Board of Regents member Joey Hatch inducted into Public Schools Hall of Fame

Tennessee Board of Regents member Joey Hatch was among four community leaders inducted into the Nashville Public Education Foundation’s Public Schools Hall of Fame Wednesday. Three of the four, including Regent Hatch, are graduates of Metro Nashville Public Schools and were inducted as Distinguished Alumni Award recipients.

The Nashville Public Education Foundation launched its Hall of Fame in 2005 to honor those who have made an impact on the city’s public school system and community. Since its creation, 59 people have been inducted and Regent Hatch is the second member of the Tennessee Board of Regents in the Hall of Fame. Board Vice Chair Emily J. Reynolds was inducted in 2012. Both she and Hatch are graduates of Hillsboro High School.

Honorees are selected from community nominations. This year, nearly 100 civic and community leaders were nominated.

Hatch is the executive vice president and general manager of Skanska USA’s Midwest Region. At Skanska, one of the nation’s largest construction and development companies, he was instrumental in developing the company’s Diversity Business Program and is a founding member of Skanska’s National Diversity and Inclusion Council. In his 44 years in the construction industry, he has been involved in over 200 projects in 20 states totaling over $6.6 billion.

He was appointed to the Tennessee Board of Regents earlier this year, representing the 7th Congressional District. Hatch also serves on the boards of several other organizations, including the YWCA of Middle Tennessee and Conexión Américas, and on Nashville Mayor Megan Barry’s Gender Equity Council.

After graduating from Hillsboro High School, he attended Nashville State Community College – a campus of the College System of Tennessee, governed by the Board of Regents – and Auburn University, where he earned his Bachelor of Science in building construction.

This year’s other inductees were Davidson County Juvenile Court Judge Sheila Calloway; Dr. Valerie Malyvanh Jansen, a medical oncologist at the Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center, and Janet Miller, chief executive officer and market leader at the Nashville office of Colliers International, a global commercial real estate firm.

The induction luncheon, held at the Omni Nashville Hotel, is one of Nashville’s top annual events celebrating public schools. The induction luncheon raises funds to strengthen and improve the public schools and honors community leaders who have demonstrated a commitment to service and who illustrate the importance of Nashville’s success and vitality.

“Nashville is a better place because of each of these inductees,” said Wanda Lyle, Nashville Public Education Foundation vice chair and general manager of Nashville’s UBS Business Solutions Center. “The three Distinguished Alumni honorees are true Metro Nashville Public Schools success stories. I am delighted to honor their achievements at this year’s awards luncheon.”

Previous inductees have included Perry Wallace Jr., law professor at American University and a pioneering former Vanderbilt University basketball player; William P. Lawrence, former deputy chief of naval operations for the U.S. Navy; former U.S. Senator James Sasser; former Nashville Mayor Richard Fulton; Dr. Keith Churchwell, executive director and chief medical officer at Vanderbilt Heart and Vascular Institute, and the Rev. Dr. Becca Stevens, founder and president of Thistle Farms, which provides safe and supportive housing, economic opportunity and a community of advocates and partners for women survivors of trafficking, prostitution and addiction.

For more information: http://nashvillepef.org/hall-of-fame/