New Chair of Excellence

Summers-Taylor envisions national recognition for Surveying and Mapping Program

“Rob and Grant Summers represent concepts of partnership and community,” ETSU President Dr. Brian Noland has said of the father-and-son duo. Their philanthropic “100 Years” Stadium on our campus stands near the men’s soccer matches they hold, and the recently named Allie-May Drive near Summers-Taylor Stadium is in memory of the late wife and mother. All represent the generosity and dedication the Summers family has shown to ETSU and the community.


Funds from the new endowment are already in place, providing a sustainable resource to improve the academic reputation of the Surveying and Mapping Program. The Summers family also has contributed to a scholarship fund. This commitment, combined with ETSU’s new $48 million Integrated Health Sciences Building, will help ensure that ETSU’s surveying graduates have the tools and education they need to excel.

“For instance, whether you’re laying out a building, whether you’re building highways, whether you’re installing utilities, the surveyor is the first person there,” says Tennessee State University Board of Trustees member and Summers-Taylor President & CEO, Ron Ramsey.


 


Two students stand outdoors behind a yellow surveying instrument, both smiling against a backdrop of a bright blue sky.

 

“After a project is finished, the surveyor is the last person to leave, to sign off that it’s built in accordance with all specifications.”

Ron Ramsey



Ramsey, who majored in Industrial Technology at ETSU, says the Surveying and Mapping Program started in Johnson City in the 1970s. He took surveying courses himself.

A man in a suit sits at a conference table with a microphone and nameplate, smiling confidently.


“Surveyors are some of the most in-demand, highly paid graduates of the College of Arts and Sciences,” says ETSU Provost and Senior Vice President for Academics and Vice President for Student Life and Enrollment, Dr. Kimberly D. McCorkle. “We’re grateful to Summers-Taylor for creating a new Chair of Excellence that will strengthen our program even more.”


Ramsey says ETSU is one of the region’s oldest land-grant institutions, founded in 1932.


By Fred Sauceman   |   Photos by Charlie Warden

 

Read more incredible stories in the Winter 2025 Edition of ETSU Today. #BucsGoBeyond

ETSU Today | Winter 2025


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