Restoring mobility.

When a friend was involved in a car accident, Lipscomb Business alumni Luke Benda (’17) and Braden Davidson (’16, ’17) saw firsthand the challenges that patients face as they recover. Motivated to develop solutions to enhance the recovery process, they co-founded Healing Innovations Inc. , a Nashville tech start-up that focuses on the development and commercialization of technology that positively impacts the lives of people recovering from neurological injuries.

“We were on a mission to develop something that made sense within the U.S. health care system, and so we developed the Rise & Walk , which is kind of like a 3-in-1 neuro rehab station, kind of like a Swiss army knife for PT,” Luke says.

Launched in 2018, a core team worked through the development process of ideation, prototyping, commercialization, FDA approval, team building and fundraising that led to a full commercial launch of the Rise & Walk about 18 months ago.

In recognition of their success, the Nashville Technology Council named Healing Innovations as the 2021 Tech Start-Up of the Year . But the foundation of that success goes back to the entrepreneurial spirit Luke has always possessed, starting a business in high school and another at Lipscomb with the support of a community of peers and professors invested in his success.

As a third generation Lipscomb student and one of six siblings to attend the university, Braden has plenty of reasons for joining the Herd and gives it credit for his success.

“Lipscomb offers a great opportunity to form a tight network in a booming Nashville market that will lead to plenty of career options going forward,” Braden says. “My professors always cared about me and were a helpful resource during and after my time there.”

Like Florah Mhlanga, who founded Lipscomb’s annual Student Scholars Symposium to highlight student research. It was her own empowering research experience as an undergraduate at the University of Zimbabwe, which helped her earn a scholarship for graduate studies in America. Now she delights in seeing how research inspires her students. “Just to see students present so confidently, so professionally, to see them dig deeper into the annals of knowledge and see them become so knowledgeable—as a faculty member, that is what gives me joy,” she says.

Tom Bancroft

Or Lee Camp, Professor of Theology and Ethics in the College of Bible & Ministry. In addition to teaching classes like Christian Ethics and Joy and the Good Life, he is the creator and host of No Small Endeavor, which hosts theological and philosophical variety shows along with a podcast and weekly Sunday afternoon public radio show. Through music-making, song-singing and conversations about things that matter, No Small Endeavor imagines a world governed by hospitality, graciousness and joy; life marked by beauty, wonder and truthfulness; and social conditions ordered by justice, mercy and peace-making.

Or Tom Bancroft, Artist-in-Residence in the George Shinn College of Entertainment & the Arts. He spent 30 years in the animation industry, most of which was for Walt Disney Feature animation, where he helped animate classics like Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin, The Lion King, Pocahontas, Tarzan and Brother Bear. He is also the creator of Mushu the Dragon in Disney’s Mulan. Professor Bancroft is one of five Disney animators who teach at Lipscomb, more than any other school in the country.

Lee Camp