Lipscomb loses advocate for character education
|
Dr. Mary D. Morris, associate professor of education at Lipscomb University and an advocate of character education, died Friday morning, Sept. 30 at her home in Nashville after a lengthy battle with colon cancer.
Morris, 36, was a professional educator for more than 14 years. She founded the Center for Character Development at Lipscomb University, which resulted in the Character Counts! Nashville initiative. She also helped train hundreds of teachers as a faculty member in Lipscomb’s Teacher Education program.
One of Dr. Morris’ passions was promoting character education in schools and in the city of Nashville. With the approval of then-President Steve Flatt, Dr. Morris established the Center for Character Development at Lipscomb in 2000. The Center is committed to the understanding, promotion, and advancement of excellent character through public awareness, advocacy, and training for a better world, according to its website.
One of the first initiatives of the Center resulted in Character Counts! Nashville, which is now a separate non-profit entity. Dr. Morris provided character training for schools across the city, the Metropolitan Nashville Police Department, the Bowling Green, Ky. Police Department and numerous other businesses throughout Nashville.
“Mary was one of the finest people I have had the privilege of knowing,” said Flatt, now senior vice president of development at National Healthcare Corporation. “Her caring and joyful attitude was contagious. She was the ideal person to head Lipscomb’s Center for Character Development because she had a full understanding of the virtues of a quality life built on character.
“Even though they are still in relative infancy, Character Counts! Nashville and the Center for Character Development have made an indelible impression on thousands who have come under their influence. Mary was a ray of sunshine wherever she went. She had the ability to inspire others to want to be better people,” said Steve Flatt, former Lipscomb president.
Harold Fogelberg, executive director of Character Counts! Nashville and retired executive vice president of AmSouth Bank, said Dr. Morris had “an extraordinary gift in bringing out the very best in people.
“She had a genuine interest in character education to help children, young adults and adults improve their everyday lives. Everyone who was touched by Mary, including myself, are better people for having known her,” Fogleberg said.
A West Virginia native, Dr. Morris graduated from Lipscomb University in 1991 with a bachelor of arts degree in elementary education. She received a master of arts degree and a doctorate in education from West Virginia University.
She began her teaching career in 1991 as a fourth grade teacher at Williams S. James Elementary School in Abingdon, Md. While at West Virginia University, Dr. Morris was a graduate research assistant for the West Virginia University Extension Service and was a graduate teaching assistant at WVU’s Department of Educational Psychology and the Department of Curriculum and Instruction.
In 1998, Dr. Morris joined Lipscomb’s education faculty as assistant professor of education. At Lipscomb, she taught reading methods courses for elementary education majors as well as classroom management for all education majors. In addition, she supervised student teachers in the Metro Nashville Public School System and managed and facilitated the materials and curriculum lab for educational use.
“Mary personifies character, and she demonstrated such grace and such strength during some very difficult days. She was a priceless inspiration to everyone who spent even a moment with her,” said Walt Leaver, vice president for university relations at Lipscomb.
Throughout her career, Dr. Morris touched the lives of many, said Lipscomb Provost Craig Bledsoe.
“Although her time at Lipscomb was brief, Mary Morris had a profound impact on our students and our community. She was a role model for true leadership both on campus and in Nashville. I can think of no one who has had a more significant impact on the development of character and integrity on our campus than Mary. Her leadership in developing our campus-wide integrity policy is a legacy to her love for Lipscomb and her interest in nurturing character in our students.
“Her involvement at the national level with Character Counts and her vision for the impact the program could have on the greater Nashville community led her to accept the challenge to introduce and develop a vibrant program that continues to impact the Nashville community and society in which we live,” Bledsoe said.
Visitation for Dr. Morris will be held Monday from 3 p.m. to 8 p.m. at Brentwood Hills Church of Christ. The funeral will be 11 a.m. Tuesday at Brentwood Hills Church of Christ with visitation one hour prior to the funeral. The burial will be 3 p.m. Friday at Evergreen North in Parkersburg, W.V.
Dr. Morris is survived by her parents, Charles and Lois Morris, brother and sister-in-law, Chris and Renee Morris, and neices, Alaina Marie and Kayla Elise Morris.