Ohio Valley Conference

• Thurston Banks Award History

BRENTWOOD, Tenn. – Lawrence Baggett of Austin Peay State University and Dr. Janna Vice of Eastern Kentucky University have been named the recipients of the 2017 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. Austin Peay’s Dr. Gaines Hunt and Morehead State’s Dr. Peggy Osborne were honored in 2015 while UT Martin’s Dr. Nell Gullett and Southeast Missouri’s Dr. Tim Rademaker won the award a year ago.

Baggett and Vice will be presented their awards at the 2017 OVC Honors Brunch as part of the OVC Spring Meetings in May.

Baggett has been associated with Austin Peay State University for over 50 years, including 39 years as a faculty member. Baggett earned his bachelor’s degree in accounting and economics from Austin Peay in 1963 and a Master’s in accounting two years later. He then took a job as a APSU faculty member and stayed until his retirement in 2004. He served as the Chair of the Department of Accounting on two occasions (1979-82 and 1998-03) in addition to being the Coordinator of Student Services for the College of Business (1992-97).

During his tenure, Baggett was student-focused, providing both classroom instruction as well as counseling and advising for students. He was also an advisor for many student organizations. In 1996 he received the 1996 APSU National Alumni Association’s University Distinguished Professor Award and the 2012 APSU National Alumni Association Alumni Service Award.

A staunch supporter of Austin Peay athletics, Baggett has attended more than 2,000 APSU athletic events, both home and on the road. He served on the screening committee to select a Director of Athletics in 1993 and was a member of the NCAA Athletic Certification Steering Committee (1998-01). Baggett was also active in the Governors Club, including serving on the booster club’s board of directors. In 2006 he was inducted into the Red Coat Society, APSU’s Hall of Fame of Service.

Vice, currently the Provost, Senior Vice President for Academics, has been associated with Eastern Kentucky University for 40 years. After graduating from EKU, Vice began her career in 1976 as a professor in the College of Business and Technology.  In 1999 she was promoted to Associate Dean in the College of Business and Technology and in 2007 was named interim associate provost, until becoming full-time Provost in 2010.

In 1999 she was named the state of Kentucky’s Outstanding Business Education Teacher by the Kentucky Business Education Association and in 2004 received a gubernatorial appointment to a four-year term on the Kentucky Board of Education. She has also been a participant in the Management and Leadership in Education Program in Harvard University’s Graduate School of Education.

In 1993 she was appointed by the EKU President as the institution’s first Faculty Athletics Representative (FAR), a position she held until 2004. She has also served on the University Athletics Committee and is part of the Athletics Academic Integrity Committee. This past April she was awarded the Lifetime Achievement Award at the annual Colonel Choice Awards sponsored by EKU Athletics. Vice, who anticipates retiring in 2017, is a regular attendee at EKU athletic contests.