Vital Receives TBR Chancellor’s Award for Excellence in Philanthropy

Holly Vincent
Wednesday, August 15, 2018 12:00 AM
Community, Academics, All, Events

CLEVELAND, Tenn. - Tennessee Board of Regents and Cleveland State Community College hosted a ceremony on Thursday honoring Greg A. Vital with the TBR Chancellor’s Award for Excellence in Philanthropy for his generous donations and his outstanding efforts to support Cleveland State programs.

In January 2017, Cleveland State Community College announced the creation of Greg A. Vital Center for Natural Resources and Conservation, the college’s first named academic program. The Center supports the Forestry, Wildlife and Fisheries Program and the Agriculture Program at Cleveland State and brings together students, educators and working professionals in natural resources, agriculture, industry and parks to identify and apply effective solutions to the challenges that arise at the intersection of the natural environment and human development.

Dr. Bill Seymour, CSCC President, provided the welcome at the ceremony and introduced Dr. Kim McCormick, TBR Vice Chancellor for External Affairs.

McCormick stated, “On behalf of the Tennessee Board of Regents and its member institutions, it is my pleasure to present the TBR Chancellor’s Award for Excellence in Philanthropy to Mr. Greg Vital for his continued and loyal support to the Tennessee Board of Regents, Cleveland State Community College and higher education in Tennessee.”

 

According to Vital, it was an afternoon meeting with students at the college that encouraged him to invest in the program at CSCC. “It is a great honor to receive this award,” stated Vital.  “I’m so excited about what’s happening at Cleveland State under Dr. Seymour’s leadership.”

Vital continued, “This is a dynamic opportunity as we go into the next 50 years of leadership in Bradley county and southeast Tennessee. Creating the next generation of our land and water is very important. It’s the students who truly make the difference…this is the only type of program like this in the state system. We have an opportunity to be a shining light for conservation and stewardship, not only for the region that we live in, but for the students that come out of this program as they go to different institutions.”

Other speakers for the ceremony included Robert Brewer, Coordinator for the Greg A. Vital Center for Natural Resources and Conservation and Taelor Hill, Forestry, Wildlife and Fisheries student. Brewer thanked Vital for his contribution to the college which has allowed the college to double the size of the Forestry, Wildlife, Fisheries department, and Hill spoke about her positive experience at CSCC and the impact of Vital’s contribution on the students.

“The important part of today’s ceremony was to make sure we focused on this significant gift in support of Cleveland State, to honor Greg, and to recognize the establishment of the Center for Natural Resources and Conservation,” stated Seymour.  “We hope this inspires other people to support CSCC. Greg, you’ve made a huge difference here so we want to thank you very much.”

 

About Greg A. Vital:

Greg A.Vital is president and chief executive officer of Independent Healthcare Properties, LLC, a Chattanooga, Tennessee-based company that he co-founded in 1996.  The company owns Morning Pointe assisted living facilities and The Lantern Alzheimer’s memory care centers in five southern states, as well as commercial real estate properties. To continue the company’s mission of caring for seniors, the Morning Pointe Foundation was formed in 2014 to establish nursing scholarships and community partnerships to help educate students and support caregivers. The Foundation currently assists 20 allied health and nursing students in community colleges across Tennessee and Kentucky.

 A resident of Hamilton County, Tennessee, for over 40 years, Vital has been active in both business and civic activities. He has served on the board of directors of the Chattanooga Area Chamber of Commerce; First Tennessee Bank; the Tennessee Aquarium; the Friends of Moccasin Bend National Park; Tennessee Preservation Trust; The Land Trust for Tennessee and as chairman of the National Parks Conservation Association. Vital developed and has underwritten the annual Friends of Moccasin Bend Lecture Series on national park and conservation issues for twelve years. Vital was honored by Chickamauga and Chattanooga National Military Park in 2008 with the Drew Haskins Award, in recognition of his outstanding service to national parks and support of the park’s volunteer program.

In April 2013, he was inducted into The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga’s College of Business Entrepreneurship Hall of Fame and in December 2013 received the Daughters of American Revolution Historic Preservation Medal. Prior public service includes six years as a member of the board of trustees of the Chattanooga/Hamilton County Hospital Authority and a four-year term as an elected city commissioner for the City of Collegedale, Tennessee.  

Vital has always been a strong proponent of conservation, preservation and environmental education and has granted a conservation easement on his 90-acre farm in Georgetown, Tennessee, where he raises bison.  He enjoys the outdoors, especially hiking, water sports and visiting U.S. national parks, and has visited over 340 NPS units. He holds a B.S. degree in business administration from Southern Adventist University.

Photo Cutline: Robert Brewer, Coordinator of The Greg A. Vital Center for Natural Resources and Conservation; Dr. Bill Seymour, CSCC President; Taelor Hill, Forestry, Wildlife and Fisheries student; Dr. Kim McCormick, TBR Vice Chancellor for External Affairs; and Tom Griscom, TBR Regent.