Dr. Valerie Copeland Rutledge and Emily Quinn were the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga's representatives on the All-Southern Conference Faculty and Staff Team announced Friday. Tyner graduate Rutledge was a UTC cheerleader in the early 1970s and earned bachelor's and master's degrees from there and her Ph.D. from Tennessee. A 1986 Hamilton County and state high school teacher of the year, she joined the UTC faculty in 1995 and later became the director of its School of Education. She now is the dean of the College of Health, Education and Professional Studies and holds the Mildred Routt Distinguished Teaching Professorship, and she has held multiple offices, including president, in the Alpha Delta Kappa International Teachers Sorority. She served nine years on the Tennessee State Board of Education and now is on the board of the local Principals Leadership Academy as well as Siskin Children's Institute and Siskin Rehabilitation Hospital.
Quinn, who also has bachelor's and master's degrees from UTC, is the assistant director of its Disability Resource Center and teaches a course for first-year students with autism spectrum disorders. She belongs to regional and national organizations related to disability access and higher education and co-authored a series of published textbooks - the BASICS College Curriculum - as well as a book about safety and independence for young adults with ASD, according to the SoCon release. One of the other faculty honorees, Dr. Winford Gordon of Western Carolina, is a former administrator at Tennessee Wesleyan, among other schools.
Basketball
-The Chattanooga State men's basketball team defeated Brunswick Community College 86-74 on Friday in Bolivia, N.C., after falling 84-80 to Cape Fear in Brunswick's Holiday Classic the night before. Ending a three-game losing streak, the Tigers (7-5) dropped Brunswick's Dolphins to 10-2 with their first loss in eight home games this season.