Haslam Appoints Stites To Tennessee Board of Regents

Appointee will serve as representative of Sixth Congressional District. 
                                                                                                                                
NASHVILLE – Tennessee Gov. Bill Haslam has appointed John D. Stites II of Cookeville to the Tennessee Board of Regents as the representative of the Sixth Congressional District.

“I want to thank John for his commitment and willingness to serve,” Haslam said. “This is a significant time in higher education as we continue our work on the Drive to 55 to increase the number of Tennesseans with a certificate or degree beyond high school.”

Stites, 67, is chief executive officer for J&S Construction Co. He has held many leadership positions in local, state and national organizations. He was a founding member and president of the Home Builders Association of the Upper Cumberland, the Putnam County Family YMCA, and the Cookeville Breakfast Rotary Club; a Paul Harris Fellow in Rotary International; and he served on President’s Advisory Councils at Stran Buildings, Varco Pruden Buildings and American Buildings Company. He was chairman of the President’s Advisory Council at Stran.

“I am humbled to have been selected by Gov. Haslam to serve on the Board of Regents for Tennessee,” Stites said. “Across the United States higher education is being asked to reinvent itself, become more efficient and more relevant to the work place. I hope to work hard to help the governor and other Tennesseans be the leader in this country toward those ends.”

Stites earned a bachelor’s degree from Abilene Christian University in 1968 and served on that university’s board of trustees from 1998-2013.  He was in the U.S. Navy, where he was a lieutenant, serving from 1968-1971 during the Vietnam War.  He joined J&S in June 1971.  Stites was presented the Associated General Contractors’ most prestigious award, the SIR Award for lifetime achievement, at the 2013 Build Tennessee Awards program. The SIR Award is for someone who has made a substantial contribution serving the construction industry, the abbreviation representing skill, integrity and responsibility. 

Stites’ term begins February 19 and will run until June 30, 2018.  He replaces Steve Copeland. Stites and his wife, Rosemary, have four children and 14 grandchildren.