Thomas J. Garland
Thomas J. Garland was born in Kingsport, TN (1934). He was educated in the Kingsport and Oak Ridge school systems and served in the United States Air Force (1952-56). He graduated from East Tennessee State University with a B.A. degree (1959), received the Outstanding Alumnus Award (1973), and was the 2009 recipient of the George L. Carter Award, the highest honor bestowed upon a graduate of East Tennessee State University.
His careers in business, education, and government include: Chairman of the Board of Commerce Union Bank (now Bank of America), Greeneville, TN; Chancellor of the Tennessee Board of Regents; Interim President of Tusculum College, where he served as a member of the Board of Trustees and is the immediate past Chairman of the Board. He holds an Honorary Doctor of Law and was awarded the Distinguished Service Award by Tusculum College. The Tusculum College library is named in his honor.
He served in the Tennessee Senate (1964-85), seventeen years as Senate Minority Leader. He also served on numerous civic and corporate boards and currently serves as senior advisor to the Niswonger Foundation, Chairman of the Tusculum Institute for Public Leadership and Policy, and is a director of Atmos Energy Corporation. Mr. Garland served as the first Chairman of The Tennessee Ethics Commission.
