Lincoln Memorial University is developing a School of Engineering and has hired Ryan A. Overton to serve as founding dean. The announcement came from LMU President Clayton Hess.
“Really great universities usually have three programs that act as pillars holding everything up,” said LMU Board of Trustees chair Autry O.V. “Pete” DeBusk.
Ryan Overton Ph.D.
“They are medicine, jurisprudence and engineering. Lincoln Memorial University was founded with a simple mission of providing educational opportunities to underserved populations.
“When I joined the board, we were succeeding in that mission, but I knew we could do more. So, we raised the bar. We added medicine, then law, and a host of other professional programs. We’ve witnessed the transformative impact LMU-trained physicians and lawyers have had on the rural communities they serve. There is no doubt LMU is a great university. The addition of engineering gives us that third pillar and LMU-trained engineers will further our mission in Appalachia and beyond.”
Overton will develop LMU’s first engineering programs. This will require achieving all accreditation standards of the Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology (ABET) and the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges (SACSCOC). The developing LMU-School of Engineering will have a presence on the LMU main campus in Harrogate, Tennessee, as well as Knoxville at the expanding LMU-Knoxville teaching site where the University recently secured adjacent properties to accommodate growth. Pending accreditation, LMU plans to begin with undergraduate programs.
Overton, a native of Speedwell, joins LMU from Trine University in Angola, Indiana, where he served as dean and associate professor in the Allen School of Engineering and Computing. Overton joined Trine as a faculty member in 2012 and served as dean from 2019 until he joined LMU earlier this month. As dean, he led successful ABET accreditation for seven undergraduate engineering programs, launched two new majors and led universitywide course scheduling to optimize classroom spaces to allow distancing during the pandemic. Overton initiated the planning for Trine’s $10 million new engineering building and collaborated to secure Lilly Grants worth over $1 million.
Overton earned his bachelor’s, master’s and doctorate in civil engineering at the University of Tennessee, specializing in transportation engineering. He served as a graduate research assistant at UTK and interned at Vaughn and Melton Consulting Engineers in Middlesboro, Kentucky, as an undergrad.
For more information about the undergraduate and graduate programs available at LMU, contact the Office of Admissions at 423-869-6280 or e-mail here.
Kate M. Reagan is senior director of marketing and public relations at Lincoln Memorial University.