• Thurston Banks Award History
BRENTWOOD, Tenn. – Dr. Nell Gullett of the University of Tennessee at Martin and
Dr. Tim Rademaker of Southeast Missouri State University have been named the recipients of the 2016 Ohio Valley Conference Thurston Banks Award for Distinguished Academic Service.
The award, selected by the OVC Faculty Athletics Representatives (FARs), was established in 2013 to recognize individuals (e.g. academic advisor, professor, tutor, etc.), with at least five years of service at one or more OVC member institutions, for their outstanding contributions to OVC student-athletes' academic success, learning and development as well for his or her overall commitment to the institution's athletics program.
The award is named after Dr. Thurston Banks, who served the Tennessee Tech Department of Athletics for 31 of his 34 years on the faculty and served as the Faculty Athletic Representative (FAR) for 25 years before stepping down in 2006. He was inducted into the OVC Hall of Fame in 2007.
The inaugural awards were presented to Austin Peay's Dr. Bruce Myers and Eastern Illinois' Dr. Gail Richard in 2013 while Tennessee Tech’s Andrew Smith and Belmont’s Betty Wiseman were recognized in 2014. A year ago Austin Peay’s Dr. Gaines Hunt and Morehead State’s Dr. Peggy Osborne were honored.
Gullett and Rademaker will be presented their awards during the 2016 OVC Basketball Championships, held March 2-5 in Nashville.
Gullett is currently a Professor of Finance at UT Martin (a position she has held since 1998) and has been associated with the university for over 40 years including as an undergraduate student, earning a degree in business administration in 1976 and a MBA in 1981. She also earned a Doctorate in finance from the University of Memphis in 1990. For 12 years (2000-12) she served as the school’s Faculty Athletics Representative (FAR) and was the chair of the UT Martin Athletic Board.
She is a two-time recipient of the UT National Alumni Association Outstanding Teaching Award (1994 and 2005) and was named a UTNAA Distinguished Service Professor in 2012 and 2013. In addition Gullett was named UT Martin’s Outstanding Advisor Award in 1997 and in 2001 she received the Cunningham Outstanding Teacher/Scholar Award.
She has had written or co-written over 17 journal publications, nine proceedings publications and more than 20 presentations at professional meetings. Her current research interests include the impact of currency exchange rate volatility on common share prices as well as pedagogical issues in teaching finance.
Rademaker, an Associate Professor Emeritus of physical education, retired from Southeast Missouri State University in 2010 after more than 30 years of service (1975-2009). He was a student-athlete at Southeast Missouri and earned his bachelor’s degree in Education, History and Social Studies as well as a Master’s Degree in Teaching, Physical Education. He would later earn a Doctorate from The Ohio State University.
He continues to reach sport psychology as a part-time instructor and also serves as volunteer pole vault coach for the Redhawks track and field team, a position he has held off-and-on since the mid-1980s (after being a full-time assistant with the program from 1975 to 1982).
Professionally he has had 22 presentations and seven publications in scholarly journals and received numerous honors for his teaching and contributions as a faculty member. Rademaker has helped many students pursue a career in physical education and coaching including holding a coaching class to help students attain coaching certification on the weekends at no additional cost other than of the book.