Featured Alumnus - Chuck Pruett

Chuck Pruett is a native of Northwest Georgia, just outside of Chattanooga, Tennessee.  He came to Murfreesboro in the mid-1980s to play baseball for Middle Tennessee State University.  However, during his first year at MTSU, Chuck suffered a career-ending arm injury.  Nevertheless, Chuck decided to stay at MTSU and pledged Sigma Alpha Epsilon.

Through the Fraternity, Chuck developed relationships that led him to the success he enjoys today.  Chuck served as Eminent Deputy Archon while an active member of Tennessee Beta.  Two of his best friends, Jeff Summers and Shawn Lillie, were also very active in the chapter.  Shawn, Chuck’s roommate, was the Eminent Archon when Chuck was the EDA. 

After graduating from MTSU with a B.A. in Communications, Chuck moved back to Northwest Georgia to begin working in the family business.  After 4-5 months, Chuck realized he was meant to do something else.  He reconnected with his fraternity brother Jeff Summers who was working in the insurance and investment industry in Middle Tennessee.  Chuck and Jeff worked together for a couple of years.  Jeff later went on to become an agent for State Farm Insurance.  Chuck joined Northwestern Mutual in 1992 as a financial representative and became managing director of the new Murfreesboro district office three years later.

In 1997 Chuck entered Northwestern Mutual’s intensive management development program at the company’s home office in Milwaukee.  Coupled with this leadership training, Chuck’s achievement led to his succession of Bill Cochran in April 2002 as Managing Partner of Northwestern Mutual’s operations in Tennessee. Today, the Pruett Financial Group’s financial representatives serve clients across Tennessee, including the Nashville area. Chuck oversees overall operations at its locations in Nashville, Franklin, Green Hills, Murfreesboro, Chattanooga, Knoxville and the Tri-Cities.  After being appointed managing partner, Chuck enlisted the help of his former roommate and fraternity brother Shawn Lillie, a labor attorney in Memphis, to assist in the company’s labor and employment relations.  

Chuck has continued to give back to his alma mater since graduation.  He served for six years on the MTSU Foundation Board of Trustees.  He received the university’s Exemplar Award in 2008 for distinguished lifetime achievement in business and industry, and the Distinguished Alumni Award in 2004.

Chuck has been wildly successful at Northwestern Mutual.  He credits Tim Strobl for the many shared connections and business opportunities that helped launch his career.  It is evident that Chuck appreciates the relationships gained from his fraternity experience at Sigma Alpha Epsilon.  He recognizes the fraternity brothers that helped him along his path of success. 

Please join the Tennessee Beta Alumni Association in congratulating Chuck Pruett on his personal and professional success.

Featured Alumnus - Shane Reeves

Shane Reeves is a Murfreesboro native.  He attended Oakland High School and enrolled in MTSU immediately thereafter.  While at MTSU, he was a member of Sigma Alpha Epsilon, Tennessee Beta.  He graduated from MTSU in 1990 with a Bachelor of Science.

Shane then began Pharmacy School at the University of Tennessee Memphis.  He graduated in 1994 and returned to Murfreesboro.  In 1995 Shane and Rick Sain bought a majority share of Reeves-Powell Drug Store from Richard Reeves and Ron Powell.  The company was renamed Reeves-Sain Drug Store. 

Since the original drug store was founded in 1980, the Reeves-Sain Family of Medical Services has grown from small-town independent pharmacy to a pharmacy that has 15 pharmacists and over 200 employees.  The business includes a medical supply and long-term care company, home infusion, and specialty pharmacies.  Shane has played a major role in the expansive growth of the company over the last 20 years. 

Shane currently lives in Murfreesboro, TN with his wife Amanda and their three children.  Please join the Alumni Association in congratulating Shane in his personal and professional success.

Featured Alumnus - Gary Brock

Gary Brock, a resident of Franklin, Tennessee, is originally from Lawrenceburg, Tennessee.  He attended Summertown High School, graduating in 1973.  He began classes at MTSU later that fall.  He attended MTSU on a private scholarship provided by Murray Ohio, a manufacturer of bicycles and lawn mowers.  When Gary arrived at MTSU he knew very little about fraternities. However, he quickly began to see the prominence of Sigma Alpha Epsilon.  The chapter was clearly the most dominant fraternity on campus. 

While an active member of Tennessee Beta, Gary served as Recruitment Chairmen, Pledge Educator, Eminent Archon and IFC President.  Through these roles, he learned how to motivate and lead people effectively.  His fraternity experience also helped him develop the organizational and planning skills he uses in his business today.  Gary is quick to confirm that he learned more about business, marketing and management through Sigma Alpha Epsilon than he ever learned in any college classroom. 

After graduating college, Gary began working in sales for Murray Ohio.  A year later he became a sales agent with Casey & Associates.  This began his career as an independent sales and marketing specialist representing manufacturers to wholesalers and retailers.  Over time, Gary rose through the ranks with Kasey & Associates. He became President and eventually purchased the company.  The company became known as Brock, Masingill& Associates.  In 2009, Gary merged with another company forming Sales Group South, the largest manufacturer’s sales and marketing consulting firm in the Southeast United States.

Gary’s immediate family also has close ties to Sigma Alpha Epsilon.  During college he met his wife Wanda, a little sister of the Fraternity.  Gary’s three sons, Grant (MTSU), Lucas (WKU) and Tyler (WKU) are all brothers of Sigma Alpha Epsilon.  It is safe to say that Gary’s personal and professional life have been greatly impacted by Sigma Alpha Epsilon.  He acknowledges that the Fraternity played a key role in the early development of his business and marketing skills.

Please join the Tennessee Beta Alumni Association in congratulating Gary on his personal and professional success.

Featured Alumnus - Tim Keach

Tim Keach is a native of Henderson, Kentucky.  Beginning at a young age, he worked with his father raising horses, tending to the family farm and working in construction.  Tim’s father Dorris Keach began a small construction company in 1959.  However, Mr. Keach wanted his son Tim to live a life outside of the labors of the construction industry.  Mr. Keach encouraged his son to pursue a college education. Tim was familiar with the middle Tennessee area due to his involvement with walking horses in Shelbyville.  Thus, Tim enrolled in college at MTSU. 

While at MTSU, Tim pledged and was initiated into the Tennessee Beta Chapter of Sigma Alpha Epsilon Fraternity in 1968.  He graduated from MTSU in the early 1970s with a pre-med degree. He immediately began working for Merck & Company as a pharmaceutical sales representative.  Tim always had an interest in joining his father’s construction business full-time. However, Mr. Keach told his college graduate son, “that wasn’t the deal.”  Nevertheless, after two years with Merck, Tim moved back to western Kentucky to help his father with the growing family construction business.  Several years later, Tim expanded the business to middle Tennessee, and he moved back to Murfreesboro.

Tim eventually became CEO and Chairman of the family construction business, now known as TDK Construction.  Tim has grown the business well beyond western Kentucky and middle Tennessee. Under Tim’s leadership over the last fifteen years, TDK has built multifamily projects throughout Tennessee, Alabama, Oklahoma, Florida and Texas.

Tim and his wife Pamela, also an MTSU graduate and Kappa Delta alumnae, continue to give back to their alma mater.  Tim sits on Middle Tennessee State University’s Development Board.  The Keach family has become one of the top supporters of MTSU and Blue Raider athletics.  Tim and Pamela live in Murfreesboro and have seven children between them: Katy, Bryan, John, Catherine, Corinne, Tess and eight-year-old Margaret Ann. 

Please join the Tennessee Beta Alumni Association in congratulating Tim on his personal and professional success.

Featured Alumnus - Tom Dement

Thomas J. Dement, II is a Murfreesboro, Tennessee native.  He pledged the Tennessee Beta chapter of Sigma Alpha Epsilon at Middle Tennessee State University in the fall of 1987 and was initiated in the spring of 1988.  As an undergraduate, he served his chapter as risk manager, recruitment chairman and Eminent Preceptor, a role he still continues to fill in Province Iota and throughout the Realm. He also served in many leadership positions with the Interfraternity Council, including president. On a national level, he was appointed to serve as an undergraduate member of the first permanent committee on risk management. Tom earned Bachelor of Science and Master of Business Administration degrees from Middle Tennessee State University.  Tom then pursued a law degree from the Cumberland School of Law at Samford University in Birmingham, Alabama.

After law school, Tom served for one year as a judicial law clerk in the 16th Judicial District of Tennessee in Murfreesboro. He currently is a partner with Leitner, Williams, Dooley & Napolitan, PLLC, a regional law firm with six offices throughout the Southeast. Tom’s areas of practice include General Civil Litigation, Intellectual Property Litigation, Insurance Defense, Employment Law, Corporate and Commercial Litigation and Corporate and Business Transactions. During his legal career he has successfully handled hundreds of cases throughout middle Tennessee.

Tom’s is quite prevalent in Sigma Alpha Epsilon nationally.  Most notably, Tom serves as the Eminent Supreme Deputy Archon for the National Fraternity.  He was initially elected to the Supreme Council in 2009. He is a past Province Iota Archon, a position he held from 1998-2007, and was the Chairman of the Council of Province Archons from 2004-2007. He is also a past Chairman of the Permanent Committee on the Ritual and the Permanent Committee on Fraternity Laws.  He has served on the Fraternity’s Leadership School faculty on numerous occasions. Tom has served as chapter adviser for several groups in Province Iota and has held positions of leadership with the Tennessee Beta Alumni Association and Tennessee Beta Housing Corporation.

A well-known Fraternity ritualist, Tom has participated in numerous chapter installations over the past several years and conducted many special initiations throughout the Realm. He also served as Parliamentarian of the past five Fraternity Conventions. Tom is a Bunting Member of the Sigma Alpha Epsilon Foundation. He is a two-time recipient of the Order of the Lion and received the Merit Key in 2005 and the Order of Minerva in 2009. 

Tom currently lives in Nashville, Tennessee, with his wife, Helen, and their two children, Alexandra and Thomas III. 

Please join the Alumni Association in congratulating Tom Dement on his success and his diligent service to the Fraternity both locally and nationally.  

Featured Alumnus - Mike Smith

Mike Smith was born in Baumholder, Germany in 1957. His father was in the United States Army at the time.  Both of his parents were middle Tennessee natives and MTSU alumni.  Mike graduated from Fort Knox High School in 1975.  Meanwhile, his father was assigned his last duty assignment as the Professor of Military Science at MTSU.  Mike’s older brother John was already enrolled at MTSU and was a member of Sigma Alpha Epsilon.

Mike enrolled at MTSU with a fellow high school buddy from Fort Knox, Jay Simpson.  In the Spring of 1976, Mike and Jay entered rush and became pledge members of Sigma Alpha Epsilon.  Mike describes his pledge class as a family within a family. What he liked most about SAE was the huge sense of tradition, a sense that the members were winners.  The chapter knew how to have fun but also had a purpose of brotherhood. Although he did not fulfill a leadership role for TN Beta, Mike was very active in the chapter. To this day he has great respect and appreciation for the TN Beta leadership when he was an undergraduate.

On ROTC scholarship, Mike graduated in 1979 with a bachelor’s degree in parks and recreation management.  The day after graduation he reported to Fort Benning, GA as a Second Lieutenant.  Mike spent five years on active duty and eight years as a reservist.  In 1984, Mike started his career in the transportation industry, and spent the next sixteen years with various transportation companies.  

In January of 2000, Mike started Somerset Logistics. Somerset Logistics has gone from a one man show, to a company with over 50 team members, and exceeding $30 million in revenue.  In 2006, Mike’s high school buddy, college roommate, pledge brother, and brother-in-law, Jay Simpson retired as a Colonel in the Army. Mike convinced him to join Somerset Logistics.  Jay moved his family to Murfreesboro and has been an integral part of the company’s sustained growth ever since. Mike’s brother John, an SAE, is also a team member with Somerset Logistics and has contributed significantly.

Mike and his wife Tammy, Western Kentucky graduate, have two daughters, Shelby and Maggie. Shelby is an MTSU graduate and is enrolled in the College of Charleston MBA program. Maggie is a sophomore at the University of Tennessee.  Mike is all about family, and he is proud to be a part of the SAE family.  

Please join the Alumni Association in congratulating Mike Smith on his personal and professional success.

Featured Alumnus - Luke Laird

Luke Laird was born in Hartstown, Pennsylvania in 1978.  After graduating from Grove City Area High School, Luke moved to Tennessee in 1997 and attended Middle Tennessee State University. In December 2001 he graduated from MTSU with a degree in Recording Industry Management.  While at MTSU Luke was a member of Tennessee Beta Chapter of Sigma Alpha Epsilon.

Following college, Luke became an assistant tour manager for Brooks & Dunn.  In 2002 he signed a publishing deal with Bertelsmann Music Group Publishing and landed his first cut on Lee Ann Womack's “There's More Where That Came From” album with a song called "Painless" co-written with Bill Luther and Hillary Lindsey.

Luke has written or co-written twelve #1 Billboard singles including the following:

Carrie Underwood:  “So Small”, “Last Name", “Temporary Home”, “Undo It”

Blake Shelton:  “Hillbilly Bone” featuring Trace Adkins

Sara Evans:   “A Little Bit Stronger”

Rodney Atkins:  “Take a Back Road”

Eric Church:  “Drink in My Hand”

Little Big Town:  "Pontoon"

Hunter Hayes:  "Somebody's Heartbreak"

Chris Young:  “You”.

Luke also co-wrote the top 5 singles “Baggage Claim” by Miranda Lambert and "Mama's Song" by Carrie Underwood. Over his career Luke Laird has collaborated with Tim McGraw, Rascal Flatts, Ne-Yo, Luke Bryan, John Legend, Charlotte Church, and many others.  In 2012, Laird was named BMI's Country Songwriter of the Year, having co-written five songs that appeared on the year's most played list. Additionally, his song with Rodney Atkins, "Take a Back Road" was named Song of the Year.

Luke is a prolific and sought after writer, producer and collaborator, with more than 800 compositions to his credit. His songs have been on more than 20 million albums sold.  He continues to remain busy within Nashville’s country music scene.  He and his wife Beth founded Creative Nation, which is a music publishing and management company.  Creative Nation is home to some of music's top songwriters and producers.  The company has partnerships with Universal Music Publishing Group and Pulse Recording.

Please join the Board of Directors in congratulating Luke on his personal and professional success. We are fortunate to have such an esteemed alumnus.

Featured Alumnus - Tim Strobl

The TN Beta Alumni Association Board of Directors has chosen Timothy Strobl (‘80) to be the inaugural Featured Alumnus. Without a doubt, Tim Strobl and TN Beta are synonymous. No other person is more closely tied to the history, success and development of TN Beta than Tim. He has played a key role in nearly every facet of the chapter since the early 1980s.

Although most of you know Tim through his involvement with the Fraternity, you may not know him professionally. Tim has had a thriving career in the hospitality and convention industry.  His personality and success have resulted in the simple fact that “Tim knows everyone” … or at least someone, everywhere. Tim graduated from MTSU in 1980 with a degree in Mass Communications. Soon after, he began working for a small hotel in Nashville and eventually made his way to the Nashville Convention Center.

In the midst of a successful sales career at the Convention Center, Tim was given the opportunity to pursue his dream job: working for the Sigma Alpha Epsilon National Fraternity.  From 2002 to 2006, Tim was the Director of Alumni Membership and Volunteer Services for the Fraternity. He also played lead roles in planning the Fraternity’s conventions, namely the Fraternity’s National Convention in 2005 held in Nashville, TN.

Later in 2006, Tim rejoined the Nashville Convention Center staff as Sales Manager for the Midwest Region. He continues to remain busy with Nashville’s new Music City Center.  Tim currently lives in downtown Nashville and plays the organ during mass at St. Mary’s Catholic Church. 

Please join the Board of Directors in congratulating Tim on his personal and professional success. We owe a debt of gratitude to this man.

Featured Alumni

The Tennessee Beta Alumni Association is proud to announce its newest program associated with its website launched in early 2013.  The Association will begin a Featured Alumnus section that features an alumni member of TN Beta for their individual contribution to the Fraternity and their community.  The mission of Sigma Alpha Epsilon is to promote the highest standards of friendship, scholarship, and service. The True Gentleman provides the guidelines by which we measure ourselves.  The Alumni Association seeks to honor alumni brothers that hold true to the True Gentleman standard in their personal and professional lives.  This program will outline the personal and professional success each featured brother has had and how these efforts have impacted the community and the Fraternity.  

In honoring each other we honor the Fraternity.