Dr. Paul E. Stanton Jr. named new Tusculum College Trustee

Tusculum College has announced that Dr. Paul E. Stanton Jr. is the newest member of its Board of Trustees.

“We were very pleased when Dr. Stanton accepted our invitation to join the Board of Trustees,” said Chair of the Board Kenneth A. Bowman, who is a 1970 graduate of the college. “Dr. Stanton has had a long-term impact on higher education throughout his decorated career and has much insight and experience to add to the excellent diversity of members we currently have serving on the Board.”

The well-known educator, physician and administrator and former president of East Tennessee State University was approved by the Board of Trustees for membership in May.

“I have had the pleasure of working with Dr. Paul Stanton in the past and have followed the tremendous work that he did first as Dean of the Quillen College of Medicine and then as President of ETSU,” said Tusculum College President Nancy B. Moody. “I have great respect for Dr. Stanton and welcome the opportunity to work with him again.  Tusculum College will benefit greatly from his knowledge, work within the local and broader community, his sphere of influence and impact.”

Dr. Paul Stanton

Stanton is a 1965 graduate of Emory University, where he earned his Bachelor of Arts degree in chemistry. He was also awarded the M.D. degree through the Medical College of Georgia in 1969, completed an internship in rotating surgery through the Tampa General Hospital, from which he was selected from twenty-three interns to receive the Upjohn Intern of the year award, and completed his surgical residency at the Georgia Baptist Medical Center.

He also participated in a one-year fellowship in vascular surgery at Northwestern University School of Medicine in Chicago, after which he received board certification in general surgery and special certification in vascular surgery.

“I consider it a true honor and am humbled by the opportunity to serve on the Tusculum College Board of Trustees,” said Dr. Stanton. “To be able to serve on the Board of the oldest college in Tennessee and one of the most venerated and oldest colleges in the country that excels in the liberal arts and the production of some of the greatest All-American citizens is something I will never forget.  I will look forward to being a part of the next generations of this success story.”

Stanton directed the Surgical Residency Education Program at Georgia Baptist Medical Center, while serving as an active attending physician and director of the Blood Flow Lab.  He also held the positions of clinical professor of surgery, chief of surgery at Georgia Baptist Medical Center, assistant director of the Medical Education Department, co-director of the Georgia Baptist Medical Center/Medical College of Georgia Vascular Fellowship and adjunct professor of medicine at Mercer University Southern School of Pharmacy.

In 1985, Stanton was named the director of the Division of Peripheral Vascular Surgery for the Veterans Administration Medical Center and ETSU’s College of Medicine and was an associate professor of surgery. He was named as a professor and chair of the Department of Surgery in the College of Medicine and later named dean of the College of Medicine.

In 1996, the Tennessee Board of Regents selected Stanton to be the new President of ETSU, a position he held until his retirement in January.

Stanton has published more than 80 articles in medical publications, delivered more 100 scientific presentations, attracted millions of dollars in grant money for ETSU and served as an associate editor of Vascular Surgery.

Under Dr. Stanton’s leadership, ETSU experienced an all-time high in enrollment of more than 15,600 students, received well over $200 million in private giving and established numerous programs and buildings such as the Bill Gatton College of Pharmacy, the General Shale Natural History museum and many other scholarship and endowment programs that benefit students, research and the region. Additionally, the university is currently bringing in approximately $50 million per year in research and sponsored program activity.

Stanton was appointed into the Southern Regional Education Board (SREB) in 1997 and served as vice chairman of the SREB from 2002-2005. He co-chaired the Tri-Cities Tennessee/Virginia Economic Summit in 1998.

Stanton has been named one of the most powerful people in the Volunteer State by Business Tennessee magazine. In January 2002, Stanton-Gerber Hall at ETSU was dedicated in his honor at the James H. Quillen Veterans Affairs Medical Center, and the Medical College of Georgia awarded him the Distinguished Alumnus Award in 2004 for his professional achievements. He received an Honorary Doctorate of Administration degree from Milligan College in 2005 and has been inducted into the Johnson City-Jonesborough-Washington County Chamber of Commerce Hall of Fame.

Dr. Stanton is a member of the Board of Directors for Blue Cross/Blue Shield of Tennessee.