Two Distinguished Service Award recipients were honored on May 15 at Tusculum College’s annual President’s Dinner, held at Link Hills Country Club. Honored were Dr. Sam Miller and the late Dr. Don Henard. Henard’s award was presented to his wife, Jean Henard.
The 2009 awards were presented by Tusculum College President Nancy B. Moody. Assisting with the presentations were Marilyn duBrisk, director of the College’s Arts Outreach program, who read the citation presented to Dr. Miller; and Chairman of the Board of Trustees Dr. Ken Bowman, who read the citation presented to Mrs. Henard.
In his comments after receiving the honor, Miller focused on vision and how the Acts, Arts, Academia series and the restoration of Annie Hogan Byrd Fine Arts Building started with a small meeting of a few people who had a vision and followed it through. He encouraged the more than 150 attendees to keep following their vision for the future of Tusculum College.
Dr. Miller, a member of the Tusculum College Class of 1935, is “an alumnus, physician, poet, educator, patron of the arts, visionary and servant leader,” the citation read. His associations with Tusculum College include the lifelong ties made among the six members of his immediate family who have attended Tusculum College. Dr. Miller has established a pattern of positive involvement in college, community and family that he has carried on since his student days at Tusculum College.
Dr. Miller graduated from the University of Virginia Medical School in 1950 and began a family practice in Abingdon, Va. As his medical practice developed, Dr. Miller became increasingly concerned that medical schools had turned away from preparation of students for family practice in favor of other specializations, and in the late 1960s, Dr. Miller became the first family practitioner in modern times to be appointed to the faculty of the medical school. He cofounded a division which later became the Department of Family Medicine, a postgraduate specialized program at the University of Virginia. Because of Dr. Miller’s work, this program has directly affected the quality of life for thousands of Virginians. He was later awarded the rank of professor emeritus at the University of Virginia.
For many years he has been a leader in his local community of Abingdon and been a lifelong friend to Tusculum College. Over many years, he has been active on the board of the Highlands Festival and Craft Show and has served in many leadership roles since the early 1950s.
“He is a lover of jazz and a published poet. He was the inspiration for the Acts, Arts, Academia series at Tusculum College and has supported the program since its inception in the Fall of 2000,” said duBrisk.
In recognition of his distinguished career and his service to his Alma Mater, he received the Pioneer Award in 1994 and an honorary doctorate in 1998.
Jean Henard thanked the group for the award presented in honor of her husband who was a member of the Tusculum College Board of Trustees at the time of his death last spring.
Dr. Henard was a member of the Tusculum College Board of Trustees from May 2005 until May 2008, and “distinguished himself as a physician, community leader, leader, College Trustee, donor, visionary, spokesman and lifelong supporter of education,” the citation read. His associations with Tusculum College and the Greeneville/Greene County community continued a family tradition of support of education, community and family that included continued, unwavering support of Tusculum College.
Dr. Henard attended Marion Military Institute in Marion, Ala., Clemson University in South Carolina and the University of Tennessee at Knoxville. He served his country as a member of the United States Army. At the conclusion of his military service, Dr. Henard completed his undergraduate studies at East Tennessee State University in Johnson City and pursued his medical training at the University of Tennessee Medical School in Memphis.
Following medical school, Dr. Henard entered an orthopedic residency program at the renowned Campbell Clinic in Memphis. He then completed an additional specialty program in orthopedic hand surgery at the University of Iowa before returning to Memphis, where he entered private medical practice as an orthopedic surgeon. Upon retirement, he and his wife of 49 years, the former Jean Deaton, returned to Greene County.
An active member of Asbury United Methodist Church, Dr. Henard also participated in a number of Greeneville civic groups and other local organizations in the fields of government, economic development, education and health. He was a supporter of the community through his membership and chairmanship of the Board of Directors of the Greene County Partnership and through the Greeneville-Greene County Airport Authority, of which he was chairman. He also served on the Laughlin Memorial Hospital Foundation, the Greeneville City Schools Foundation and was a member of the Board of Directors of the Niswonger Foundation.
He and Jean have one son, Dr. David Hal Henard, and one daughter, Dr. Deborah Henard MacFawn, and seven grandchildren.
The President’s Dinner is the College’s signature event and is hosted each spring by the Office of Institutional Advancement as a thank-you to the College’s major donors. This year’s event was held at Link Hills Country Club.