Tennessee Tech honoring retired administrator and educator Becky Tolbert with the inaugural Legacy Award from the Whitson-Hester School of Nursing.
Tolbert being honored for her role in establishing the program and training the regional workforce. Dean of Nursing Kim Hanna said Tolbert was the first faculty member hired for the nursing program in 1980 and helped develop its initial curriculum and structure. Hanna said the school dedicated an office space in Tolbert’s honor to recognize her leadership during the early years of the program.
“Becky Tolbert helped build the foundation on which our school stands today,” Hanna said. “Her vision, leadership and commitment to student nurses shaped the early years of the program and established a culture of success that continues to define us today. The impact of her work can be seen not only in our graduates, but in the thousands of patients and communities they serve.”
Tolbert served at Tennessee Tech for more than 25 years before retiring as associate vice president for Academic Affairs in 2006. Tolbert is a nurse practitioner with certifications in women’s and child health who focused her career on helping students find solutions to succeed.
“My love for nursing continued into helping students learn nursing,” Tolbert said. “I worked to find solutions for students, and that was rewarding.”
University leaders chose to establish a four-year baccalaureate program in 1980 despite the regional need for registered nurses being served by fewer than 200 people at the time. Tolbert said this decision was made alongside then-Provost Wallace Prescott to distinguish the school from peer institutions offering two-year degrees.
“We’re a university, and we needed a four-year program,” Tolbert said. “That was wonderful because it started from the very beginning as a baccalaureate-level program.”
The Whitson-Hester School of Nursing reached its highest enrollment in over a decade last fall with 884 students. The press release said graduates in 2025 achieved a 95 percent first-time pass rate on the National Council Licensure Examination, which tied with Vanderbilt University.
“It was tremendously heartwarming,” Tolbert said. “I felt like the award recognized the foundation of the School of Nursing and the people who worked to establish it. We’ve been fortunate to have a strong reputation ever since the beginning.”