Doctor of Education (EdD)

EdD Faculty

Steve A. Davidson, EdD, Assistant Professor of Leadership and Organizational Studies

Dr. Davidson is the Director of the EdD Program in Graduate Education at Lincoln Memorial University.  He earned his Doctor of Education in Leadership and Professional Practice from Trevecca Nazarene University, Nashville where he was awarded the Dissertation Project Award.  He earned the MEd in Leadership and Administration from East Tennessee State University, Johnson City.  Before coming to LMU, Dr. Davidson previously served 34 years in public education in both the classroom and administrative levels.  His current professional education memberships include Phi Delta Kappa International which focuses its work on the tenets of service, research, and leadership; American Educational Research Association with the primary goal of advancing educational research and its practical application; and Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development, an educational leadership organization dedicated to advancing best practices and policies.  Dr. Davidson’s research interests are in classroom management and pedagogy, as well as the roles that federal and state educational policies have on administrators, educators, and students.

Cynthia J. Norris, EdD, Professor of Leadership & Organizational Studies

Dr. Norris has been instrumental in the development, direction and leadership of LMU’s first doctoral program in education. Prior to coming to Lincoln Memorial, Dr. Norris was a faculty member at the University of Tennessee and the University of Houston. She has had adjunct faculty positions at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga and the University of Nevada at Las Vegas.  Dr. Norris has the distinction of being the first female to attain rank and tenure in the Department of Educational Leadership and Cultural Studies at the University of Houston. During her time there, she served as Executive Director of the UH- Metro- Houston Principal Assessment Center, Facilitator of the University of Houston Danforth Program for the Preparation of School Principals, and Executive Director of the University of Houston-Houston Area Principals’ Institute. Dr. Norris has researched and published in the areas of leadership, learning communities, and educational administration preparation programs. She is a previous Invited Speaker for the David L.Clark National Graduate Student Research Seminar in Educational Administration and Policy jointly sponsored by the University Council of Educational Administration (UCEA) and the American Educational Research Association (AERA). She has been a frequent presenter at major research conferences including the Mid-South Educational Research Association (MSERA), UCEA and AERA. Dr. Norris is a coauthor of The Principal, a leading educational administration textbook now in its 7th edition. Her jointly authored book, Developing Educational Leaders: The Learning Community in Action is a pioneer book on cohorts in university settings. She is the coauthor of The Moral Imperatives of Leadership, a book based on the National Danforth Foundation Principal Preparation Programs, and she is a contributing author to Principal as Leader. Prior to her university work, Dr. Norris was in public education where she was a teacher, director of special education and gifted programs, and an elementary school principal. As a culmination to her doctoral work at the University of Tennessee, her dissertation was recognized by the American Association of School Administrators as one of the Outstanding Dissertations of the Year. She has pioneered the advancement of women in both public school and university arenas serving as the first female in a variety of leadership positions. She has been recognized in Who’s Who in American Education, Who’s Who in the South and Southwest, Who’s Who of American Women, and in the International Directory of Distinguished Leadership. Dr. Norris coordinates the Executive Leadership concentration in the EdD program. 

John D. Harrison, PhD, Assistant Professor of Leadership and Organizational Studies

Dr. Harrison serves as the NCATE Coordinator for the Carter & Moyers School of Education. He also serves as Coordinator for the Human Resource Development concentration. Prior to this position, Dr. Harrison served as the head of Human Resources for a multi-state organization, served on multiple leadership committees, and developed training programs incorporating the use of adult learning principles. He also serves as a consultant conducting workshops in rumor management, change process management, and business etiquette and communication. His research interests include examining work-life interface issues in organizations and bridging the gap between practices in Human Resource Development from a Business perspective and Adult Education. Dr. Harrison received his PhD. in Educational Psychology and Research - Adult Education, with a cognate in Human Resource Development (HRD) from the University of Tennessee - Knoxville, an M.S. in Organizational Change and Leadership from Pfeiffer University, and a B.S. in Business Administration - Human Resource Management from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. Dr. Harrison is certified by the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) as a Senior Professional in Human Resources (SPHR). 

Benjamin H. Brown, PhD, Professor of Leadership & Organizational Studies

Dr. Brown received his PhD in Educational Administration & Supervision with emphases in Finance, Law, and Mathematics from The University of Florida at Gainesville. Dr. Brown also holds a BA and MA in mathematics.  He has in a number of prestigious positions, including: Executive Director of Tennessee Center for Education Research; Executive Director of Evaluation and Assessment, State of Tennessee; Director of Accountability, State of Tennessee; Director of Career Ladder, State of Tennessee; Assistant Director of the Tennessee School Finance Equity Study; and Fellow at the National Education Finance Project, University of Florida.  Dr. Brown’s work has focused on the development, administration, and implementation of programs designed to provide fiscal equity in the financing of Tennessee’s schools; objective measures of teacher quality for merit pay; value added measures for system, school and teacher accountability; and state assessments for student achievement.  His research interest include: education finance, accountability, assessment, program evaluation, and factors impacting student achievement. Dr. Brown has consulted with numerous states and has made over 100 presentations focusing on the use of value-added assessment, including the National Institute of Science and Technology Monterrey, Mexico, National Convention of Milken Teacher Advancement Program, Scottsdale, Arizona, National Association of Deans of Colleges of Teacher Education, New York, Council of Chief State School Officers (CCSSO), Washington, D.C., Joint Education Oversight Committee, Little Rock, Ark., Education Secretary’s Cabinet, Dover, Delaware, and the Joint Education Oversight Committee, Tennessee.

Reginald High, EdD, Associate Professor of Leadership & Organizational Studies

Dr. High coordinates the Leadership and Administration concentration for the EdD program. Dr. High’s career in education spans over 40 years as a teacher, coach, assistant principal, elementary principal, junior high principal and high school principal in North and South Carolina.  Dr. High earned his doctorate in Educational Leadership in 1984 at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville.  He became the state facilitator in Tennessee for the National Diffusion Network, which was a network of over 500 exemplary education program, certified by the Office of Educational Research and Improvement.  Dr. High later served as Assistant Professor and Department Head with the Tennessee Extension Service, conducting in-service for agents and state staff.  He taught in the masters program in School Administration at the University of Tennessee, Marin from which he retired in 2008.  Dr. High’s research interests include:  Effective schools; change; school safety, teambuilding and leadership theory, especially the Leadership Challenge research of Kouzes and Posner. 

Karen G. Carter, PhD, Assistant Professor Leadership & Organizational Studies

Dr. Carter received a BS degree in Business Education from Radford University and began teaching in the business and information system department with the Monroe County Alabama Career and Technical Center. Her education career pathway continued with serving as the Regional Student Service Officer (RSSO) for Central Texas College in Yokosuka, Japan, assisting active duty service members as well as their dependents; the Program for Afloat Continuing Education (PACE) coordinator for forward deployed ships attached to the U.S. Naval Yokosuka Base; and coordinated ASVAB remediation for active duty service members attached to U.S. Naval Station Rota, Spain where she completed a MS in Management Information System from Bowie State University, Rota, Spain. Dr. Carter worked with the state of West Virginia in workforce development and the economic survivor training for women and teens. She has served as a Southwest Virginia Dual Enrollment Coordinator and Virginia Governor’s School Director for thirteen rural, Appalachian high schools and one community college. Dr. Carter completed a PhD in Occupational and Technical Studies and STEM studies from Old Dominion University in 2009 where her dissertation research was presented at the Virginia Commonwealth Graduate School Research Forum.

Toby W. Rogers, PhD, Assistant Professor of Leadership & Organizational Studies

Rogers earned his BA from Berea College (KY) in English and his MS from the University of Tennessee in English Education.  He developed an interest in foreign cultures since early childhood when his family was often restationed because of his father’s work as a U.S. Army officer and later as an officer in the U.S.  Embassies.  In 1990 he began fieldwork on his doctoral dissertation in Nicaragua, a nation which was then in the process of ending a civil war.  His dissertation examined the perceptions of Nicaraguan teachers about the impact of the war of their professional lives. After getting his PhD in Curriculum and Instruction at the University of Tennessee, he went on to interview more teachers in six other countries.  Dr. Rogers’s interest in Central America has continued, he has managed projects to purchase and bring nine vehicles and supplies to impoverished families and communities in the region.  Rogers taught elementary school for 26 years, mostly in Cumberland County, Tennessee, and was nominated by various schools as Teacher of the Year four times.  He was selected to be an International Teaching Fellow in 1985 and spent one year instructing elementary students in outdoor education on the southern coast of Australia.  Rogers is also the former President of the Cumberland County Teacher’s Association. His research includes ‘all things qualitative’: interviews, historical analysis, case studies, photographic elicitation, and ethnography. 

Gary Peevely, EdD, Associate Professor of Leadership & Organizational Studies

Dr. Peevely has spent the majority of his career in leadership and research positions at the local and state levels. He was a teacher, middle school principal, and Superintendent of Schools in Tennessee; as well as Director of Finance, and Superintendents Evaluation & Training Programs for the Kentucky Department of Education.  His experience in higher education included positions as Director of Research, Center of Excellence for Basic Skills, Co-Director, Director, for the Center of Excellence for Learning Sciences funded by the Tennessee Board of Regents and Co-Director of the Center of Excellence for Education Funding Analysis, funded by the United States Department of Agriculture. One primary interest has been the equality and adequacy of education funding. He was a plaintiff superintendent of one of the small school districts in the cases Tennessee Small School Systems (TSSS) v. McWherter.  Dr. Peevely has served as consultant to state boards of education and as expert witness in several finance equity litigations. Dr. Peevely is a member of the Board of Advisors of the National Education Finance Conference and the Review Board of the Journal of Education Finance. Dr. Peevely earned his Doctorate in Education (EdD) in Education Administration and Supervision from the University of Tennessee. His doctoral dissertation investigated the degree of equality and neutrality of education funding in the State of Tennessee.

Christopher L. Henderson, EdD, Adjunct Faculty, Leadership & Organizational Studies

Dr. Henderson has been a public school educator for 12 years, serving as both an elementary school teacher and administrator. In addition to teaching at LMU, he is currently the principal of an elementary school, where he has a great passion for matching professional practice to proven research. Dr. Henderson currently holds certification in the State of Tennessee as a PK-12 administrator in addition to a teaching license for first through eighth grade. He obtained the degree of doctor of education from the University of Tennessee where he was a Graff Scholar. My dissertation was titled, "Organizational Health and Student Achievement Gains in Elementary Schools." He has presented at the University Council for Educational Administration conference as well as other regional conferences. Additionally he was selected to participate in the David L. Clark Graduate Student Research Seminar. Dr. Henderson is a member of Phi Kappa Phi national honors society as well as the Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development, the International Reading Association, and the Elementary School Principal Association. His publications include articles in the journals National Association of Secondary Schools Principals Bulletin and Educational Considerations. Additionally, he has contributed to three editions of Counseling Children. Dr. Henderson’s research interests range, including school effectiveness, climate, educational technology, educational research, as well as many other topics concerning K-12 education.