Dr. Richard Ranta

Maj. Timothy J. Marshall

Aaron May

Betty Sumler

Dr. Mark Muesse

Frederick W. Smith, founder of FedEx, has received an honorary doctorate from the University of Memphis. Smith is chairman, president and chief executive officer of FedEx Corp. He oversees the company’s branches, including FedEx Services, FedEx Express, FedEx Freight and FedEx Office. Smith has served on the boards of several companies, including St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital and the Mayo Foundation. He is a member of the Business Roundtable and co-chairman of the Energy Security Leadership Council.

The Tennessee Mortgage Bankers’ Association has announced its new officers and directors for the 2008-2009 term. Officers are President Scott Ractliffe, President-Elect Sharon Bosworth, Vice President Chad Harris, Secretary-Treasurer Ray Rosas and Immediate-Past President Pat Vaughn. Directors are Terry Baskin, Lorie Jaynes, Jim McCann, Regina Palmertree, Dean Puryear, Rodney Robinson and Jim Tew.

Harold Crye, chief executive officer and co-owner of Crye-Leike Realtors, has been named chairman of the board of Lending Real Estate Companies of the World (LendingRE), a global real estate network comprised of 700 local and regional real estate firms in the U.S. and 37 countries. LendingRE produces more than $400 billion annually in home sales.

Aaron May has joined MBI (formerly Memphis Business Interiors) as sales account manager. May has seven years in the residential lending business as owner of St. Louis-based May Financial Group Inc.

The Fire Museum of Memphis has named its new leadership for 2008. Dottie Berry of FedEx is chairman of the board, John Ellis of Belz Enterprises is vice chairman, Scott Forman of Renasant Bank is treasurer and Bobby Wharton, owner of G&W Diesel Services, is secretary.

Dr. Benjamin L. Hooks has received an honorary Doctor of Humanities degree from Rhodes College. Hooks served as executive director and chief executive officer of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) from 1977 to 1992, and was the first black criminal court judge in Tennessee’s history.

Crye-Leike broker Betty Sumler has graduated from the Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) program for Germantown. Sumler is an associate based out of the company’s corporate headquarters. She has been a licensed broker in Tennessee and Arkansas since 1979 and specializes in real estate transactions.

masterIT has hired three new associates. Stephen Baker and David Beasley have been hired as network engineers, and Erin Tanner is serving as an administrative assistant. Baker has been in the information technology industry for four years, and Beasley has worked in the IT departments of Shoemaker Financial, Campbell Clinic and TX Direct. Tanner previously worked as office manager and human resources manager with TX Direct.

Dr. Mark Muesse and Dr. Mary Miller each have received faculty honors from Rhodes College. Muesse, associate professor and chair of the Department of Religious Studies, received the Clarence Day Award for Outstanding Teaching, which includes a $10,000 honorarium. Miller, associate professor in the Department of Biology, received the Clarence Day Dean’s Award for Outstanding Research or Creative Activity, which includes a $6,000 honorarium.

Maj. Timothy J. Marshall has been assigned as deputy district commander for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Memphis District. Marshall has been in the Army for 16 years. He has served two combat tours in Iraq and been assigned duty in Korea. In this position, Marshall will assist the district commander.