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MILLIGAN COLLEGE, TN (October 2, 2003) — John O’Dell, a 1970 graduate of Milligan College, has been named Tennessee’s Superintendent of the Year. O’Dell has dedicated more than three decades of his life to education in the public school arena.
As director of Sullivan County Schools, he has strived to provide effective training, exemplary service and Christian modeling to the 13,000 school families of Sullivan County Schools. O’Dell participated in the first efforts of public school professional organizations as a member of the steering committee of The Coalition for Tennessee’s Future, and he achieved improved accountability statistics in the Sullivan County School District relative to the Tennessee Performance Model.
O’Dell’s selection as the State Superintendent of the Year was made by a panel of judges chosen by the executive director of the Tennessee Organization of School Superintendents. As the Tennessee Superintendent of the Year, O’Dell currently represents the state in the National Superintendent of the Year program sponsored by the American Association of School Administrators to recognize distinguished leadership in the nation’s schools.
O’Dell has continuously distinguished himself as a leader in education in the region. He was named a Leader in Christian Service by Milligan College in 2003 and was awarded the First Tennessee District Superintendent’s Study Council Award in 2000. He has served on numerous community organizations and boards and is active at Colonial Heights Christian Church in Kingsport.
His wife, Myra, is also a graduate of Milligan College, as is his father-in-law, Dr. W. T. Mathes. The O’Dells have a son, John, and a daughter, Myra, who is currently enrolled as at a student at Milligan.