[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 153 (2007), Part 1]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages 1553-1554]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




CELEBRATING BETTY NIXON'S PIONEERING CAREER OF SERVICE TO HER COMMUNITY

                                 ______
                                 

                            HON. JIM COOPER

                              of tennessee

                    in the house of representatives

                      Wednesday, January 17, 2007

  Mr. COOPER. Madam Speaker, today I rise on behalf of the Tennessee 
delegation, in particular Mr. Cohen, Mr. Davis, Mr. Gordon, and Mr. 
Tanner, to pay tribute to a lifelong activist and community servant, 
Betty C. Nixon, upon the occasion of her retirement from Vanderbilt 
University. Betty's last 17 years have

[[Page 1554]]

been spent building bridges between Vanderbilt and the Nashville 
community, firmly connecting this institution to the city she loves, 
and yet this work represents only a small sliver of her service to her 
fellow citizens.
  Betty's ties to Nashville run deep. She grew up there, graduating 
from Hillsboro High School in 1954 and heading to Texas, where she 
would graduate from Southern Methodist University in 1958. Most people 
would rest or retire after teaching high school in Alabama for the 
decade of the 1960s, but not Betty. By 1975, she had been elected to 
her first of three terms in the Metropolitan Council of Nashville and 
Davidson County and was serving as deputy press secretary for Tennessee 
Governor Ray Blanton. It was only the beginning of her public service.
  In 1982, the same year she graduated from the Vanderbilt Owen 
Graduate School of Management, Betty became the first woman to chair 
the Metro Council Budget Committee. Two years later, she managed the 
statewide political campaign for Walter Mondale and Geraldine Ferraro, 
and four years after that, she managed James R. Sasser's successful bid 
for the U.S. Senate. Along the way, Betty ran for mayor in 1987 and 
1991, and once again she blazed a trail: Betty was the first woman to 
run for mayor in Nashville's history.
  Like many civic-minded individuals, Betty moved to Washington, but 
after a year of professional service to the U.S. Senate Subcommittee on 
Intergovernmental Relations, she returned to the community that she 
loved. From 1990 until 2007, Vanderbilt has benefited from her steady 
service, and the University knows it. In many ways, Betty defined both 
her role at the school and the school's role in the community; she 
retires as Assistant Vice Chancellor for Community, Neighborhood and 
Government Relations and leaves as her legacy an institution that fully 
and conscientiously participates in its community. And Vanderbilt has 
immortalized her by dedicating the Betty C. Nixon Center for Community 
Connections in her honor.
  Betty's ceaseless service to Nashville government and nonprofit 
organizations belies the limited number of hours in a day. Oasis 
Center, Nashville Electric Service, Tennessee State University Business 
Incubation Center, Bill Wilkerson Hearing and Speech Center, Davidson 
County Election Commission, Nashville Women's Breakfast Club, United 
Way, Project PENCIL, West End United Methodist Church, Citizen's Bank, 
Youth Encouragement Services, Tennessee Women's Political Caucus, YMCA 
Black Achievers, Rochelle Center, League for the Hard of Hearing, 
Alcohol and Drug Council of Middle Tennessee, WIN--these groups and 
many others have all benefited from Betty's skill, charm, and grace. 
She has been honored as a YWCA Woman of Achievement and has received 
the prestigious Athena Award.
  Madam Speaker, Nashville is a stronger, more vibrant community 
because of Betty Nixon's commitment to improving the lives of those 
around her. Today I rise to pay tribute to her legacy, express our 
Nation's gratitude for her service, and wish her many more years of 
contented engagement with a city that has been forever changed by her 
efforts.

                          ____________________