Bradley Leaving Memphis For Missouri Athletics Job

Another University of Memphis athletics department member is moving on to join the University of Missouri.

Ryan Bradley, 33, will become senior associate athletics director of strategic communications at Missouri. Bradley previously worked with current Missouri deputy director of athletics Wren Baker at the U of M and oversaw Memphis athletics’ external units, including public relations, branding, marketing, ticketing and digital media.

“Ryan Bradley is a rising star in intercollegiate athletics,” said Missouri director of athletics Mack Rhoades. “I’ve been able to follow his work and have been impressed with some of the aggressive, strategic initiatives he led at Memphis.”

At Missouri, Bradley will coordinate all strategic communications, media relations and publications, as well as digital and social media. Bradley will serve as the department’s chief communications officer and spokesperson, and also oversee the strategic communications department.

– Don Wade

Masson Appointed Crime Commission Leader

Former city of Memphis chief administrative officer Rick Masson is the new interim director of the Memphis-Shelby Crime Commission, the independent organization that tracks city and county crime rates and oversees the Operation: Safe Community strategy for fighting crime.

Masson’s interim appointment was announced Wednesday, Aug. 12, by Ben Adams, chairman of the commission’s board and CEO of Baker Donelson law firm.

Masson’s chief task will be to assist the board during the commission’s leadership transition, including the recruitment and placement of a new CEO and president following the July 1 retirement of executive director Michelle Fowlkes.

A search committee is seeking a permanent leader for the position.

The crime commission appointment is the latest in interim assignments for Masson. He served as the court-appointed special master overseeing the merger of Shelby County Schools and Memphis City Schools for the 2013-14 academic year. He also served as interim president of Memphis Light, Gas and Water division in 2007.

Masson spent 23 years in city government; before his seven-year stint as Memphis’ CAO, he was the city’s finance director. Outside of the government sector, he served as executive director of the Plough Foundation for more than five years and also was the first executive director of the Shelby Farms Park Conservancy.

Masson joined Caissa Public Strategy in 2013 and will continue to serve as a senior director there.

The nonprofit Memphis Shelby Crime Commission leads the work of the Operation: Safe Community plan, which began in 2006 and uses statistical information to direct police to crime hot spots. The commission is governed by a 50-member board of public- and private-sector leaders.

Its new president and director will be in charge of the development and implementation of Operation: Safe Community III, a five-year plan to reduce local crime and make Memphis and Shelby County one of the safest communities of its size.

– Bill Dries

University of Memphis Gets Grant for Student Veterans

The University of Memphis is one of 11 higher-education institutions statewide to receive a grant aimed at recruiting and improving the success of student veterans.

The U of M will get $93,374 from the state of Tennessee’s Veteran Reconnect Grant. The money will fund the creation of a Student Veteran Support Team to serve as a single point of contact for student veterans.

The university also will focus on increasing the use of its Prior Learning Assessment program, including experiential learning credit. The Veteran Reconnect funds also will support dedicated internships for student veterans, increased marketing to veterans and training for faculty and staff on improving services to veterans.

The 11 colleges across Tennessee received a total of $1 million in veteran-program funding. The U of M was the only Memphis-area college to receive the grant.

– Daily News staff

Center City to Consider Front Street Loan Extension

The Center City Development Corp. considers Wednesday, Aug. 19, extending a development loan to the developers of the 266 Memphis lofts apartments and office building on South Front Street.

The CCDC approved in February a loan of up to $325,000 for the project on the southeast corner of Front and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard at 266 S. Front St.

The developers had six months from the Feb. 18 approval date to start construction on the project, which consists of two three-story apartment buildings and a two-story commercial building.

Also on the Wednesday agenda is a challenge grant by the Victorian Village Community Development Corp. to fund four SkyCop cameras for the neighborhoods.

The Victorian Village group has committed to provide $16,000 at $4,000 per camera toward the total cost of $32,000 for all four at $8,000 each, said Scott Blake, executive director of the Victorian Village CDC. Each camera is a cluster of three cameras that would be linked to the Real Time Crime Center.

The rest of the funding is being sought from various stakeholders in the area. Blake wants the Center City Development Corp. to consider a $5,000 donation.

Blake said the goal is to have the cameras installed by Thanksgiving.

– Bill Dries

Memphis Football FanFest Returns Sunday

Tiger Lane will be the site for an afternoon of family entertainment including games, contests and prizes along with interaction with the University of Memphis football team as part of FanFest on Sunday, Aug. 16.

The event will run from noon to 2 p.m. Parking and admission are free.

Football FanFest’s new format will allow opportunities for kids to participate in football activities and other games with Tiger players, take photos, get autographs and make signs to show support for the team ahead of the 2015 season.

FanFest also will include appearances by the Tiger Spirit Squads, Pouncer and Tom III. Tiger Sports Properties partner Mapco will offer free bottled water, and the Liberty Bowl will have food available for purchase. Fans can also pick up their free 2015 schedule poster, purchase official team merchandise and become 2015 season-ticket holders and members of the 901 Club on site.

– Don Wade