In 1985, the Board of Directors established the Thomas W. Briggs Community Service Award to be given annually as a memorial to Mr. Briggs. The award benefits the work of a local Memphis organization in the field of community service. Its purpose is to recognize outstanding leadership provided by an individual in an organization whose creativity, effort, commitment, professionalism and exceptional initiative have enabled the organization to excel in its special mission. Recipients are nominated and chosen by the Board of Directors. It is the hope of the Directors that the recognition from the award will inspire others to reach higher and achieve more than they thought they could.
Announcing the 2021 Community Service Award
Natalie McKinney
Whole Child Strategies
Ms. McKinney is the Co-founder/Executive Director of Whole Child Strategies, Inc. (WCS), a neighborhood/place-based non-profit in Memphis, TN. WCS supports the educational development of children living in marginalized communities by organizing, mobilizing and engaging community stakeholders in identifying and implementing community-led/proposed short-term, intermediate and long-term solutions to out-of-school barriers. This means addressing root-causes and providing long-term sustainable solutions through policy, systems transformation and public resource re-allocation.
Ms. McKinney’s extensive career includes education policy and juvenile justice advocacy, including Director of Policy for Shelby County Schools and legacy Memphis City Schools, which included policy development for the largest school district merger in American Public Education history; founder and inaugural director of the Juvenile Law Clinic and an adjunct professor at North Carolina Central University School of Law; and an attorney at two large law firms.
Ms. McKinney holds a JD from UC Berkeley, an MPA from Princeton University, and a BA in political science from Spelman College.
Ms. McKinney is married to Dr. Charles W. McKinney, Jr., a professor of history at Rhodes College, with two sons, Ayo (21) and Chioke (17).
Past Recipients
- 2020 Katie Smythe, New Ballet Ensemble
- 2019 Steve Nash, Advance Memphis
- 2018 Cordell Walker, Alpha Omega Veterans Services
- 2017 Todd Richardson and McLean Wilson with Chris Miner of Crosstown Arts for the Crosstown Concourse Development
- 2016 Ken Steorts, Visible Music College
- 2015 David Montague, Memphis Teacher Residency
- 2014 Nancy Coffee, New Memphis Institute
- 2013 Dorothy Gunther Pugh, Ballet Memphis
- 2012 Jackie Nichols, Playhouse on the Square & Circuit Playhouse
- 2011 Jim Duncan, Memphis Botanic Garden
- 2010 Richard Nathaniel Donlon, M.D., Christ Community Health Services
- 2009 25th Anniversary Celebration, Honoring All Previous Recipients
- 2008 Beverly Robertson, National Civil Rights Museum
- 2007 David Loebel, Memphis Symphony Orchestra
- 2006 Margaret Craddock, MIFA
- 2005 Kaywin Feldman, Memphis Brooks Museum of Art
- 2004 James R. Boyd, BRIDGES
- 2003 Kenneth R. Bennett, Streets Ministries
- 2002 Colenzo J. Hubbard, Emmanuel Episcopal Center
- 2001 Larry B. Lloyd, D. Min., Hope Christian Community Foundation
- 2000 Douglas R. Noble, D.P.A., The Pink Palace Family of Museums
- 1999 Brad F. Baker, Young Life
- 1998 Jeffrey D. Nesin, Memphis College of Art
- 1997 Patrick W. Lawler, Youth Villages
- 1996 Josephine H. Walt, The Neighborhood School
- 1995 Michael J. Labonia, WKNO-TV/FM
- 1994 Eleanor Prest, Thomas W. Briggs Foundation
- 1993 Roger T. Knox, Memphis Zoological Society
- 1992 Gid H. Smith, Community Foundation of Greater Memphis
- 1991 JoeAnn Ballard, Neighborhood Christian Center
- 1990 John E. Buchanan, Jr., The Dixon Gallery and Gardens
- 1989 G. Scott Morris, M.D., Church Health Center Memphis
- 1988 Patricia C. Howard, Girls Incorporated of Memphis
- 1987 James C. Carlile, Boys Club of Memphis
- 1986 Virginia L. Dunaway, Memphis Food Bank
- 1985 Father Donald Mowery, Youth Service USA
University of Memphis Awards
Scholarships
For over forty years the Thomas W Briggs Foundation Inc. supported the University of Memphis in various ways. The Foundation began this relationship by establishing The Eleanor O’Neill Scholarship to assist deserving students with their educational goals. The scholarship is named in memory of Ms. O’Neill who was a long standing Welcome Wagon employee and University of Memphis Foundation Trustee.
Based on academic merit, each year a student in the University of Memphis journalism program concentrating in public relations and a marketing student in the Fogelman College of Business and Economics are selected.
Teaching Awards
In 1995 the foundation established the Thomas W. Briggs Foundation Excellence in Teaching Awards to recognize excellence in undergraduate teaching, and the first awards were given in 1997. The Awards were given through 2018 with the final award being given to Phillip Babin, Accounting.
Past Recipients
1997
Mr. Kevin Hagopian English
Dr. Phillip Kolbe Finance, Insurance & Real Estate
1998
Dr. Ruthbeth Finerman, Anthropology
Dr. Thomas R. Caplinger Mathematical Sciences
1999
Dr. Jack Grubaugh Biology
Dr. Mark Timmons Philosophy
2000
Dr. Julia Heath Economics
Dr. David Mason Political Science
2001
Ms. Candace Justice Journalism
Dr. Robert Marcini Physics
2002
Dr. Melvin Beck Biology
Dr. Charles Camp Civil Engineering
2003
Dr. Kantaylieniere Hill-Clark Education
Dr. Nele Hemple Foreign Languages/German
2004
Stephen W. Hancock Theatre and Dance
Dr. Charles J. Biggers Biology
2005
Dr. John Hanneken Physics
Dr. William Jerman Electrical and Computer engineering
2006
Dr. Robert Frankle History
Dr. Lawrette Axley Nursing
2007
Dr. Dennis Laumann History
Ms. Margaret Quinn Family and Consumer Sciences
2008
Dr. Joe Hayden Journalism
Dr. Nancy Mardis Accountancy
2009
Dr. Anna Bess Sorin Biology
Dr. Fred Albertson Art
2010
Dr. Phillip Franceschetti Physics
Dr. Irvin Tankersley Accounting
2011
Ms. Charlotte Spiceland Accounting
Dr. John Haddock Mathematics
2012
Dr. Mark Freilich Chemistry
Mr. Kriangsiri Milasri Computer Science
2013
Dr. Angela Grant Mathematics
Leonard Jackson Hospitality and Resort Management
2014
Ms. Nataliya Doroshenko Mathematics
Jacob Allen Communication & Fine Arts
2015
Dr. Douglas Campbell Economics
Dr. Shirleatha Lee Nursing
2016
Denis Grele French
JoAnne Rhodes Physics
2017
Dr. Scott Marler History
2018
Phillip Babin Accounting