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• 2010 Hall of Fame Dinner
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Dr. Keith B. Churchwell, M.D.
McGavock Comprehensive High School, 1979
Associate Professor of Medicine and Radiology, Executive Director/Chief Medical Officer, Vanderbilt Heart & Vascular Institute

Keith Churchwell was born in East Nashville to Robert and Mary Churchwell, who expected only one thing from their five children: their best effort. Churchwell’s father was the first black reporter for a major southern metropolitan newspaper, the Nashville Banner. His mother taught for 30 years in the Nashville public school system. Churchwell’s twin brother, Kevin Churchwell, M.D., and older brother Andre Churchwell, M.D. are also Vanderbilt physicians. His brother, Robert Jr., is an assistant principal and his sister, Marisa Churchwell Smith, is a special education teacher.

Churchwell attended East Junior High School and graduated from McGavock Comprehensive High School, class of 1979. He earned his A.B. degree in Biology from Harvard University and his M.D. from Washington University in St. Louis. He served his internal medicine residency, chief residency, cardiology fellowship and nuclear cardiology fellowship at Emory University School of Medicine in Atlanta, Ga. He came to Vanderbilt in 1998 and is now Associate Professor of Medicine and Radiology and the Executive Director and Chief Medical Officer for the Vanderbilt Heart and Vascular Institute as of July 2009.

He is a member of the American Association of Nuclear Cardiology, the Institute of Molecular Imaging, the American Society of Echocardiography and a fellow with the American College of Cardiology. Keith has been named to the list of “Best Doctors” by the Best Doctors in America and Best Doctors list by Castle-Connolly since 2001.

Richard Fulton
East High School, 1945
Former Mayor of Nashville, 1975 – 1987

Richard H. Fulton was born January 27, 1927 and was educated in Nashville public schools. Following graduation from East High, he volunteered for the U. S. Navy and served until the end of World War II. He attended the University of Tennessee on a football scholarship, then went into business with his brother Lyle.

Richard Fulton's 30 years of public service began when he was elected to the Tennessee State Senate in 1956. In 1962, Fulton was elected to represent the Fifth District of Tennessee in the United States Congress. He served seven terms in Congress, then was elected to three terms as Mayor of Metropolitan Nashville, Davidson County 1975 through 1987. During his tenure as Mayor, he served as president of the U.S. Conference of Mayors and the Tennessee Municipal League.

After leaving the Mayor’s office, Fulton helped launch the Bank of Nashville, where he currently serves as Chairman Emeritus of the Board. Fulton was a founding partner of the School Company, a firm active in developing educational facilities. His civic activities include service on the Board of the Salvation Army, Nashville Symphony, Methodist Layman's Club, and Nashville Area Chamber of Commerce.

Richard Fulton has received numerous accolades and awards for his extraordinary leadership in civil rights and social justice, as well as the stability, livability, and educational excellence of our community and our nation.

R. Milton Johnson
Stratford High School, 1974
Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer, Hospital Corporation of America

Milton Johnson is a 1974 graduate of Stratford High School. He received his bachelor’s degree in accounting from Belmont University. Johnson began his career as a CPA with Ernst and Young in 1981. He then joined HCA as tax manager in 1982 in the research and planning area, a move that commenced his long association with the field of healthcare. He went on to serve as director of tax for Health Trust, which spun off from HCA in 1987, returning to HCA as vice president of tax when the company merged with Health Trust in 1995. Johnson became senior vice president and controller in 1998, and in 2004 he was named executive vice president and chief financial officer. He oversees the financial operations of the company, including treasury, government reimbursement, tax, accounting, financial reporting, insurance and risk management, as well as HCA’s information technology, shared services, and development departments.

Johnson’s career in healthcare has served as a complement to his dedication to the needs of others. He has held volunteer positions with a variety of community organizations throughout his career, with an emphasis on those that enhance education, advance civil rights, and seek to meet the challenges of health disparities in disadvantaged populations. He has served on the board of the McNeilly Center for Children, and currently serves Belmont University as a member of its board of directors and finance committee. In addition, Johnson serves on the board of the HCA Foundation, which seeks to assist organizations that serve the needs of children, and those that promote health and wellness, education, and the arts. Johnson has chaired the annual Freedom Fund dinner for the NAACP and chaired the building campaign for the Siloam Family Health Clinic.

Walter G. Knestrick
Hillsboro High School, 1955
Founder of Walter Knestrick Contractors, Inc.

Walter G. Knestrick is a 1955 graduate of Hillsboro High School, where he was popular member of the tennis team and a promising art student. In 1954, along with his friend Charles “Red” Grooms, Knestrick became the youngest member ever admitted to the Tennessee Art League. He turned down a scholarship to the Chicago Institute of Art to enter Vanderbilt, where he graduated in 1959 with an engineering degree.

After working as a surveyor and selling metal buildings for a few years, he founded Walter Knestrick Contractors, Inc. in 1969, a company that later became licensed in 28 states to build commercial buildings. Knestrick has been recognized among the top leaders in the field of commercial construction and development, receiving the Development Legacy Award from the National Association of Industrial and Office Properties in 2004. Since his retirement in 2004, the company is now owned and operated by his son Bill.

He was appointed by the Mayor to Nashville’s first Arts Council and has served as Chairman of the Tennessee Arts Commission, Cheekwood’s Fine Arts Committee, and the Tennessee State Museum Foundation. In 1986 he received the Governor’s Award in the Arts as an Outstanding Patron of the Arts in Tennessee, and he received the Applause Award from the Tennessee Performing Arts Center in 1990 for his outstanding contributions. He was a founding board member of the Frist Center for the Visual Arts, retiring in 2008. He was appointed a Commissioner of Watkins College of Art and Design in 2002, where he continues to serve as a passionate advocate and fundraiser.

Knestrick is not only an artist, he is an astute collector of art, having the most extensive private collection of Red Grooms’ works in existence, a collection of approximately 325 graphic works in addition to about 60 original works. Knestrick authored the book, Red Grooms: The Graphic Work, a comprehensive catalogue raisonne of Red Grooms’ graphic work from 1956-1999 which was published by Harry N. Abrams, Inc. in 2001.

Kix Brooks
2010 Distinguished Service Award

Born and raised in Shreveport, Louisiana, Kix Brooks first picked up a guitar at age 12, then continued performing in clubs and at other venues throughout high school. Beer joints weren’t reverential temples to high honky tonk, but more combustive places where the performers onstage were just an extension of the party. “People didn’t come to dance so much as to raise hell and have a good time,” Brooks recalls. “It was about having fun … we played everything from Hank Sr. and Johnny Horton to Frank Zappa songs. Sometimes I’d get to open for folks like the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band or Asleep At The Wheel.”

Before venturing off to chase his dreams, Brooks spent a few summers in Alaska working for his father on the pipeline. Returning to Louisiana Tech, he earned a degree in theatre arts. From Louisiana, Brooks made his way to Maine to work for his sister and brother-in-law’s advertising company writing radio ads. The pull of music soon proved too hard to resist, and Brooks began performing in coffee shops and bars throughout the area.

After journeyman bar-storming in the northeast, and then on New Orleans’ Bourbon Street, he eventually landed in Nashville, where he joined Tree Publishing Company. Shortly thereafter, artists like the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, John Conlee and Highway 101 all scored #1’s with Brooks’ songs. Success as a songwriter led to a solo record deal for Brooks, signing with Capitol records in 1989, this album included the song “Sacred Ground,” later a hit for McBride and the Ride. Though his solo project didn’t launch his career as a recording artist, that success was waiting just around the corner.

The following year, in 1990, Brooks teamed with Ronnie Dunn to form Brooks & Dunn. The pair has gone on to become the highest selling duo in the history of country music, selling more than 30 million records. They have also won more than 75 major industry awards, scored 23 #1 hit singles, and in 2008, they set a new record with their 41st top 10 single, breaking a tie with Alabama as the duo or group with the most Top 10 country singles in the 19-year history of Nielsen BDS-monitored airplay.

Never one to let the grass grow under his feet, Brooks ventured into the world of radio in 2006 when he took over the hosting reins of the long-running syndicated radio program, American Country Countdown. Recently notching his third year in that chair, Brooks reflected on his reason for joining ACC as host, “I really enjoy what I do for a living. I love this business. I love the characters and personalities in this business. At the end of the day, whether songwriting or hosting American Country Countdown, it’s all about sharing those stories.”

Brooks served as President, in 2004, and Chairman, in 2005, of the Country Music Association (CMA). He remains an active board member of the CMA and served as part of the Blue Ribbon Committee, a select group of professionals including the mayor, chosen to bring the city of Nashville and the Music Industry closer together. Brooks is also on the board of Vanderbilt Children's Hospital, and previously served on the Nashville Convention and Visitors Bureau. He is the local spokesperson for Monroe Harding Children’s Home and is a founding partner of Arrington Vineyards in Arrington, TN. Brooks has been married to his wife Barbara for 28 years and they have two children Molly and Eric.

Tammy Genovese
2010 Distinguished Service Award Former CMA Chief Executive Officer
As the Chief Executive Officer for the Country Music Association, Tammy Genovese witnessed first-hand the evolution of the Country Music industry from the birth of the non-traditional country music movement to its online delivery. During her 24 year tenure, Genovese has been a vital part of the team keeping CMA in front of the changes impacting the music community, while also developing strategies for creative solutions. She joined the staff in 1985 as the Coordinator of Administrative Services. She was later promoted to Director of Administrative Services, Director of Operations and Senior Director of Operations before being named the Associate Executive Director in 1999, where she took on the responsibility of overseeing the day-to-day operations at CMA.

On Jan. 1, 2006, she assumed the top leadership position at CMA, becoming the organization’s first Chief Operating Officer. In November 2007, the CMA Board of Directors adopted a new title for CMA’s COO, naming Genovese CMA Chief Executive Officer. In her expanded role, Genovese directed her energy and focus on long-term strategic issues and external business relationships including CMA’s Board, the Association’s numerous corporate sponsors and network television partner ABC.

Originally from Corinth, MS, Genovese received her bachelor’s degree from Trevecca Nazarene University in Nashville and her MBA from the University of Phoenix graduate program. In 2007, she was named on Nashville’s Forward 50 List, and in June 2009, the Canadian County Music Association presented Genovese with one of its most prestigious honors, the Leonard T. Rambeau International Award. Her additional recognitions and honors include Billboard’s Top Women in Music 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, representing the 20 most influential female executives in the entertainment industry. Additionally, she was honored by the Oasis Center at the annual Divas Nashvegas fundraiser event for the educational work of CMA. She is an alumnus member of Leadership Nashville and Leadership Music. Genovese is a member of the Music Community CEO Group, Nashville’s Agenda, NARAS, Canadian Country Music Association, ACM, Society of Association Executives, and the Women’s Fund.

She serves on the boards of the Center for Nonprofit Management, The Nashville Sports Council, and the United Way of Metropolitan Nashville. Mayor Karl Dean recently appointed her to the newly created Music Business Advisory Council.