Arts & Sciences Award for Innovative Teaching, among other distinctions. She is also the advisor for Tech’s Geo Club, a student organization devoted to geosciences. 

Dr. Luna teaches courses on sedimentation and stratigraphy, geology for engineers, planetary geoscience, geological exploration techniques and physical geology. Her published research includes analyses of terraced fans on Mars and the stratigraphy of the Fort Payne Formation in middle Tennessee.

Dr. Luna holds a B.S. in geology from the University of North Alabama, a M.S. in geosciences from Texas Tech University, and a Ph.D. in earth sciences from Montana State University. Prior to employment in academia, Dr. Luna worked as an exploration geologist for Marathon Oil Corporation in Houston, Texas and Devon Energy in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. 

She serves on the Academic and Student Affairs Committee. 

Cookeville native Thomas Lynn is a local banking pioneer and philanthropist who joined First National Bank of Tennessee in 1992 and played a key role in the expansion of the bank into Sparta, Algood, Crossville and Fairfield Glade.   

In 2010, he was named Chairman of the Board, First National was organized by a group of community leaders who believed that banks should bring value to the communities they serve. As a banking professional in Cookeville for close to four decades, Lynn has served the Upper Cumberland by helping launch new non-profits and taking leadership roles in a number of civic organizations and endeavors. As a founding board member of the Putnam County YMCA in 1979, Thomas later served as the president.   

Lynn’s commitment to Tech, where he met his wife Kay, is evident throughout campus.  In 2004, Thomas orchestrated a charitable concert featuring country music legend Vince Gill that raised $140,000 to support the building of a new home for the School of Nursing.

Over the years, Thomas has served as the President of the College of Business Advisory Board and in 2008 as Chair of the Dean and Director of Development Search Committees for the college. Lynn and his family became the first donors to renovate classrooms in Johnson Hall. Together with Kay, his mother, Jeanette; his sister, Pam; and brother-in-law, Dr. Daniel Coonce they established the U.L. Tommy Lynn classroom suite. Most recently, the Lynn siblings and their spouses established the first College of Agriculture and Human Ecology classroom endowment in honor of their mothers, Jeanette Lynn and Anna Coonce.  

In 2009, Lynn and a group of local philanthropists came together to establish the Mustard Seed Ranch. The Ranch is a community-sponsored interdenominational Christian ministry that provides a loving and caring home for children to heal from their past and build the foundation for a promising future. 

In addition to his duties with Mustard Seed, Thomas served as a District Steering Member for the Friends of Scouting fundraising drive for over 15 years and as a board member of the Cookeville Chamber of Commerce, serving as president in 2012.       

Thomas and Kay have four children, Patrick Lynn; Jack Lynn (Lindy); Katherine Lynn Hill (Matthew); and Bobby Lynn (Madison).   

He serves on the Audit and Business Committee.

Claire Myers was appointed to serve as student trustee by a unanimous vote of the Board of Trustees on June 20, 2024. Myers is a native of Jackson, Tenn. and is pursuing a Master of Science in chemical engineering after graduating magna cum laude from Tennessee Tech in May 2024 with a degree in chemical engineering with a biomolecular focus and a minor in vocal performance.

Myers is also the immediate past vice president of Tech’s Student Government Association. An active participant in campus life at Tech, she has served as a peer mentor for the College of Engineering Student Success Center, treasurer of the Tech B.I.K.E. club and service events chair for Tau Beta Pi, among other roles. 

Speaking to trustees ahead of the unanimous vote to confirm her appointment, Myers explained, “It has been a privilege to experience the lively student community that we have at Tech and I am so excited for the chance to bring these experiences to the table as your next student trustee.” 

Myers is expected to complete her master’s studies at Tech in summer 2025. She serves on the Academic & Student Affairs Committee.

Ms. Rhedona Rose is the chief administrative officer and executive vice president of Tennessee Farm Bureau, the largest farm bureau in the United States.

The first female executive to lead the Tennessee Farm Bureau Federation, Ms. Rose began working at Tennessee Farm Bureau in 1986 and became director of public policy and chief lobbyist in 1995. She served in that capacity until she was named executive vice president in December 2010, being named chief administrative officer in 2017.

In 1984, Ms. Rose graduated from Tennessee Tech with a bachelor’s degree in agriculture. She also holds a master’s degree from Texas A&M.

She serves as chair of the Academic and Student Affairs Committee and also serves on the Executive Committee.

Mr. Camron Rudd is Chief Operating Officer for Hörmann North America, a family-owned entry systems manufacturer headquartered in nearby Sparta, Tennessee. He has held progressively responsible positions with the company since his start as engineering department manager in 2005.

Mr. Rudd is a 2005 graduate of Tennessee Tech, holding degrees in both mechanical engineering and foreign languages with a concentration in German. He serves on the Board of Directors for the Cookeville-Putnam County Chamber of Commerce and was the 2021 recipient of Tech's Outstanding Young Alumnus Award.

Mr. Rudd and his wife Miranda, also a Tech alum, live in Cookeville with their two children.

He serves on the Academic and Student Affairs Committee.

Mr. Johnny D. Stites has served as managing partner of XI Investments, one of the largest commercial and industrial real estate developers in the Upper Cumberland Region of Middle Tennessee, for more than 25 years. He served as CEO of J&S Construction Company, Inc. for more than 43 years before stepping down in March 2015 to give more focus to XI Investments.

Throughout his career he has served on numerous boards and organizations. He is a Certified Professional Constructor, and a founding member and past president of the Home Builders Association of the Upper Cumberland. He has served more than 17 years with the Associated General Contractors (AGC), the largest and oldest construction organization in the state and the country. He served as President of the Middle Tennessee Branch of AGC from 2004-2006 and 2006-2007 and served as President of AGC of Tennessee from January 2014 through June 2015.

In 2013, Mr. Stites was honored with the Skill, Integrity, and Responsibility (SIR) Construction Lifetime Achievement Award by the AGC of Middle Tennessee’s Branch. He also received the Alumni Citation Award and the Distinguished Business Leader award from Abilene Christian University, his alma mater, where he earned a Bachelor of Science degree and served on its Board of Trustees for 16 years. He also holds a master's in professional studies from Tennessee Tech University, graduating in 2017.

In February 2014, he was appointed to the Tennessee Board of Regents by Governor Bill Haslam to represent the 6th congressional district, and served until resigning in 2015 upon being named to his current state role.

He previously served on Tech’s College of Business Board of Trustees.

He  serves as the chair of the Audit and Business Committee.

Capt. Barry Wilmore, a captain in the U.S. Navy, is a veteran of two spaceflights and has accumulated a total of 178 days in space.

In 2021, Wilmore will command the inaugural flight of Boeing's Starliner as part of NASA's crew flight test to the International Space Station.

In September 2014, Mr. Wilmore launched aboard a Russian Soyuz rocket as a member of Expedition 41. He served as a flight engineer until November when he assumed command of the station upon arrival of the Expedition 42 crew. He returned to Earth in March 2015. During this mission, he logged 167 days in space and performed four spacewalks totaling 25 hours, 36 minutes. In 2009, Capt. Wilmore served as a pilot aboard Space Shuttle Atlantis for STS-129, traveling 4.5 million miles in 171 orbits.

Capt. Wilmore has accumulated more than 7,000 flight hours and 663 carrier landings, all in tactical jet aircraft, and is a graduate of the United States Naval Test Pilot School (USNTPS). During his tenure as a fleet Naval officer and pilot, Capt. Wilmore completed four operational deployments, flying the A-7E and FA 18 aircraft from the decks of the USS Forrestal, USS Kennedy, USS Enterprise and the USS Eisenhower aircraft carriers.

He has flown missions in support of Operations Desert Storm, Desert Shield and Southern Watch over the skies of Iraq, as well as missions over Bosnia in support of United States and NATO interests. Capt. Wilmore successfully completed 21 combat missions during Operation Desert Storm while operating from the flight deck of the USS Kennedy. His most recent operational deployment was aboard the USS Eisenhower with the "Blue Blasters" of Strike Fighter Squadron 34 (VFA-34), an F/A-18 squadron based at Naval Air Station Oceana, Virginia.

As a Navy test pilot, Capt. Wilmore participated in all aspects of the initial development of the T-45 jet trainer to include initial carrier landing certification and high angle of attack flight tests. His test tour also included a stint at USNTPS as a systems and fixed wing Flight Test Instructor.

Prior to his selection to NASA, he was on exchange to the United States Air Force as a Flight Test Instructor at the Air Force Test Pilot School at Edwards Air Force Base, California.

Capt. Wilmore, from Mt. Juliet, Tennessee, earned his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in electrical engineering from Tennessee Tech. He also holds a master’s in aviation systems from the University of Tennessee.

He was a letterman and team captain of the Tennessee Tech football team and was inducted into the university’s Sports Hall of Fame in 2003. He currently holds the number two spot in Tech's record books for most tackles in a game, and number three on tackles per season.

He serves on the Academic and Student Affairs Committee.