MARY LEWIS HALEY

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Professor of Accounting
mhaley@cumberland.edu
(615) 547-1264
Labry Hall, Room 111
Faculty
The Labry School of Science, Technology, and Business
B.S., University of Tennessee, Knoxville
M.B.A., Middle Tennessee State University
D.A., Middle Tennessee State University

Dr. Haley joined the faculty at Cumberland University in the fall of 1983. She has taught most of the accounting classes offered at Cumberland, as well as the Managerial Accounting and Corporate Finance courses in the Master of Business Administration program. Her main areas of interest include financial accounting and tax. Dr. Haley has been recognized for teaching excellence by receiving the Teacher of the Year award at Cumberland in 1995 and 2017 and by most recently being recognized by the Mid-South Athletic Conference as a member of the All Conference Faculty Team for 2017-2018. Dr. Haley is also the holder of the W.P. Bone Professorship in Business Administration 

Dr. Haley holds professional memberships in the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants, the Tennessee Society of Certified Public Accountants, the Institute of Management Accountants, the Tennessee Society of Accounting Educators, Delta Mu Delta International Honor Society in Business, and Pi Gamma Mu, International Honor Society in Social Sciences. In addition, she is a licensed Certified Public Accountant in the State of Tennessee, a Certified Management Accountant, and is Certified in Financial Management.

Dr. Haley and her husband have one daughter who is a graduate of Cumberland University and is a teacher in the Wilson County School System.

KENT HALLMAN

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Assistant Professor of Sociology
khallman@cumberland.edu
(615) 453-6372
Labry Hall, Room 230
Faculty
The Millard and JJ Oakley School of Humanities, Education and the Arts
B.A., Vanderbilt University
M.Div., Vanderbilt University
M.A., Vanderbilt University
Ph.D., Oslo University (Norway)

Kent Hallman is Assistant Professor of Sociology at Cumberland University, with cross-disciplinary background in Sociology, Cultural Anthropology and Theology/Religious Studies. He has lived in several countries, contributes to academic works in several languages, lectured at a number of universities in Europe and in the United States, and held positions in higher education, healthcare and ministry. Dr. Hallman is passionate about teaching, and his research interests include the sociology of ethnicity/race, culture, religion, folklore, sociolinguistics and diaspora, as well as Jewish Studies and Romani Studies.

His direct ancestors were subjects of ethnological research by a founding social scientist in 19th century Europe, inspiring Dr. Hallman to engage in his own sociological and ethnographic research on religious practices, culture and identity construction among diasporic minorities connected to the Middle East, South Asia, Europe and the Americas.

Furthermore, Dr. Hallman is an ordained minister with international expertise in chaplaincy, ecclesial leadership and pastoral counseling. He lives in Nashville with his wife Phoebe, and is a multilingual world-traveler, song-writer, published poet and local volunteer; he enjoys history, traveling, the cinematic arts, good books, and an old-fashioned story or song in the company of family, cousins and friends.

RICHARD GARVIN

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Visiting Assistant Professor of Psychology
rgarvin@cumberland.edu
Memorial Hall, Room 210A
Faculty
The Millard and JJ Oakley School of Humanities, Education and the Arts
B.B.A., Philander Smith College
M.A., Fisk University
Ph.D., Trevecca Nazarene University

Richard Garvin is a temporary Assistant Professor of Psychology at Cumberland University. His primary teaching and research responsibilities are at Tennessee Technological University. He previously taught at Nashville State Community College and at other institutions of higher education in Middle Tennessee. He served as a psychotherapist at The Village of Kairos, providing therapy to individuals, men, women, couples, adolescents as well as those with alcohol or drug additions. Richard’s specialty is working with transracial adoption families. Transracial adoption (or interracial adoption) refers to the adoption of a child that is of a different race than that of the adoptive parents.

Richard earned his Doctoral degree (Ph.D.) in Clinical Counseling: Teaching and Supervision from Trevecca Nazarene University. In addition, he earned a Master of Arts degree in Clinical Psychology from Fisk University, and a Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration from Philander Smith College in Little Rock, Arkansas. When Richard is not working, he enjoys playing basketball, reading and exercising, but more importantly he enjoys spending time with his wife of ten years and his two children.

CHRISTI GRIFFIN

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Associate Professor and Program Director for the Health Care Admin. Program
cgriffin@cumberland.edu
(615) 453-6307
Bone Hall, Room 100
Faculty
The Labry School of Science, Technology, and Business
B.S.B.A., University of Alabama, Huntsville
M.H.S.A., George Washington University
J.D., Creighton University

Dr. Christi Griffin is Associate Professor and Program Director for the Health Care Administration program in the Labry School of Science, Technology and Business.  Dr. Griffin teaches graduate and undergraduate courses in health care administration, business ethics, employment law, and business law.

Under Dr. Griffin’s leadership, the Health Care Administration program was admitted as a participant in the prestigious American College of Health Care Executives’ Higher Education Network.  She has also developed a network of health care industry leaders who provide experiential internships to students, as well as a distinguished guest lecturer series that brings business leaders directly into the classroom.

Dr. Griffin’s service to the University includes Faculty Senate, chair of the Academic Integrity Board, faculty for an on-site cultural field study exploration of the New Mexico Pueblos, and member of the University’s inaugural Institutional Review Board.

Dr. Griffin brings three decades of private health care company and government experience to the classroom, including executive officer, corporate general counsel and hospital management positions in Nashville, Washington, D.C. and Boston.  She has served as panelist and guest speaker to a variety of business, civic and academic organizations.  Dr. Griffin has also been selected to judge national and regional academic competitions.

Dr. Griffin holds a Juris Doctor (Law) degree from Creighton University, a Master of Health Services Administration (Health Services Financial Management) from George Washington University and a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration (Finance) from the University of Alabama in Huntsville.  Dr. Griffin is a published author and was on the editorial staffs for the Creighton University Law Review and the District of Columbia Bar Digest.

Dr. Griffin is founder and owner of Griffin Law Office, a boutique health law practice representing health systems, physicians, and non-physician providers.  She is three-time recipient of the Tennessee Supreme Court’s Attorneys for Justice Pro Bono Service Award.  Dr. Griffin is a member of the Tennessee (active), Maryland (inactive), District of Columbia (inactive), and U.S. Supreme Court Bars.

Additionally, she is involved in a number of community and not-for-profit activities.

MARY BESS GRIFFITH

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Dean of The Jeanette C. Rudy School of Nursing and Health Professions, and Associate Professor
mgriffith@cumberland.edu
(615) 547-1200
McFarland Hall, Room 113
Faculty
Office of Academic Affairs
The Jeanette C. Rudy School of Nursing and Health Professions
B.S.N., University of Tennessee, Center for the Health Sciences Center
M.S.N., University of Tennessee, Health Sciences Center
Ph.D., University of Tennessee, Knoxville

Dr. Mary Bess Griffith became Dean, Jeanette C. Rudy School of Nursing and Health Professions, in 2018.  She was previously employed as Director of the Nursing Department and Associate Professor of Nursing at Bethel University. Prior to that, Dr. Griffith worked for several years for the Baptist Memorial Health Care Corporation as Director of Market Services for West Tennessee and East Arkansas. Her experience in academia includes Nursing Lecturer at Murray State University; Assistant Professor of Nursing at the University of Tennessee, Martin; and Chair (Dean), Department of Nursing, and Associate Professor at Dyersburg State Community College.  A licensed registered nurse, Dr. Griffith has practice experience as a Family Nurse Practitioner and hospital ICU Charge Nurse and Staff Nurse.

Dr. Griffith holds Bachelor Science and Master of Science degrees in Nursing from the University of Tennessee Health Sciences Center in Memphis, Tennessee, where she also completed Family Nurse Practitioner post-masters work.  Her doctoral work (Ph.D. in Nursing) was done at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. Dr. Griffith is a Certified Nurse Educator and holds a Certificate in Simulation from Drexel University in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. She is a member of Nursing’s honor society, Sigma Theta Tau, the National League for Nursing, and the American Nurses Association.

Active in her profession, Dr. Griffith has served as the Tennessee Nursing Association’s Treasurer and on the Tennessee Nursing Foundation Board of Directors.  She has also served as Treasurer for the Tennessee Nursing Program Deans and Directors. Prior to joining Cumberland University, she was a member of the Board of Directors of the McKenzie (TN) Community Hospital.  Dr. Griffith has published scholarly articles in peer-reviewed professional journals and has presented her research at national and international health sciences conferences.

 

JASON GRINDSTAFF

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Professor of Exercise and Sport Science
jgrindstaff@cumberland.edu
(615) 547-1381
McFarland Hall, Room 1159
Faculty
The Jeanette C. Rudy School of Nursing and Health Professions
B.A., Dakota Wesleyan University
M.S., University of Tennessee, Knoxville
M.S., University of Tennessee, Knoxville
M.B.A., Cumberland University
Ph.D., University of Tennessee, Knoxville

Dr. Jason Grindstaff began at Cumberland University in fall of 2010 and teaches courses in the School of Nursing and Health Professions.  He primarily teaches courses in the undergraduate and graduate Exercise and Sport Science programs.  Prior to arriving at Cumberland, Dr. Grindstaff was a Post-Doctoral Associate for two years with the University of Florida where he provided mental health and sport psychology services for the Gator’s athletic department.  In addition to clinical experiences in university mental health, substance abuse counseling, gambling addiction, and biofeedback, Dr. Grindstaff has taught graduate and undergraduate courses at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, and the University of Florida in sport psychology, physical education and deaf education.

Dr. Grindstaff holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in both psychology and sports medicine.  His graduate education is cross-disciplinary and includes degrees in mental health counseling and sport psychology with primary training and emphasis in peak performance in sport and exercise. He holds multiple national certifications and licenses in sport psychology, strength & conditioning, and counseling. His areas of research and community outreach address the role of resistance training in enhancing strength and quality of life in senior populations, anaerobic assessment in hockey players, exercise adherence and dependence, and peak performance training in various sports.

SANDEE GERTZ

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Associate Professor of English and Creative Writing
sgertz@cumberland.edu
(615) 257-2011
Memorial Hall, Room 200F
Faculty
The Millard and JJ Oakley School of Humanities, Education and the Arts
M.A., Wilkes University
M.F.A., Wilkes University

Sandee Gertz teaches in the English and Creative Writing programs and began teaching at Cumberland University in the Fall of 2016.  She teaches courses including English Composition 101/102, Intro to Literature, and Creative Writing courses with an emphasis on Poetry. 

Ms. Gertz is an award-winning poet and has been a writer publishing essays, articles, poems, and creative work for over twenty years.  She is the author of a full-length poetry collection, The Pattern Maker’s Daughter, published by Bottom Dog Press in 2012.  This book has been used in a variety of courses in universities in Pennsylvania, including Carnegie-Mellon University, The University of Pittsburgh, and Washington & Jefferson College where she was also a guest lecturer.  She was a 2000 recipient of a Pennsylvania Commonwealth Grant Fellowship for Poetry and the winner of the Sandburg-Livesay Award, as well as a Pushcart Prize nominee. She received her M.A. and M.F.A. from Wilkes University in 2012. 

After moving to Nashville from Western Pennsylvania in 2013, she has embraced the south and is currently working on a new poetry manuscript which incorporates much Tennessee research and has completed a memoir, “Some Girls Have Auras of Bright Colors” for which she is seeking publishing.  Ms. Gertz is currently completing a novel which is set in her hometown of Johnstown, Pennsylvania. She has a love and evident passion for writing and teaching, and is most excited to work with all CU students and to share this love of the English language. She is the former host of a Poetry Radio Show, “Everyday Poetry|” which aired on Radio Free Nashville and a past Writer in Residence at the Nashville Public Writers’ Rooms, awarded the Russell Churchwell Room for the December 2018/2019 term. She has a personal mission at CU to promote poetry and to bring it into the everyday lives of students and faculty. To that end, she initiated the Poet In Residence Series, sponsored by a Bell Family Grant, which has brought contemporary poets to campus over several semesters.

In addition to her writing career, Ms. Gertz spent eleven years as the founder and director of a non-profit arts center with a mission to ensure that all children and adults had full access to arts programming and creative expression, regardless of their ability to pay. Her activities at CU involve co-founding and hosting the Open Mic Series and the Black Box Creative Expression events including Creative Writing Wednesdays and Turn Out Tuesdays. 

RICHARD GRANT

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Professor of Finance and Economics
rgrant@cumberland.edu
(615) 547-1346
Bone Hall, Room 201
Faculty
The Labry School of Science, Technology, and Business
B.A., McMaster University
Ph.D., George Mason University

Richard J. Grant is Professor of Finance and Economics at Cumberland University, a writer and consulting economist, and a Distinguished Fellow at the Beacon Center of Tennessee. At Cumberland University he teaches Statistics, Finance, and Managerial Economics.

In academia he has taught in several countries at universities ranging in size from Hillsdale College to Polytechnic Institute and State University (Virginia Tech) and the University of the Witwatersrand. In business, he was Chief Economist of the Chamber of Mines of South Africa, a Contributing Editor and columnist at the Financial Mail, and the Director of Research and Publications at the Free Market Foundation. He has also worked in mining and materials fabrication, has been a contributor at Forbes.com and, for four years, wrote a column that appeared each Sunday in The Tennessean. He was also an infantry officer in the Canadian Armed Forces.

His book, Nationalisation, was published in South Africa in 1994 and warned of the dangers to individuals and the country of excessive government control. His 1999 book, Real Money, explained inflation, business cycles, and monetary policy to a broad audience. He has also edited other books and has written numerous monographs and articles.

He met Nelson Mandela in the future president’s first year of freedom, as well as several of the top members of government, and the opposition, who were instrumental in bringing about the transition in South Africa.

He is a graduate of McMaster University and studied at the Center for Study of Public Choice at Virginia Tech and George Mason University, where he earned a Ph.D. in economics with fields in finance, public finance, and public choice.

Links to archived publications can be found at < www.richardjgrant.com >

WHITNEY GRAVES

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Assistant Professor of Athletic Training
wgraves@cumberland.edu
(615) 547-1328
Dallas Floyd Gymnasium
Faculty
The Jeanette C. Rudy School of Nursing and Health Professions
B.S., Valdosta State University
M.S., Troy University
D.A.T., Indiana State University

Dr. Whitney Graves begins her first year as Athletic Training Education Professor at Cumberland University in 2019-2020 academic year.  She has the responsibility of teaching graduate courses in athletic training and undergraduate core movement sciences courses.  She is responsible for assisting in student research and program administration as well as participate in department, college and university service activities.

Most recently Dr. Graves worked at East Alabama Orthopedics & Sports Medicine working as the Sports Outreach Director and Clinical Coordinator. She was responsible coordinating clinicals for athletic training graduate students with Auburn University as well as assess the other clinical sites and preceptors.

Dr. Graves spent time as an Athletic Trainer for Auburn University Warrior Research Center in Fort Benning, GA. She provided tactical athlete orthopedic evaluations, therapeutic interventions including rehabilitation and modalities, and injury prevention strategies for soldiers completing a 9-week basic combat training or 14-week station unit training program.

Whitney received her Bachelor of Science in Athletic Training from Valdosta State University in Valdosta, GA (2011). From there she went to Troy University as a Graduate Assistant for Athletic Training where she received her Master of Science of Sports and Fitness Management. Dr. Graves completed her Doctorate in Athletic Training from Indiana State University in May of 2019.

Dr. Graves and her husband, Jordan, and two children reside in Lebanon with their dogs Pearl, Sadie, and Jax.