Faculty Category: Faculty

WHITNEY GRAVES

Back to All Faculty
Assistant Professor of Athletic Training
Work Email: wgraves@cumberland.edu
Work Phone: (615) 547-1328
Location: Dallas Floyd Gymnasium
Category: Faculty
School: The Jeanette C. Rudy School of Nursing and Health Professions
Degrees:
B.S., Valdosta State University
M.S., Troy University
D.A.T., Indiana State University
Bio:

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.

 

CHRISTI GRIFFIN

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

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.

RICHARD GRANT

Back to All Faculty
Professor of Finance and Economics
Work Email: rgrant@cumberland.edu
Work Phone: (615) 547-1346
Location: Bone Hall, Room 201
Category: Faculty
School: The Labry School of Science, Technology, and Business
Degrees:
B.A., McMaster University
Ph.D., George Mason University
Bio:

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 >

SANDEE GERTZ

Back to All Faculty
Associate Professor of English and Creative Writing
Work Email: sgertz@cumberland.edu
Work Phone: (615) 257-2011
Location: Memorial Hall, Room 200F
Category: Faculty
School: The Millard and JJ Oakley School of Humanities, Education and the Arts
Degrees:
M.A., Wilkes University
M.F.A., Wilkes University
Bio:

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. 

JASON GRINDSTAFF

Back to All Faculty
Professor of Exercise and Sport Science
Work Email: jgrindstaff@cumberland.edu
Work Phone: (615) 547-1381
Location: McFarland Hall, Room 1159
Category: Faculty
School: The Jeanette C. Rudy School of Nursing and Health Professions
Degrees:
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
Bio:

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.

MARY BESS GRIFFITH

Back to All Faculty
Dean of The Jeanette C. Rudy School of Nursing and Health Professions, and Associate Professor
Work Email: mgriffith@cumberland.edu
Work Phone: (615) 547-1200
Location: McFarland Hall, Room 113
Category: Faculty
Department: Office of Academic Affairs
School: The Jeanette C. Rudy School of Nursing and Health Professions
Degrees:
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
Bio:

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.

 

S. CHRISTOPHER FULLER

Back to All Faculty
Dean of The Labry School of Science, Technology, and Business, and Professor
Work Email: cfuller@cumberland.edu
Work Phone: (615) 547-1210
Location: Labry Hall, Room 103
Category: Faculty
Department: Office of Academic Affairs
School: The Labry School of Science, Technology, and Business
Degrees:
B.S., Auburn University
B.S., Auburn University
M.A.M., Auburn University
Ph.D., Auburn University
Bio:

Dr. Fuller joined the faculty at Cumberland University in the fall of 2010. He has taught most of the math classes offered at CU, as well as programming and statistics in the Information Technology and Master of Public Service Management programs. His area of interest in mathematics is linear algebra and its applications, specifically over an indefinite inner product space, but includes other areas of applied math.

After serving as Interim Dean for a year, Dr. Fuller was named Dean of the Labry School of Science, Technology and Business in 2016.

In 2005, Dr. Fuller graduated summa cum laude with a Bachelor of Science in Mathematics and a Bachelor of Science in Physics. He was a University Honors Scholar and was chosen by the faculty of the two departments as the top graduate in math and in physics. In 2006, he completed a Master of Applied Mathematics for his work concerning the convergence of the iterative Jacobi method when solving a tri-diagonal system. He received his Ph.D. in May 2010 working with Frank Uhlig. As part of his dissertation, Dr. Fuller solved one of a dozen “Challenges in Matrix Theory” problems published a decade ago. None of the other challenges have yet been solved. While at Auburn, he received the Department of Mathematics and Statistics Teaching Award, the E. Haynesworth Fellowship, and several undergraduate scholarships.

Other than math, Dr. Fuller enjoys traveling and music. He participated in marching and concert bands in high school and college as well as with community groups and was selected for several honor bands including the Alabama All-State concert band playing oboe. He has taught music lessons for piano, woodwinds, and percussion and served as a church pianist and organist for over ten years.

Dr. Fuller and his wife have two sons and live in Lebanon.

LAURIE DISHMAN

Back to All Faculty
Executive Director of Institutional Effectiveness, and Professor of Mathematics
Work Email: ldishman@cumberland.edu
Work Phone: (615) 547-1278
Location: Labry Hall, Room 236
Category: Faculty
Department: Office of Academic Affairs
School: The Labry School of Science, Technology, and Business
Degrees:
B.S., Carson-Newman College
M.A., Vanderbilt University
Ph.D., Vanderbilt University
Bio:

Laurie P. Dishman earned a Bachelor of Arts from Carson-Newman College (1993) with majors in mathematics and French and a minor in music. She earned her Master of Arts (1995) and Doctor of Philosophy (1998) in mathematics from Vanderbilt University. She began teaching at Cumberland University in August 1998. In 1999, Dr. Dishman also became the Director of the Learning Center @ Cumberland University until 2004 when it closed. From 2008 to 2013, she served as the Dean of the School of Liberal Arts and Sciences (SLAS). She has been the Program Director for mathematics since 2008. In January 2018, Dr. Dishman assumed the role of Director of Institutional Effectiveness.

At Cumberland, Dr. Dishman has taught many different courses, including Foundations of Scholarship and Learning for new freshmen and mathematics courses at all levels. Her favorite courses to teach are the calculus sequence and Abstract Algebra. She has served on the Faculty Senate, Institutional Effectiveness Committees, the Admissions Committee, the Financial Aid Student Appeals Committee, the Benefits Committee, the University’s curriculum committee, and many others. While Dean of the SLAS, she served on the Deans’ Council, the Executive Management Team, the 2010 SACS Leadership Team, and the 2010 SACS Compliance Audit Committee, as well as various faculty search committees. In 2015, she served on the SACSCOC Fifth Year Report writing team.

Dr. Dishman enjoys taking students to the Mathematical Association of America-Southeastern Section (MAA-SE) conference meetings each spring, where they can participate in many undergraduate activities as well as present their own work in poster sessions or undergraduate talks. Dr. Dishman recently completed a three-year term as the Tennessee State Director (2014-2017) for the MAA-SE.

JAYNE FOREST

Back to All Faculty
Assistant Professor of Nursing
Work Email: jforest@cumberland.edu
Work Phone: (615) 453-6353
Location: McFarland Hall, Room 1148
Category: Faculty
School: The Jeanette C. Rudy School of Nursing and Health Professions
Degrees:
A.D.N., Becker College
B.S.N., University of Phoenix
M.S.N., University of Mexico
Bio:

Jayne Forest is an Assistant Professor joining Cumberland University in 2021. She comes with 10 years of teaching experience and a total of 27 years of nursing experience. She graduated in 1993 with an Associate Degree in Nursing, earned a Bachelor of Science in Nursing in 2003, a Master of Science in Nursing in 2009, and is a Certified Nurse Educator.

Jayne’s clinical experience includes Intensive Care Unit (ICU), Post-Anesthesia Care Unit (PACU), Cardiac Catheterization Lab, and Interventional Radiology. She also worked as a Legal Nurse Investigator for several years. She is a member of the Tennessee Nurses Association and American Nurses Association.

Page 1 … Page 8 Page 9 Page 10 Page 11