Alumni Awards

MTSU’s outstanding alumni for 2022–23 represent distinction in professional fields ranging from architectural design, business, and education to music, marketing, and the military.

Distinguished Alumni Award honoree Katie Vance, one of the top interior designers for Nashville’s booming restaurant and hospitality scene, earned the MTSU Alumni Association’s highest honor.

Producer-songwriter Tay Keith received the Young Alumni Achievement Award for graduates 35 or younger making a positive impact on the world. True Blue Citations of Distinction were also awarded for the ninth consecutive year.

Honored at Homecoming, the annual award recipients were recognized for career excellence, their loyal support, and service to the broader community. True Blue to the core.

Lushness & Light

Distinguished alumna Katie Vance designs interiors that make Nashville sing

Katie Vance, celebrated with MTSU’s Distinguished Alumni Award, is a tastemaker whose work gives flavor to Nashville’s enviable and ever-evolving dining scene.

No, she’s not a chef—no toques for this alumna. She’s a decorated interior designer, partner, and chief creative officer at Powell Architecture + Building Studios, where she runs the Interior Design Department. Vance and her impressive work have been featured in publications that could be viewed as the pantheon for her field: Architectural Digest, Dwell, Garden & Gun, and Southern Living.

Her work blends light, colors, textures, and an elevated lushness to create distinct, umami-like sensory experiences for diners across Music City as well as in boutique hotels looking to offer guests unique spaces.

Vance gave Butcher & Bee its industrial-meets-mod vibe with hexagonal splashes of green to bring warmth to the openness of the East Nashville eatery. She used glazed white bricks and dark stone to give lightness and texture to Butchertown Hall, a Germantown restaurant that is notably long and narrow. Her vision for the Russell Hotel marries bold colors, rich textures, and natural light throughout the converted landmark church on historic Russell Street in East Nashville. And in the Cordelle, an event space on Lindsley Avenue, brick/plaster walls painted neutral feature dramatic up-lighting to establish space that exudes contemporary elegance without a trace of stuffiness— the fun, acrylic-backed chairs and greenery-adorned galvanized chandeliers see to that.

Arguably, the interiors she designed for James Beard award-winning chef Sean Brock’s restaurants, Audrey and June, are her best-known work to date. Audrey offers muted colors, distinctive folk art, bare rafters, unclothed wooden tables, and surprisingly comfortable spindle chairs. The inviting open kitchen feeds the upscale Appalachian concept of the restaurant. And June simultaneously exudes pools of light and romantic pockets of shade.

It’s no wonder that in 2020 Nashville Business Journal named Vance to its “40 Under 40” list, which honors young-ish luminaries whose talents and efforts help Nashville shine. After all, she also founded Porter Flea, the wildly popular, twice-annual pop-up market where 275 juried makers and artisans offer their handmade wares at various times and locations around middle Tennessee.

It’s also no wonder that, earlier this year, MTSU bestowed upon Vance its Distinguished Alumni honor. Vance graduated MTSU in 2005 summa cum laude with a B.S. in Interior Design.

“I am very honored and thrilled to be able to share with my family of MTSU graduates!” said Vance, whose parents and brother are also alumni.

“And I was also excited to represent my beloved Interior Design department that has grown so much and worked very hard to become a force for MTSU.”

The Human Sciences program has, in fact, evolved into a force, thanks in no small part to the faculty who guided her in the early 2000s.

“I was greatly inspired by my Interior Design professors— Sharon Coleman, Deborah Belcher, and Dana Miller,” Vance said. “They all collaboratively inspired me and taught me that I could excel in the interior design field.

They also encouraged me to get a high-profile internship my last semester, which landed me an excellent interior design job right after graduation.”

Interestingly, Vance, who at an early age began to understand and appreciate that different spaces felt distinct from one another, didn’t enter MTSU as an Interior Design major. She initially chose to use the scholarship offered by the University to pursue photography.

I have been involved with the arts community since a young age as well as having a love of travel,” she said. “I feel both of these interests led me to really understanding what spaces—restaurants, hotels, retail, homes—felt like when they had been designed well and had true character and concept to them.

As for photography, “I knew that I had to make a change to Interior Design after my first semester.”

In an interview with Nashville writer Kim Baldwin of theblondmule.com, Vance commented on the most common misconception about what she does.

“I am not a decorator— repeat, not a decorator,” Vance said in that interview. “Interior designers deal not only with furnishing and decor, but also with the building plans and location, the social context of the project, codes and regulatory requirements, and environmental sustainability. Interior designers have a degree in Interior Design or Interior Architecture and must pass the NCIDQ [certification exam] to receive their license. Interior designers can work directly with architects, obtain building permits, supervise construction or installation, and give advice on matters including electricity, plumbing, structural changes, ADA requirements, etc. Decorators focus on furniture, paint, fabric, and accessories and do not need to be formally trained.”

Naturally, Vance suggests hiring a talented interior designer for those looking to level up their home decor game. But she does offer one pro tip for do-it-yourselfers.

“I would say for residential a common mistake would be following the trends too closely. Instead, you should surround yourself with art, colors, furniture pieces, and mementos you love and that hold special meaning to you,” she said. “Thoughtfully incorporating these elements into your home’s decor will have longevity and satisfaction that will last much longer than the latest trend.”

Young Alumni Achievement

Tay Keith (’18)

The Grammy-nominated producer and songwriter from Memphis already boasts an impressive roster of music collaborations that includes Beyoncé, Drake, DJ Khaled, and Travis Scott. Known professionally as Tay Keith, Brytavious Lakeith Chambers balanced his career with finishing his bachelor’s in Integrated Studies and Media Management, graduating from MTSU just before enjoying a 2019 Grammy nomination for Best Rap Song for his work on “Sicko Mode.” He returns to his alma mater often, was named an honorary MTSU professor in 2021, and has initiated a music industry internship program with MTSU through his label, Drumatized Records.

Military Service

Brig. Gen. Robert Powell (’91)

A cybersecurity expert in the U.S. Army, Powell is the first Army Reserve cyber general and the 17th general officer in the 50-plus-year history of the MTSU ROTC program. After commissioning through ROTC, Powell served as an armor officer with the 1st Calvary Division, then joined the Army Reserve as a military intelligence officer. He commanded the U.S. Army Reserve Cyber Protection Brigade during 2016–19 and recently mobilized to support the Cyber National Mission Force at Fort Meade. At his promotion ceremony, Maj. Gen. Stephen J. Hager said Powell’s experience as an intelligence officer and commander of Cyber Protection Brigade helped develop some of the national force’s unique capabilities.

Achievement in Education (non-MTSU Faculty)

Jackie Morgan (’08)

Morgan, outreach senior adviser at the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta–Nashville branch, is recognized as an established communicator and proven leader in economic and financial education strategy, policy, development, and training. She serves on the National Business Education Association’s Economics and Personal Finance Education Committee, Tennessee Financial Literacy Commission, Tennessee Girls Collaborative Project, and two MTSU Jones College of Business advisory boards. Morgan has received the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta President’s Award for Excellence and is a board member and past president for the Tennessee Jump$tart Coalition for Personal Financial Literacy, which was honored as state coalition of the year under her leadership.

Achievement in Education (MTSU Faculty)

Alanna Vaught (’03)

Vaught was instrumental in starting the Agricultural Education Leadership concentration in the Master of Education Administration and Supervision program and launching a local dual-credit program at MTSU that received national recognition. Her teaching evaluations are among the best in the School of Agriculture, and her Agritourism class hosts two annual grant-assisted events for elementary schools that draw well over 1,500 people combined. Vaught also has received numerous national and local agriculture awards, as well as MTSU’s Outstanding Teacher Award in 2012.

Service to Community

Elveta Cooper (’96, ’00)

Cooper, a UPS area human resources manager, has been involved in numerous community organizations, including roles as Diversity and Inclusion Champion, President’s Advisory Council member, and mentor for Rutherford CABLE. A co-founder of Taylor & Taylor Family Resource Center, she has volunteered as a United Way Champion, Pencil Foundation board member, and Junior Achievement team captain. Cooper received a volunteer service award from President Barack Obama in 2009. She served on the Women’s Development Committee and Incident Response Team while hiring more than 300 permanent positions during implementation of the UPS facility in LaVergne.

Service to University

Ed Arning (’78)

A former MTSU sports information director, Arning went into private industry before returning to the University as director of two major project areas within the Division of Marketing and Communications. Arriving as a freshman from Nashville 49 years ago, he earned a bachelor’s in Mass Communications and has filled a wide range of roles and duties that mostly focused on promoting the University to anyone and everyone. Arning also taught media writing, remained involved in Blue Raider athletics during 31 years in both sporting goods and printing businesses, helped launch MTSU’s move into the elite digital printing world as printing services director, and now serves as market development director for the University.

Jackie Morgan (l), Achievement in Education (non-MTSU faculty); Ed Arning, Service to University; and Katie Vance, Distinguished Alumni Award recipient

Alanna Vaught (l), Achievement in Education (MTSU faculty); Elveta Cooper, Service to Community; not pictured: Tay Keith, Young Alumni Achievement Award recipient, and Brig. Gen. Robert Powell, Military Service