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“That was a landmark accomplishment,” said Bell, who worked with TVA director Johnny Hayes (’61, political science) and associate dean Virginia Moore to secure the grant. “Without that grant, there was no funding for computers. We had just had a halfmillion dollar budget cut. For a program facing reaccreditation, new technology was essential,” said Bell. “That grant made our entire business school team breathe easier.” The university’s outreach grew as Bell continued teambuilding efforts across the state and around the world, both as dean and then as president of the university. Bell worked internationally to establish quality standards for corporations, governing bodies and non-profit organizations. He was an examiner for the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality
Award, which is given by the president of the United States and is the highest level of national recognition for performance excellence a U.S. organization can receive. The Baldrige program’s mission is to improve the competitiveness and performance of U.S. organizations. Closer to home, Bell testified before the U.S. House of Representatives about methamphetamine abuse in the Upper Cumberland. He presented TTU’s research that proved “street methods” of meth production had 90 percent efficacy. Those findings led to restrictions on purchases of over-the-counter drugs and other items commonly used to make meth. An ensuing grant from the Department of Justice brought half a million dollars to the Upper Cumberland to educate and equip law enforcement personnel and public workers to combat meth production and abuse.
“Community activity is a significant part of the presidency,” Bell said, and his work with the Tennessee Center for Performance Excellence, AACSB and other organizations supported those efforts. As part of TTU’s global outreach efforts, Bell travelled to Monterrey Tech in Monterrey, Mexico, to chair the accreditation review for the school of 92,000 students. Throughout his presidency, Bell stayed involved in the state’s industrial recruitment and economic development efforts. He served as chairman of the Cookeville-Putnam County Chamber of Commerce and worked on state trade missions to Japan. When Volkswagen announced it would build a plant in Chattanooga, TTU was positioned to partner with the corporation
TENNESSEE TECH and THE BELLS (continued) and Universities
2008 TTU BAJA team hosts
local K-12 students talk to
2009-2011 TTU makes President
2007 Gov. Phil Bredesen
2008 Bell represents Tennessee
Dayton Cup competition, with
an astronaut in space, TTU
Obama’s Higher Education
teaches the inaugural class
at a commemoration ceremony
about 90 international teams
alumnus and Atlantis pilot Capt.
Community Service Honor Roll
of The Governor’s School for
for Sgt. Alvin C. York in
participating
Barry Wilmore
Normandy, France
2009-2011 TTU hosts the TSSAA
November 2009 Dixie College
2010 TTU opens the Millard
Emerging Technologies at TTU
2007-2012 Bell co-chairs
2008 Bell chairs the
football championships, bringing
Day marks 100th anniversary of
Morris Hall
a council for rural-serving
accreditation review of
about 28,000 people to campus
the founding of the college that
Monterrey Tech in Mexico, a
and Cookeville each fall
became Tennessee Polytechnic
2010 Golden Eagles football
universities for the American Association of State Colleges
school with 92,000 students
November 2009
Institute, then Tennessee
photo on a Wheaties box
12 | VISIONS SUMMER 2012
Bell and
Technological University
Oakley STEM Center in Ray
team wins the York trophy for being undefeated in the OVC