A native of Nashville, Tennessee, Dr. Paul Cavert Stumb, IV, was named President of Cumberland University in August 2015. He has served Cumberland University since 2003,
initially as an Adjunct Professor, then as a Professor and Dean of the Labry School of Science, Technology and Business for nearly 10 years.

Dr. Stumb holds a BS from Auburn University, an MS from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, a Master’s in Education from Cumberland University and earned his PhD in Engineering at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. He is a graduate of the Navy War College Strategy and Policy Program and retired from the US Navy Reserves with the rank of Commander. He previously served as an Adjunct Professor for the National Security Agency,
Georgia State University, Shorter College, and Middle Tennessee State University.

Prior to joining Cumberland University, Dr. Stumb enjoyed a successful career in the business sector, serving in a number of increasingly responsible positions within several corporations including American Corrugated, Georgia-Pacific Corporation, One Coast Network, Curtis 1000 Inc., Lockheed Martin, and Union Carbide Corp.

Dr. Stumb is a member of a number of professional and honor societies, and deeply involved in civic and professional activities. He is widely engaged in the Middle Tennessee community, and provides consulting services for local and regional manufacturers, municipalities, and other
corporate entities.

Dr. Stumb is married to Dr. Cristy Stumb, a CU alum and former faculty member, who now owns and operates Stumb Healthcare Professionals, a primary care clinic in Lebanon, TN. Together they have four grown children and eight grandchildren.

Dr. C. William (Bill) McKee is currently Cumberland University’s Vice President for Academic Affairs and Professor of Education and Public Service Management. He has served the institution in a number of other administrative posts including Executive Vice President and Dean. Additionally, he was previously an administrator at Georgia Southwestern State University.

A Nashville native, Dr. McKee graduated from the University School of Nashville (USN) and then earned the B.S. in Public Administration from the University of Tennessee (Knoxville), the M.Ed. in Counseling and Student Personnel from Auburn University, and the Ed.D. in Adult and Higher Education from the University of Tennessee (Knoxville). Additionally, he is a graduate of the Carnegie-Mellon University Academic Leadership Institute, the American Council of Education/National Association of Student Personnel Administrators Stevens Institute on Leadership and Administration, as well as the University of Georgia Leadership Institute.

Believing that part of the responsibility of a great University is to impact the community, Dr. McKee practices as well as teaches public service management. He devotes many hours of volunteer service to provide leadership in a variety of governmental and not-for-profit agencies and organizations in middle Tennessee. His involvement in the campus community includes advising Alpha Lambda Delta (the freshman honor society) and Omicron Delta Kappa (the national leadership honor society).

Current teaching responsibilities for Dr. McKee include graduate courses in public service such as community issues, professional communications, and public policy, and an undergraduate class in the foundation and history of education.

Dr. McKee’s research interests and projects include researching with co-researcher Carolyn Bridges Gregory the political and biographical sketches of the 36 individuals who have served as Tennessee Secretaries of State, developing biographical studies on United States Supreme Court Justice Horace Harman Lurton (a Cumberland University graduate), and Rear Admiral Fran McKee (the first woman appointed as an unrestricted Admiral in the history of the United States Navy); working with co-researchers W. Mark Tew, Th.D., William F. Ritchie, Ph.D., and Susan M. (Mitzy) Johnson-Mills, M.S. on studying faculty development opportunities in higher education; and collaborating with Joshua M. Hayden, Ed.D. on both faculty leadership on college and university campuses.

Dr. McKee regularly serves as a consultant to institutions of higher education, is a workshop leader, and presenter at both local and regional conferences.

Mark Hanshaw is Associate Provost and General Counsel for Cumberland University. Hanshaw has a broad background in serving and supporting higher education institutions. Hanshaw possesses a background in both law and higher education administration. Previously, Dr. Hanshaw served on the Higher Education Team at the national law firm of Steptoe & Johnson.  He additionally led the network of Methodist higher education institutions located across the U.S.

Hanshaw served as the Dean of the School of Arts & Letters at Texas Wesleyan University, in Fort Worth, and has been a part of the teaching faculties of several institutions. As a part of his work within the higher education arena, Hanshaw has led in the establishment of both domestic and global collaborative academic programs and has guided efforts aimed at both program expansion and retention. While at Texas Wesleyan, he led both campus internationalization efforts and online program expansion.

Hanshaw holds a Ph.D. from Southern Methodist University, with emphasis in Comparative Ethics.  He also holds a J.D. from the University of Tennessee College of Law and Master’s degrees from the University of Manchester, in the U.K., and Texas Christian University.  He is the author of the text From East to West: A Comparative Study of the World’s Great Religions, as well as a variety of other texts and academic articles.

He was the recipient of the Texas Wesleyan Board of Trustees Award for Scholarship, in addition to other teaching and research awards.  He is a former Rotary International Fellow, having studied at the University of Manchester, and Fulbright-Hays Scholar, having conducted research in India. He has led numerous student travel-study programs, predominantly in South Asia, and was selected to lead an international peace delegation in India, funded by the Rotary International Foundation.

Hanshaw has traveled widely, having visited or lived in more than 80 countries around the globe.   He has led study abroad programs in India, Nepal, Guatemala, Cambodia, Thailand, Turkey and Greece.  In addition to his scholarly interests, he is a runner, an amateur photographer and, most importantly, a dad to both human and K-9 “kids.” He is married and lives in Mt. Juliet, Tennessee.

Ron Pavan enters his 12th year as Director of Athletics at Cumberland University in 2019-20 after serving in the same capacity for 14 years at Ohio Valley University in Parkersburg, W.Va. Pavan begins his 34th year in college athletics with experience in coaching basketball, soccer and softball, as well as serving as intramural director. He also begins his fifth year as the Vice President for Enrollment Services with the University.

During his tenure, Pavan has earned numerous awards and honors. In 2008, Ohio Valley University created the Ron Pavan Athletic Award that is given to a meritorious student-athlete every year in Pavan’s honor. He was inducted into the Ohio Valley University Hall of Fame and and named the Wilson County Sports Person of the Year in 2016. Pavan has also won the 2018 Mid-South Conference Athletic Director of the Year Award.

In 11 years at Cumberland, Pavan has successfully added eight sports to the program. two Assistant Athletic Director positions, a Strength and Conditioning Coach, an Assistant Wrestling Coach and a Sports Information Director. He has overseen the building of a new weight room, a resurfacing of the tennis courts and added a new athletic training room. During the Summer of 2011, Cumberland added new bleachers and a press box at Lindsey Donnell Stadium-Kirk Field.

Pavan took on his biggest project to date during the Spring and Summer of 2012, coordinating the takeover and renovation of Nokes-Lasater Field, the old Lebanon High School football facility. The locker room facilities and coaches offices were both completely renovated with new paint, carpet, central heat and air, new lockers and meeting room space added. An old track locker room was turned into an athletic training department, new fencing was added to the south and east sides of the stadium, and the playing areas surrounding the field were resurfaced. The facility includes two 70-yard practice fields, restrooms on both the home and visitors sides of the stadium, a concession stand and dressing areas for visiting players and coaches.

During the spring of 2018 Pavan oversaw Cumberland’s first fundraiser for athletics, spearheading an effort to raise $500,000 for softball, baseball and the gymnasium, adding stadium seating and a new press box at softball, chairback seating in the gym and new chairback seats and scoreboard at baseball.

The Pittsburgh, Pa., native has implemented a student-athlete attendance policy and community service program and instituted the use of the NAIA’s Champions of Character (Integrity, Respect, Responsibility, Servant Leadership and Sportsmanship) brand throughout the department. Cumberland was named a Five-Star Institution on the Champions of Character Scorecard in six of the last seven academic years.

Pavan has raised the awareness of Cumberland University through the Community Service Program and made one of his main objectives the effort to reconnect with local businesses and corporate sponsorships.

He signed an exclusive apparel and equipment contract with adidas in his first three months on the job at Cumberland, a move which benefits the entire athletic department as well as the University community, and has reconnected with the Coca-Cola Company on new programs. Having partnerships with local sporting goods company SportsWorld and building the new weight room with the mayor of Lebanon, Phillip Craighead, have also improved the image of Cumberland Athletics.

The additions of full-time staff members have all added greatly to the improvement of the department, raising the image and quality of publicity locally and nationally and improving student-athlete attendance and graduation rates. Pavan completed the Vanderbilt University Peabody College of Education and Human Development Summer Fellow program and the Peabody Professional Institute for Higher Education Management course during Summer 2010.

Cumberland has enjoyed unprecedented success both on-and-off the field during Pavan’s tenure, winning 24 conference regular season and tournament championships, two team national titles and four individual national championships during his 11 years. CU has also earned 952 Conference Scholar-Athlete honors, 261 NAIA Scholar-Athlete accolades and 86 All-American awards.

Before arriving at Cumberland, Pavan spent the previous 14 years at Ohio Valley University. While at OVU, he successfully added seven varsity programs to the athletic department, oversaw creation of a booster club and moved OVU Athletics from NAIA to NCAA Division II. He also oversaw development of an indoor baseball/softball complex, new fitness center, and improvements to the gym, soccer and softball fields.

Pavan raised OVU’s profile in the local community not only by elevating the quality of sports within the program but also by bringing in major sports personalities to conduct fundraisers and corporate sponsorships, including Mike Krzyzewski and Jay Bilas among others.

He spent nine years at Northeastern Christian Junior College in Villanova, Pa., serving in a variety of capacities, including head coach for men’s soccer, women’s basketball and softball as well as working in the admissions office and as the intramural director. He was also an instructor in the Art and Physical Education Department at NCJC.

Pavan earned his bachelor’s in Art and Physical Education from Lubbock Christian University in Lubbock, Texas, and received a master’s in Athletic Administration from West Virginia University in Morgantown, W.Va.

He is married to the former Tammi McGhee of Lynchburg, Va., and the couple has three children – Madison, Jenna and Mason.

Reggie Blair began his professional career working for Dell Technologies as an Inside Accounts & Sales Team Manager. In that role, he managed and developed several accounts for higher education, state and local government, and K-12 organizations. Additionally, he oversaw training efforts for newly hired sales representatives, while also coaching tenured representatives for specialty roles in corporate account development. While he enjoyed the opportunity there for many years, he felt a calling to pursue a role in higher education.

In 2008, Blair decided to make a vocational change by returning to his alma mater and starting a career in the admissions office. Blair worked in the admissions office at Lipscomb University for 13 years, ultimately culminating his career as Sr. Director of Admissions. During his time in the office of admissions, he served in a variety of capacities, including training and oversight of recruitment activities for admissions counselors, managing and directing graduate recruitment efforts for the School of Computing, operating as principal representative for local community college partnerships while increasing the recruitment and retention of prospective transfer students, admissions athletic liaison, and serving as the primary institutional contact for K-12 schools within the National Christian School Association (NCSA).

Blair joined Cumberland University as Vice President for Enrollment Services in the fall of 2021. Under his leadership, Cumberland achieved the highest overall enrollment to date of 3,072 students in the fall of 2023. He is also actively involved in several community organizations, including 100 Black Men of Middle Tennessee, Tennessee Latin American Chamber of Commerce (former board member), Information Systems Security Association (ISSA), and Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc.

Blair holds a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration and a Master of Science in Information Security from Lipscomb University, and he is currently pursuing a Doctorate in Higher Education Leadership at Abilene Christian University in Abilene, Texas.

For over 40 years, Jim Shulman has been an invested member of the Middle Tennessee community.

A graduate of Vanderbilt Law School, Shulman had a long career in Tennessee’s state government, including being the lead legal counsel for the state Department of Finance and Administration, chief of staff for then-Speaker of the House Jimmy Naifeh, deputy commissioner for the Tennessee Department of Health, and executive director of the Tennessee Commission on Aging and Disability.

In 1999, he was elected to the Metropolitan Nashville and Davidson County Council (25th District), where he served two four-year terms and chaired the Budget, Transportation and Public Works Committees, prioritizing city funding accountability and emergency preparedness.

In 2015, he was elected to the Metro Council as an At-large member and served in that position until he was elected as Nashville’s 9^th Vice Mayor after a 2018 special election. He was then re-elected in 2019 for the new term which concludes in 2023.

He begins a new path in the Fall of 2023 by joining the faculty at Cumberland University where he will be teaching political science.

Shulman and his wife Lori have two daughters, Madeline and Audrey. He is a Cincinnati Reds baseball fan and has run ten half-marathons.

Dr. Jenny Mason is an Associate Professor and Cumberland University’s Director for the Psychology Program as of fall 2014. Current teaching responsibilities for Dr. Mason include undergraduate courses in developmental psychology, abnormal psychology, statistics for the behavioral sciences, and research methods in psychology, as well as graduate statistics courses in other programs at the university. Prior to arriving at Cumberland, she taught as an Adjunct Professor at Lipscomb and Belmont Universities, was a Research and Corporate Consultant across the state, and a Clinical Therapist working in both individual and group settings with a concentration on aggression and sexual violence.

A Nashville native, Dr. Mason graduated from St. Cecilia Academy and went on to attend college at Transylvania University in Lexington, Kentucky. In search for more research opportunities, she transferred to the University of Tennessee in Knoxville her junior year, where she graduated with a Bachelor’s of Science degree in Psychology. Following graduation from Auburn University with her Master’s degree in Community/Agency Psychology, Dr. Mason worked for two years as a Child Therapist before returning to school to obtain her doctoral degree in Experimental Psychology from the University of Southern Mississippi, taking nearly the full course load required for doctoral degrees in both Counseling Psychology and Experimental Psychology.

Research experiences for Dr. Mason included assisting parents of diabetic children to better understand medication and nutrition regimes in managing Type I Diabetes, developmental-based parenting training for parents of children ages 2 to 6, determining levels of change agency and diversity valuing in college students, and assessing the characteristics of those who most effectively challenge workplace bullying in order to provide useful training opportunities for new hires in a business or academic setting.

Dr. Jason Grindstaff began at Cumberland University in fall of 2010 and teaches courses in the School of Nursing and Health Professions.  He primarily teaches courses in the undergraduate and graduate Exercise and Sport Science programs.  Prior to arriving at Cumberland, Dr. Grindstaff was a Post-Doctoral Associate for two years with the University of Florida where he provided mental health and sport psychology services for the Gator’s athletic department.  In addition to clinical experiences in university mental health, substance abuse counseling, gambling addiction, and biofeedback, Dr. Grindstaff has taught graduate and undergraduate courses at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, and the University of Florida in sport psychology, physical education and deaf education.

Dr. Grindstaff holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in both psychology and sports medicine.  His graduate education is cross-disciplinary and includes degrees in mental health counseling and sport psychology with primary training and emphasis in peak performance in sport and exercise. He holds multiple national certifications and licenses in sport psychology, strength & conditioning, and counseling. His areas of research and community outreach address the role of resistance training in enhancing strength and quality of life in senior populations, anaerobic assessment in hockey players, exercise adherence and dependence, and peak performance training in various sports.

Courtney spent the past 20 years working at various stages of government, nonprofit, and electoral campaigns.  Courtney began her career managing two successful state house races in East Tennessee in 2002. In 2003, she was named the Tennessee field director for a national presidential campaign traveling all over the country during the primary campaign. She then moved to Florida to build and run the political and field program for the Jim Davis for Governor campaign. In 2007, she moved back to TN to help Karl Dean run a successful race for mayor of Nashville.  After law school, she joined President Barack Obama’s 2012 successful reelection campaign as the National Voter Protection Director. She moved back to TN to join Mayor Dean’s administration as the Director of the Office of Neighborhoods. In 2015, Courtney worked for the non-profit education organization, Project Renaissance, as the Director of Community Engagement before she became the Campaign Manager for Karl Dean’s race for Governor.  In her roles Courtney has been managed and/or worked hands on in every facet of a campaign including fundraising, communications, digital, organizing, engaging, research, and platform development.

Courtney is an avid runner, yogi, and dog mom to Rigby. She enjoys reading as much as time permits.  She has hiked all over the world including the rain forests in Fiji, waterfalls in Hawaii, and near her home in the great Smoky Mountains.