After 36 years of service to Tech, President Bob Bell has announced his plan to retire next July. The announcement was made July 8, in a formal letter to faculty and staff.
“I’m sad to go,” said Bell. “I wake up every day and I’m glad I made the decision, but I’m also going to miss it a lot.”
Bell began his career at Tech in 1976 as the chairman of the department of management and marketing, and he was named dean and professor of management in what was then the College of Business Administration in 1991.
“After 10 years of being the dean of the college of business here, I started thinking I’d probably added most of the value I was going to add,” Bell said. “I started thinking about either going back to being a professor or finding some other administrative role.”
Bell originally applied for a presidential role for a university in Alabama. The presidential position opening at Tech and Bell’s nomination came later.
“I remember going home to my wife and saying, ‘Do we really want to run at this?'” Bell said. “She said yes, and that got it started. There was a lot of support in the community partly because of the organizations I’ve been in.”
Bell described the transition to the presidency as one of ease, having known and worked under president Angelo Volpe who presided for 11 years.
“I would just walk across the campus and president Volpe and I would sit in his office and talk about what July 1, 2000 would look like,” Bell said.
Eleven years later Bell sits in the same office reflecting on what he considers the highlights of his presidential career.
“The interaction with the alumni and students are the most fun parts of the job,” Bell said.
“I’ll miss the students, but I may get to spend more time with them now. I love to go out and represent the University, so I’ll miss fundraising, too.”
Away from the lighter side of his career, Bell describes the last few years of state budget cuts as painful but not as something he was unprepared for.
“I came from the business school so it’s not something I’m not trained in or unfamiliar with, but it’s still not fun to have to deal with some of the budget cuts the state has had to go through,” Bell said. “There’s no way to say whether it’s made the state a better place or Tech a better place. Tech is still fundamentally really strong, but it would’ve been a little bit stronger if we’d had more budgets to play with.”
Even through short-leashed budget periods, Bell never lost sight of what he considers the most important aspect of his job.
“Some dedicate their lives to their job and usually there’s a balance missing there,” Bell said. “Sometimes I’ll get out of a budget meeting and I’ll just go walking to meet the students. It changes your mood. It means a lot to me, and it should mean a lot to any president. We need to stay grounded and understand the students are why we’re here.”
In a message to his potential successor, Bell advises to have patience and never anticipate immediate success.
“Don’t expect instant pudding,” Bell said. “Get out, and enjoy life. Enjoy the students and enjoy the fun part of campus. It’s there every day, you just got to go out and find it.”
Bell looks forward to what he hopes will be a more relaxing lifestyle as he and his wife, Gloria, retire here in Cookeville.
“One of my rules is going to be no more 7 a.m. meetings,” Bell said. “I’m going to sleep a little later than I have some mornings.”
Bell says he and his wife have composed a travel list including some locations abroad, national parks, their retirement home in Florida, as well as some Civil War sites across the country. He also looks forward to spending more time with his grandchildren.
Bell intends to stay active with the University and many of his committee and community service roles, including The Boy Scouts of America, the Chamber of Commerce, and the Cookeville Regional Medical Center board.
Away from the lighter side of his career, Bell describes the last few years of state budget cuts as painful but not as something he was unprepared for.
Even through short-leashed budget periods, Bell never lost sight of what he considers the most important aspect of his job.
“Some dedicate their lives to their job and usually there’s a balance missing there,” Bell said. “Sometimes I’ll get out of a budget meeting and I’ll just go walking to meet the students.
It changes your mood. It means a lot to me, and it should mean a lot to any president.
We need to stay grounded and understand the students are why we’re here.”
In a message to his potential successor, Bell advises to have patience and never anticipate immediate success.
“Don’t expect instant pudding,” Bell said. “Get out, and enjoy life. Enjoy the students and enjoy the fun part of campus. It’s there every day, you just got to go out and find it.”
Bell looks forward to what he hopes will be a more relaxing lifestyle as he and his wife, Gloria, retire here in Cookeville.
“One of my rules is going to be no more 7 a.m. meetings,” Bell said. “I’m going to sleep a little later than I have some mornings.”
Bell says he and his wife have composed a travel list including some locations abroad, national parks, their retirement home in Florida, as well as some Civil War sites across the country.
He also looks forward to spending more time with his grandchildren.
Bell intends to stay active with the University and many of his committee and community service roles, including The Boy Scouts of America, the Chamber of Commerce, and the Cookeville Regional Medical Center board.
