Distinguished Alumna

2022 DISTINGUISHED ALUMNA

Dr. Merrie Morrissey Clark Alexander ’69

The annual Distinguished Alumna Award seeks to honor a Harpeth Hall or Ward-Belmont alumna who has had an indelible impact on her profession, her community, and the futures of the women who follow in her footsteps. hen she was on the faculty at Harpeth Hall, Merrie Morrissey Clark Alexander Ph.D. ’69 was “known for teaching U.S. History in a dynamic and approachable manner.” In May, Dr. Alexander returned to Harpeth Hall and again stood in front of students — this time in an assembly honoring her as Harpeth Hall’s 2022 Distinguished Alumna. She began, as she does so well, with a history lesson.

Five months after the Civil War, and decades before women had the right to vote, she told students, Ward Seminary — a school for young women — opened in Nashville. The year was 1865, and only a handful of institutions in the country existed to provide a serious education to prepare women for college. Ward Seminary’s founding came before both Montgomery Bell Academy and Vanderbilt University were established, making the women’s school a pace setter in education. Nashville itself was just establishing its reputation as the Athens of the South. From Ward Seminary school came Ward-Belmont College in 1913. And, when Ward-Belmont closed in 1951, Harpeth Hall became Nashville’s leading location for an all-girls education. In the first years, Souby Hall and the Senior House were the two original buildings on campus. The school would grow, and so would its legacy, as it developed leaders who would go on to excel as CEOs, Olympians, court justices, authors, surgeons, and community difference makers of all kinds.

Dr. Alexander is among them. She has devoted her life and career to education and the improvement of the educational experience for students at Harpeth Hall, in the Metro Nashville school system, and beyond. When she was a student at Harpeth Hall more than 50 years ago, Dr. Alexander went to classes in Souby Hall, played intramural volleyball in Bullard Gym (third string for the Angkors), and traveled to MBA to take physics. “Some things have changed,” she said. “Great teaching, solid friendships, and encouragement to be bold have been here all along. From the beginning, Ward Seminary, Ward-Belmont, and Harpeth Hall figured out how to teach girls most effectively in an all-girls setting, produce confident leaders, and prepare students for future roles.”

Dr. Alexander began her career in education as a student at Harpeth Hall, graduating in the class of 1969. She went on to graduate Vanderbilt University in 1973 with a Bachelor of Arts in history and a master’s degree in social studies education in 1978. Dr. Alexander served on the Harpeth Hall faculty from 1975 to 1986 and again from 1992 to 2009. As a teacher, she impacted girls at a critically impressionable age by bringing significant history lessons to life for 12- and 13-year-old students, including the George Washington Celebration, which she coordinated annually. She also served as the history and social sciences department chair. While at Harpeth Hall, she helped research, develop, and launch the Scholars Engaged in Extending Knowledge (SEEK) independent study program, and served as its program coordinator. The SEEK program provides unique opportunities to students who wish to pursue learning beyond the regular curriculum.

(left) Merrie with her husband Robert. (above) Merrie at her Vanderbilt graduation with classmates and friends.

When she returned to Harpeth Hall in the spring of 2022 to speak to students as the Distinguished Alumna honoree, Dr. Alexander reflected on one of the tenets taught to students and encouraged in faculty — lifelong learning. “The world is changing fast,” she told students. “Stay nimble, be open to new opportunities, stay curious, talk to everyone, and combine your passions to move you forward. This is my motto and it has served me well.”

Nothing exemplifies that better than Dr. Alexander’s own educational path. At age 50 — after three decades of teaching at Harpeth Hall — she returned to school as a student and completed her doctorate in Educational Leadership in Policy (2008) at Vanderbilt University. Through the pursuit, she utilized her passion and dedication to coordinate and implement programs to improve the educational experience for students across Tennessee.

In 2009, the State of Tennessee Department of Education recruited Dr. Alexander as a data and research manager in the Office of Federal Programs. In this leadership role, she led Tennessee to win the Race to the Top Fund. The Obama administration awarded the $500 million fund to the state that demonstrated the most successful creation of optimal conditions for education innovation and reform.

Under this fund, Dr. Alexander chaired three Race to the Top projects. First, she produced the 2009-2010 Tennessee Teacher Equity Plan, which ensured that disadvantaged children are educated by teachers of the same caliber as advantaged cohorts. Second, she coordinated the Competitive Supplemental Fund, which distributed grant funding to school districts needing assistance with alternative salary schedules in order to improve low performing schools. Third, she led the Innovation/Acceleration Fund which administered grants to school districts to develop performance-based compensation plans. Also, in this management role, Dr. Alexander served as the interim director for Tennessee Charter Schools in which she utilized the U.S. Department of Education Charter Schools Program Grant to provide financial and legal assistance to new and existing charter schools in Tennessee. In 2010, she was appointed to the position of grants management coordinator in the Office of Federal Programs for Metropolitan Nashville Public Schools, from which she retired in 2019. In this role, Dr. Alexander ensured that Metro Nashville schools are compliant with state and federal laws and that federal funds and grants are being properly administered. Dr. Alexander oversaw the distribution and implementation of numerous multimillion-dollar education grants, such as the District Priority School Improvement Grant and the Education, Innovation and Research (EIR) Grant, among many others. Additionally, Dr. Alexander has presented to, and her work has been published in, national educational forums.

Through this critical role, she utilized her dedication and expertise to effectively spearhead improvements in education for all children. Since her retirement, she has continued to assist with state and federal grants, including the federal COVID-19 Relief Funds aimed at addressing the pandemic’s impact on schools. In the Nashville community, Dr. Alexander has served on the boards of Travellers Rest Historic House Museum, Monroe Carell Jr. Children's Hospital at Vanderbilt, Harding Academy, and the Junior League of Nashville, where she received the Paragon Award for Outstanding Service. Dr. Alexander’s daughter, Dr. Emily Clark King ’02, and son, Cotton Clark, expressed their family’s love and admiration for their mother and her distinguished career. “Harpeth Hall has certainly been our mom's second home for most of her life, ever since she was a young girl,” Emily said. “I know my mother feels forever indebted to both Harpeth Hall School and Vanderbilt University for her lifelong interest in education. “When she was on the faculty at Harpeth Hall, she was known for teaching U.S. History in a very dynamic and approachable manner and was an advocate for and supporter of her students both inside and outside the classroom. Children are her passion, and I believe she was truly in her element when she was teaching seventh graders at Harpeth Hall for all those years. “However, she transitioned seamlessly into multiple leadership positions in education at the state and local level and has enjoyed pushing herself in this work over the past several years. Now that she is retired, she enjoys traveling and fishing with her husband, Robert, playing bridge with her friends, and spending time with her children and grandchildren. She has always been such a fun and energetic mom and grandmother, and I think this is in part due to the natural teacher in her.”

Above all, Dr. Alexander is a devoted, kind, and passionate educator who has consistently placed the needs of students of all ages and backgrounds as her central focus. It is with profound gratitude and pride that Harpeth Hall honors Dr. Alexander as the 2022 Harpeth Hall Distinguished Alumna recipient.

Rising 9th grade students and faculty went to Switzerland and France as part of a cultural immersion program. They attended an international school in Geneva and met with World Health Organization (W.H.O,) and United Nations officials. Harpeth Hall faculty traveled to China as part of a cultural exchange program. SUMMER 2022 | 55