Adjunct Instructor, Criminal Justice

 

Degrees

B.S., Austin Peay State University

M.S., Austin Peay State University

Additional Studies, FBI Academy at the University of Virginia

Office Location: Memorial Hall, 200-F

Email: jminor@cumberland.edu

 

Joe Minor is a Special Agent/Forensic Scientist Supervisor for the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation’s forensic services division. He works in the Forensic Serology/DNA Section of the crime lab in Nashville. He is also the DNA Technical Manager for the TBI. He has over 25 years of experience in forensic serology and DNA profiling and has testified as a court-qualified expert in over 170 criminal cases.

Minor has been a member of a TBI Violent Crime Response Team and is a court-qualified expert in forensic DNA analysis. He has taught at the National Forensic Academy at UT and teaches Forensic Science for Cumberland University’s Criminal Justice Department. From 1977 to 1984, he taught biology and chemistry in the Clarksville-Montgomery County school system.

Minor earned a B.S. in Biology and Chemistry in 1975 from Austin Peay State University and an M.S. in Biology in 1981 from APSU. He did postgraduate studies at the University of Virginia through the FBI Academy. He was selected by the FBI as one of the initial 300 scientists to be trained in forensic DNA analysis.
In association with Vanderbilt University, Minor helped develop the state’s first forensic DNA-typing laboratory. He continues to research new DNA technologies and has spoken at professional meetings in Nashville, Atlanta, and Chicago on “Future Trends in DNA Technology.” Minor was also a member of the Department of Education’s Forensic Science Taskforce, which was responsible for the establishment of the first educational standards in the nation for teaching forensic science in secondary education.

He has made presentations to the Tennessee District Attorney Conference, Nashville Bar Association, Tennessee Association of Clinical Microbiologists and a joint meeting of the Tennessee and Georgia Association of Medical Technologists. He participated in the Second International Symposium on the Forensic Aspects of DNA Analysis and the Seventh International Symposium of Human Identification, and has presented at the American Academy of Forensic Sciences.

 

Minor is also an APSU 2004 Phi Kappa Phi Academic Hall of Fame inductee.