Faculty - Lifelong Learning
Meet the faculty behind Lifelong Learning
Leon Alligood
Retired Journalism Professor, Middle Tennessee State University
Leon Alligood is a retired Middle Tennessee State University journalism professor. For 30 years before joining academia, he was a reporter, most of that time at The Nashville Banner and The Tennessean.
Jackie Edwards-Henry
Professor Emeritus of Piano, Mississippi State University; Adjunct Instructor/Collaborative Pianist, Lipscomb University
Jackie Edwards-Henry is professor emeritus of Piano and Piano Pedagogy at Mississippi State University, where she also served as coordinator of Group Piano for more than 20 years. She has also served as an adjunct collaborative pianist at Lipscomb University since October 2023.
She holds a Ph.D. in piano pedagogy from The University of Oklahoma, B.S. and M.M. degrees in performance and pedagogy from William Jewell College and The University of Illinois, and pursued additional piano study in Bordeaux, France as the recipient of a Rotary Scholarship.
She first received group piano training at the age of 19, as a freshman at William Jewell College, by Richard Chronister, co-author of Keyboard Arts piano method and former director of the National Conference on Piano Pedagogy. She taught children’s group piano classes using the Keyboard Arts method from 1979-82 in the Lydia Lovan Community Music School at William Jewell. She served as a graduate assistant in group piano at The University of Illinois (1984-85), supervised by Dr. James Lyke, and The University of Oklahoma (1989-91), supervised by Dr. E. L. Lancaster. Both of her supervisors are authors of popular texts for group piano (Keyboard Musicianship and Alfred’s Group Piano for Adults, respectively).
In 1986, between her master’s and doctoral degrees, Dr. Edwards received certification in the Yamaha Music Education System and taught adult group electronic keyboard classes for Jenkins Music Company, Kansas City, MO (1986-89). To augment and enhance independent and group piano teaching, she pursued levels 1 and 2 training in Dalcroze Eurhythmics at DePaul University in 2003 and did additional training in 2010 at the Lucy Moses School in New York City. As a result, Dr. Edwards regularly uses Dalcroze techniques with students in private lessons and classes.
In addition to teaching and coordinating group piano classes for college students, Dr. Edwards regularly offered beginning piano classes for adult hobbyists. And because group piano teaching was an area of specialization, she regularly used level one adult hobbyist piano classes as the intern teaching component for the undergraduate Introduction to Piano Pedagogy course.
Dr. Edwards remains committed to teaching piano to adult hobbyists. She serves as Chair of the Committee on Teaching Adults for the National Conference on Keyboard Pedagogy. Additionally, she received a grant from the National Piano Foundation to do training in Recreational Music Making at the 2024 MTNA Convention held in Atlanta. To utilize her recent training and long-standing group piano expertise, she would like to offer a beginning adult piano class at Lipscomb University on the day she accompanies vocal students. This would have the added benefit of serving Lipscomb with a new area of outreach, and possibly give undergraduate piano majors an opportunity to learn about group piano teaching and gain some hands-on experience assisting in classes.
David French (’91)
Distinguished Visiting Professor of Public Policy, Lipscomb University College of Leadership & Public Policy
David French is a columnist for The New York Times. A graduate of Harvard Law School, David was previously a senior editor at The Dispatch and a contributing writer at The Atlantic. He is a former constitutional litigator and a past president of the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education.
David is a New York Times bestselling author, and his most recent book is “Divided We Fall: America’s Secession Threat and How to Restore Our Nation.”
David is a former major in the United States Army Reserve and is a veteran of Operation Iraqi Freedom, where he was awarded the Bronze Star.
Ruth Henry (’74)
Adjunct Professor, Lipscomb University College of Health Sciences
Ruth Henry came to Lipscomb in 1992 as a teacher and employee wellness director. She attended Lipscomb from kindergarten through college, receiving a B.S. degree in 1974. She earned the M.S. from Middle Tennessee State University in 1992, and completed the Doctor of Arts degree at MTSU in August 2000 with the initial year of doctoral study at Vanderbilt University.
Henry teaches undergraduate and graduate courses, specializing in Biostatistics and Applied Exercise Physiology. She is certified by American College of Sports Medicine as a Certified Exercise Physiologist, and by the Yoga Alliance. She is a member of the American College of Sports Medicine, SHAPE America, and Tennessee Alliance for Health, Physical Education, Recreation and Dance where she served as newsletter editor for 20 years. She has served as a reviewer for the Committee on Accreditation for the Exercise Sciences, as a member of the wellness advisory board for Faith Family Medical Center, and as board member for Nashville Corporate Challenge.
On campus, she serves as chair of the Academic Integrity Committee, and as a member of the Health Professions Advisory Committee and the General Education Council. At Lipscomb, Henry has been awarded Outstanding SALT Faculty, Outstanding Advisor, Outstanding Teacher, and the Baker Award for Excellence in Teaching. She was also named University Teacher of the Year Award by TAHPERD and received TAHPERD’s Honor Award.
Henry's professional interests are applied exercise physiology and adult fitness, in which she has published papers and presented at regional and national conferences. Henry currently serves as Chair for the department of Kinesiology. She is married to Phil Henry, an elder at Hillsboro Church of Christ; as a couple, they serve as pre-marriage mentors to engaged couples. They have three adult children and nine grandchildren. Henry enjoys exercise, hiking, teaching, reading, and spending time with grandchildren.
Katlyn Green
Gerontologist & Eldercare Coordinator, Certified Senior Advisor (CSA)®, COS, Certified Geriatric Doula (EOLD)
Dr. Katlyn Green is an elder care coordinator with Johnson McGinnis Eldercare Law where she guides clients through a Life Care Plan.
Her experience spans the developmental stages of aging, education for Medicare and Medicaid, wellness, transition care, progressing to and through end of life, bereavement and grief.
Katlyn holds a Bachelor of Science degree in psychology from Freed-Hardeman University, a Master of Education in clinical mental health Counseling from Western Kentucky University, a Master of Business Administration from Trevecca Nazarene University.
Her specialties include work as a Certified Senior Advisor (CSA) ®, a Certified Senior Occupancy Specialist (COS), a Certified End-of-Life Doula (EOLD) as well as field work (practicum, internships, student teaching and clinical training) in senior housing, chaplaincy, grief counseling, end-of-life care, hospice service, funeral implementation, family mediation, aging development and social work.
Tim Johnson
Author; Professor of History, Lipscomb University
Dr. Tim Johnson joined the Lipscomb University history faculty in 1991. He is the author/editor of eight books and over two dozen articles that focus primarily on early U.S. military history. His work has been nominated for various awards including the Lincoln Prize, the Society of Military History Book Award and the Society for Historians of the Early American Republic Book Prize. He was a finalist in 2019 for the Army Historical Foundation’s Distinguished Writing Award. Johnson has been a research fellow at Yale University of the Virginia Historical Society.
He earned a Ph.D. in history; M.A. in history, M.Ed. in education; and B.S. in history—all from the University of Alabama.
Andrew Leeper (’03, Lipscomb Academy)
Co-owner, Nashville Severe Weather; Worship Minister, Brentwood Hills Church of Christ
Andrew Leeper is the worship minister at the Brentwood Hills Church of Christ in Nashville but is also part owner in a local media company, Nashville Severe Weather. Andrew serves as a social media ambassador of the National Weather Service and broadcasts live on social media platforms to thousands of Nashvillians during severe weather. He has loved weather since a young age and has since grown in his passion to alert the city to weather threats to life and property. He, his wife Becca and two kids live locally in Nolensville.
Chris McKinny
Associate Professor of Archaeology, Lipscomb University; Host, Biblical World podcast
Dr. Chris McKinny is the associate professor of archaeology at Lipscomb University. He is a host on the Biblical World podcast. Most recently, he was director of research at Gesher Media, where he helped produce a documentary on the Ark of the Covenant. As a senior staff member at the Tel Burna Archaeological Project, Chris regularly leads study tours to the lands of the Bible.
Passionate about the archaeology, history and geography of the Biblical world, he has written extensively on these subjects in both academic and popular publications. He is the author of “My People as Your People: A Textual and Archaeological Analysis of the Reign of Jehoshaphat “ (Peter Lang, 2016), and has co-edited several volumes, including “The Late Bronze Age and Early Iron Ages of Southern Canaan” (De Gruyter, 2018) and “Tell it in Gath: Studies in the History and Archaeology of Israel: Essays in Honor of Aren M. Maeir on the Occasion of his Sixtieth Birthday” (Zaphon, 2018).
Russell Moore
Editor-in-Chief, Christianity Today; Bill & Crissy Haslam Endowed Distinguished Professor of Faith and Reason, Lipscomb University
Russell Moore, editor-in-chief of Christianity Today, is the author of several books, including “Losing Our Religion: An Alter Call for Evangelical America,” “The Courage to Stand: Facing Your Fear Without Losing Your Soul,” Onward: Engaging the Culture without Losing the Gospel” and “The Storm-Tossed Family: How the Cross Reshapes the Home.”
An ordained Baptist minister, Moore served previously as president of the Southern Baptist Convention’s Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission from 2013 to 2021. Prior to that role, Moore served as provost and dean of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Kentucky, where he also taught theology and ethics.
The Wall Street Journal has called Moore “vigorous, cheerful, and fiercely articulate.” He was named in 2017 to Politico Magazine’s list of top 50 influence-makers in Washington, and has been profiled by such publications as the New York Times, the Washington Post, TIME Magazine and the New Yorker.
Moore was a Fellow at the University of Chicago’s Institute of Politics and currently serves on the board of the Becket Law and as a Senior Fellow with the Trinity Forum in Washington, D.C.
He also hosts the weekly podcast The Russell Moore Show and is a senior commentator of Christianity Today’s weekly news and analysis podcast, The Bulletin.
A native Mississippian, he and his wife Maria are the parents of five sons. They live in Nashville, where he teaches the Bible regularly at their congregation, Immanuel Church.
Paul Prill
Retired Lipscomb University Professor, Certified Master Gardener of Davidson County and Certified Tennessee Naturalist
Paul taught at Lipscomb for 42 years, and he served as director of the Honors College for the last 22 of those. He was also the minister of the Acklen Avenue Church of Christ from 1981-2011.
After retirement at the end of 2020, he became a Master Gardener and joined Wild Ones (a nonprofit committed to native plants), and he serves on the board of the local chapter as the secretary. In October, 2023, he earned a Certificate in Native Plants from the Tennessee Valley chapter of Wild Ones, and in May, 2024, he was certified as a Tennessee Naturalist. His yard was featured on the Nashville Public Television program “Volunteer Gardener” in summer 2024.
Linda Peek Schacht
Retired Lipscomb University Faculty; White House and US Senate veteran, Former Senior Fellow, Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government; Founding Director, Nelson and Sue Andrews Institute for Civic Leadership and Co-Founder, Leadership Tennessee
Linda Peek Schacht has advised government, business and nonprofit leaders on communication and strategy for over 40 years. A veteran of the Carter White House press office, she has held the top communication positions for a national presidential campaign, USA Today, the Majority Leader of the U.S. Senate and the Senate Democratic Policy Committee. She is a former vice president for global communications and public affairs strategy for The Coca-Cola Company and former senior fellow at Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government.
In her government, corporate and education roles, Schacht developed programs reflecting her commitment to developing leaders who serve the common good through collaboration and communication. She is an executive coach for young government leaders for the state of Tennessee’s LEAD program and for leaders in education and nonprofits. A frequent commentator and author on leadership, politics and government, she teaches undergraduate and graduate courses in leadership and communication at Boston’s Emerson College.
As a board member of the International Women's Media Foundation and Athena International, Schacht has worked to advance women’s leadership around the globe and hosts the Women Business Collaborative series #WBCfastertogether. She was elected to the International Women’s Forum and is the recipient of the NBJ Women of Influence Trailblazer award, the Athena Leadership Award, the YWCA's Academy of Women of Achievement and Women in Numbers (WIN) Woman of Impact.
She is the widow of baseball artist and author Mike Schacht, whose literary and art legacy she manages.
Nancy Posey (’76)
Adjunct Professor, Department of English & Modern Languages, Lipscomb University
Nancy Posey (MA.Ed, Ed.D.) has taught English literature, composition, humanities and creative writing for more than 35 years. She has been an adjunct in Lipscomb University's English and Modern Languages Department for the last 10 years. A lifelong reader, writer and learner, she co-hosts a Black Dog Poetry Open Mic, monthly event; writes reviews and feature articles for a number of music publications, blogs about her reading life and writes bluegrass songs.
Passionate about capturing and sharing family stories, she is the keeper of family history and photographs for her family, turning that oral history into poems, narratives and songs. She is passionate about helping others to collect their own family stories as well, breaking the project into manageable, enjoyable tasks.
Rubel Shelly
Retired Distinguished Professor of Philosophy & Religion, Lipscomb University
Rubel Shelly received his graduate training at Harding and Vanderbilt Universities, and he taught both undergraduate and graduate courses at Lipscomb University. He retired from the classroom at Lipscomb as Distinguished Professor of Philosophy and Religion. He has preached during his entire adult life. He and Myra have three children—who have provided them with nine grandchildren and five great-grandchildren. He currently has a part-time role on staff with the Harpeth Hills Church of Christ and focuses his time on a variety of writing projects.
Kathy Turner
Retired Corporate Human Resources Executive, Gannett Company
Kathy Bingham Turner was born in Cairo, Illinois, but grew up in the small town of Savannah, Tennessee. She attended Middle Tennessee State University, graduating in 1976 with a business degree.
Upon graduation, she began working for the Newspaper Printing Corporation, the Joint Operating Agency for both The Nashville Banner and The Tennessean newspapers. What was intended as a first job after college, turned into her long-term career of 38 years with the Gannett Company, moving through the ranks as a human resources assistant, manager, director, vice president of human resources at The Tennessean and corporate regional human resources director supporting the HR functions of newspapers in several states.
At the Tennessean, she and her HR team designed, developed and delivered successful leadership development programs that were adopted and expanded to other Gannett regional newspaper groups. During her tenure with Gannett, she worked under 10 different publishers. She was awarded two President’s Rings and a Chairman’s Ring for her HR leadership.
Prior to retirement, her curiosity about her grandfather’s fascinating story became a mission to research and document for her Bingham family and future descendants. The more she learned, the more she wanted to know. By the time she retired in 2014, the Boss Bingham story became her post retirement project; and she began to view it as not just a family story, but also a town’s story. After many years of research, travel, writing, re-writing and editing, she is proud to present the first public telling of the true story.
Kathy resides in Franklin, Tennessee.
Karon Uzzell-Baggett
Certified and Licensed Occupational Therapist; Retired Lieutenant Colonel, U.S. Air Force
As a certified and licensed Occupational Therapist, Karon Uzzell-Baggett is passionate about helping individuals live their best lives, especially as they age or manage chronic health conditions. Her journey into this field began after a rewarding career as a military officer, where she developed a strong foundation in leadership, discipline and a deep commitment to service. This experience has shaped her approach to occupational therapy, allowing her to bring a unique perspective to my practice, particularly in working with older adults, veterans, women and people of color.
Uzzell-Baggett holds an Occupational Therapy Doctorate from Belmont University, where she honed her skills and knowledge to provide comprehensive care that addresses both the physical and emotional aspects of her clients' well-being. Her practice focuses on empowering individuals to regain and maintain their independence through personalized treatment plans, caregiver training and community education. Whether it's helping a client adapt to life after an injury, managing a chronic condition or supporting a caregiver, she is dedicated to making a positive impact in every life she touches.
Starting her private practice, SpOTs LLC, in 2020 was a dream come true. It has allowed her to address health disparities and change the traditional dynamics of geriatrics, all while creating better health outcomes for her clients. She is committed to providing the highest standard of care, grounded in empathy, expertise and a deep understanding of her clients' needs. Uzzell-Baggett’s goal is to help every individual she works with live a more independent, fulfilling life, no matter their age or challenges.