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Following its annual board meeting in January, the Lee University Board of Directors awarded tenure to nine faculty members, effective August 2019. The new tenured faculty members are Drs. Drew Bledsoe, Ben Christmann, John Hearn, Taz Kicklighter, Randy Miedaner, Bryan Poole, Delia Price, Jason Robinson, and Ana Alves Shippey.

Bledsoe has been a member of the Lee University faculty since 2013 and serves as an assistant professor of history. He previously taught at Rice University. His areas of expertise are the Civil War and reconstruction, military history, and early American history.

Bledsoe is the author of “Citizen-Officers: The Union and Confederate Volunteer Junior Officer Corps in the American Civil War” and has authored or edited numerous scholarly works on Civil War and military history. He has been a fellow at the United States Military Academy at West Point, a Ridgway fellow at the U.S. Army Center for Military History, and a faculty fellow at the Civil War Institute at Gettysburg College. He is also a member of the Society for Military History, the Society of Civil War Historians, the Southern Historical Association, and the Cleveland-Bradley County Historical Society.

Bledsoe earned his Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) and Master of Arts (MA) from Rice University, his Master of Language Arts (MLA) from Henderson State University, his Doctor of Jurisprudence (JD) from University of Tennessee College of Law, and his Bachelor of Arts (BA) from Ouachita Baptist University.

Christmann joined the Lee faculty as an assistant professor of biology and health science in the fall of 2013. He currently teaches courses in microbiology, immunology, and nutrition, and is the faculty sponsor for Lee’s cross country and track and field teams.

Prior to Lee, Christmann served as a postdoctoral fellow at the University of Alabama-Birmingham’s Department of Medicine and worked as a research technician in the Respiratory Disease Branch at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Christmann earned his PhD at St. Louis University and his BA from Covenant College.

Hearn joined the faculty in 2013 as an assistant professor of chemistry. Since then, he has established an ongoing research program in which undergraduate students investigate thermodynamic and kinetic properties of chemicals for the purpose of modeling their fate in the natural environment. In addition to his research activities, Hearn teaches general chemistry and physical chemistry.

Prior to Lee, Hearn worked as a chemist at the Air Force Research Laboratory at Tyndall Air Force Base where he researched the reactions of gases with surfaces and developed heat-resistant pavement materials. He has also worked as a biochemistry laboratory technician at the University of Kentucky.

Hearn received his PhD at the University of Georgia and his BA from Asbury University.

Kicklighter began his work at Lee in 2010 as an assistant athletic trainer and clinical education coordinator for the Athletic Training Education Program. He joined the full-time faculty in 2013, and in the spring of 2017, was named the director of Athletic Training Education, overseeing the bachelor’s and master’s degree programs in athletic training. Prior to Lee, he was the head athletic trainer and an adjunct faculty at Reinhardt University.

Kicklighter earned his PhD in athletic training from Rocky Mountain University of Health Professions and his Master of Science (MS) from Georgia State University. He also earned a Bachelor of Science (BS) from Carson-Newman College and a BS from Kennesaw State University.

Prior to joining the Lee faculty as an assistant professor of business, Miedaner was a senior vice president for a Fortune 100 investment bank and also served as a tax attorney at a Top 100 law firm, as well as a certified financial planner with a Big 4 firm. He also served on faculty in the Louisiana State University School of Business and at Birmingham Southern College.

Miedaner is a member of the American Bar Association and the Institute of Certified Financial Planners. He received his JD from Louisiana State University Law School and a Bachelor of Business Administration (BBA) from the University of Wisconsin.

He has been published in national publications, including The Wisconsin Lawyer, The Tax Advisor, The National Public Accountant, and Tennessee Society of Certified Public Accounting Journal and is a frequent speaker at various professional forums.

Poole joined Lee’s faculty in 2013 and currently serves as an assistant professor of psychology, teaching courses in basic, advanced, and independent research methods and statistics, as well as learning and cognition. Poole also conducts research with his students on various topics, such as emotion, attention, and time perception.

Poole is a member of the Association of Psychological Science, the Society for Teaching of Psychology, the Southeastern Psychological Association, and the Council for Undergraduate Research. He earned his PhD in experimental psychology at the University of Alabama, his MA from Middle Tennessee State University, and his BA from Lee University.

Price, assistant professor of education, began her work at Lee as a part-time faculty member in 2009. She joined the Helen DeVos College of Education full-time faculty in 2013, teaching in the Department of Health, Exercise Science, and Secondary Education. Prior to Lee, Price worked in the Hamilton County public school system for 25 years, serving as a middle school teacher and, later, a principal at the Tyner Middle Academy.

In addition to teaching, Price uses her enjoyment of sewing and quilt making for Quilts of Valor and other local charities. She also serves as a volunteer mentor to new teachers in surrounding districts and works with veteran teachers on special projects.

Price earned her Doctor of Education (EdD) and Master of Education (MEd) from Trevecca Nazarene University and her BS from Tennessee Temple University.

Robinson began his teaching career in 1997 after graduating from Lee
University with a BS in human development with teacher certification and
joined Lee’s full-time faculty in 2013 as an assistant professor of
education. He received his EdD from The University of Tennessee network
in learning and leadership and his MEd from Lincoln Memorial University.

He
was selected as the Tennessee Teacher of the Year Regional Winner,
Bradley County Teacher of the Year (2001, 2011), Tennessee Science
Teacher of the Year, Vision of Science Award Winner, Fitzgerald Award
Winner for Excellence in Teaching, and was recognized as one of 12
teachers nationwide for excellence in education. In 2018, he received
Lee University’s Excellence in Advising Award.

Robinson has
served as a NASA and Jet Propulsion Laboratory Solar System Ambassador
and a Master Teacher for the Gravity Recovery and Climate
Experimentation Mission. Most recently, he served on both state and
national grant teams that provide training for students and teachers in
math and science.

Shippey serves as an assistant professor of political science at Lee
University. Prior to joining Lee’s faculty, she lectured and worked as a
teaching and research assistant at the University of Virginia and was
adjunct professor at Pontifícia Universidad Católica do Rio de Janeiro.
She teaches courses in international relations, comparative politics,
and American government, and advises students in the political science
and international studies majors.

Shippey has presented papers
at annual conferences such as the American Political Science
Association, International Studies Association, and Latin American
Studies. She is involved in organizing the Constitution Bowl at Lee,
along with yearly celebrations for International Women’s Day.

Shippey
earned her PhD from the University of Virginia, her MA from Pontifícia
Universidad Católica do Rio de Janeiro, and her BA from Pontifícia
Universidad Católica de Minas Gerais.