Development News
Coe Family Scholarship at Tennessee Tech honors nursing, business and education programs that provided opportunities for family’s success
A new scholarship at Tennessee Tech celebrates the impact of nursing, business and education programs on one family’s success.
Thomas Ray Coe, Ph.D. (`90 nursing and `09 MBA) says he established the Coe Family Scholarship to express his gratitude for the opportunities Tech afforded him and his family in their careers. Now, Coe hopes to provide opportunities for future students as well.
“I know what Tech provided for me and my family, and I want to see that expanded,” Coe said. “Tech is an opportunity for the Upper Cumberland. And this scholarship is an opportunity. It’s not a guarantee – there’s no guarantee for success – but it opens a door.”
The scholarship will be awarded to nursing, business and education students to honor the Coe family members who received degrees from Tech.
“Those three degree programs impacted my life, and they impacted my family’s life,” Coe said. “And I know this region needs additional nurses, administrators and educators.”
Coe says he chose Tech’s nursing program because of its location and reputation.
“Tech has a quality nursing program,” Coe said. “It had it when I was a student, and it has it now. It was an excellent opportunity and opened a lot of doors. It put me on a great career path.”
While pursuing his doctorate in nursing at the University of Tennessee-Knoxville, Coe decided to earn an MBA from Tech as well. He planned to focus on nurse retention and says he liked the fact that Tech’s MBA program included classes in human resources.
“Worker retention in nursing is still a huge issue,” Coe said. “My MBA from Tech served me well in learning more about how to retain our workforce.”
Coe’s aunt Mary (Coe) Allison received her bachelor’s degree in education in 1955, while his sister Edna (Coe) Capps received master’s and Ed.S. degrees in education in 2007 and 2008. Many cousins and extended family members received degrees from Tech as well.
Coe says he cannot overstate how talented Tech’s nursing faculty are.
“I had some amazing professors: Kim Hanna, Carole Jean Adkisson, Gloria Russell, Trudy Kelly, Linda Crawford,” he said. “There are too many to mention. They are amazing people, and they treated us like peers and colleagues – not as students. I remember Ms. Crawford told me one time, ‘I’d trust you to take care of my family.’ It’s one thing to say you’re qualified to take care of patients, but it’s another to say, ‘You are qualified to take care of my family.’ How the faculty treat the students is a common thread at Tech – and not just in nursing. In all programs, you are treated as a colleague, as a peer, as someone who matters.”
Hanna, who joined the nursing faculty while Coe was an undergraduate student, now serves as dean of the Whitson-Hester School of Nursing.
“I had the privilege of teaching Dr. Coe during his undergraduate nursing degree at Tech,” Hanna said. “He was an accountable and responsible student who desired to provide high quality care to his patients. Since graduating from Tech, he has academically excelled in his graduate studies and served us proudly proud as a Tech alumnus throughout his nursing and military career. I am most proud of his recent leadership experience serving as president of the Tennessee Nursing Association.”
Coe says he knows there are Tech students in need, and that’s part of what inspired the scholarship.
“Dean Hanna told me there was a student living in their car,” Coe said. “I learned we have a food pantry for people with food insecurity. I know this scholarship won’t solve everything, but hopefully it can help a little.”
He says he wants future recipients of the scholarship to make the most of the opportunity they’ve been given.
“Tech gives you the tools necessary to perform,” Coe said. “It opens a door, but you have to step through that door. You’ve got to create your own pathway to success. No one’s going to hand it to you. But you might be surprised where a degree from Tennessee Tech can take you.”
