Lewis Lavine, beloved Nashville community and nonprofit leader, will be honored posthumously with the Nelson C. Andrews Distinguished Service Award at the Nashville Public Education Foundation’s 14th annual Public Schools Hall of Fame luncheon on Tuesday, Oct. 2, at 11 a.m. Harry Allen, Rashed Fakhruddin and Anne Lowry Russell, all esteemed graduates of Metro Nashville Public Schools, will be inducted into the Public Schools Hall of Fame as Distinguished Alumni Award recipients.

The annual Hall of Fame luncheon, which will be held at the Omni Nashville Hotel, raises funds to strengthen the city’s public schools and inspires continued progress through the community leaders it honors. This year’s event is chaired by Janet Miller and Brenda Wynn and is presented by First Tennessee Bank.

Lavine, who passed away in May, is being awarded the NPEF’s top honor in recognition of his invaluable contributions to the success and vitality of Nashville. “The Nelson C. Andrews Award was created 13 years ago to recognize and honor extraordinary service to the community. In truth, few people hold a candle to Lewis when it comes to deep, abiding civic leadership, commitment and service,” said Janet Miller, event co-chairwoman and CEO of the Nashville office of Colliers International. “Lewis quietly led the charge behind some of the most important issues facing Nashville over the last several decades, many of which directly impacted students and schools.”

As head of the Center for Nonprofit Management, Lavine spent 12 years championing the city’s nonprofit sector, which is critical to the overall success of the city’s public schools. He lent his talents and leadership to the NPEF as a board member and as a champion of the Project RESET initiative. Through his service on the board of the CMA Foundation, he strengthened the focus on music education and advocated for greater music industry investment in our schools. And each year, the city’s top public school teachers receive the prestigious Blue Ribbon Teacher Award thanks to Lavine’s vision and leadership.

Hall of Fame honorees were selected from nearly 100 community nominations. In addition to the Nelson C. Andrews Distinguished Service Award, three MNPS graduates will receive the Distinguished Alumni Award.

• Harry Allen is the co-founder, executive vice president and chief relationship officer at Studio Bank, Nashville’s newest boutique bank. He previously served in leadership roles at Pinnacle Financial Partners and SunTrust. He has a passion for supporting public education, serving as chief financial officer for Big Brothers and Big Sisters of Middle Tennessee, co-chairman of the Nashville Area Chamber of Commerce’s Education Report Card, and member of the Nashville Literacy Collaborative, and was one of the founding board members of Purpose Preparatory Academy. Allen is the son of a retired MNPS teacher and is a proud MNPS parent. He is a graduate of Hume-Fogg High School.
• Rashed Fakhruddin is an engineering supervisor at Nashville Electric Service, where he has worked for over 20 years. He currently serves as the director of Community Partnerships for the Islamic Center of Nashville. He is on several community boards, including the YWCA and You Have the Power, and is also the chairman of MNPS’ Engineering, Manufacturing and Industrial Technology Partnership Council, a past member of the Nashville Area Chamber of Commerce’s Education Report Card, and member of the NPEF’s inaugural Citywide Parent Cabinet. In addition, he is active in our public schools teaching professional skills to incoming freshmen across the district and is slated to receive Vanderbilt University’s Alumni Public Service Award this fall. He is a graduate of Hillsboro High School.
• Anne Lowry Russell is an attorney with Adams and Reese LLP. An active member of the community, she has dedicated her time and talent to serve numerous organizations, including the United Way, Nashville Symphony, Cheekwood, Tennessee Performing Arts Center, Tennessee Judicial Council, Andrew Jackson Foundation and others. She is a trustee of Belmont University and a founding director of Cumberland Trust Co. Russell has been named Distinguished Alumni of the Nashville School of Law and a Woman of Influence by the Nashville Business Journal. She has also been recognized with the United Way’s Alexis de Tocqueville Award, the “Attorney for Justice Award” presented by the Tennessee Supreme Court Access to Justice Commission, the Nashville School of Law’s Teacher of the Year award and the Greater Nashville 100’s Community Leadership Award. She is a graduate of Glencliff High School.

The NPEF has also named a group of nearly 200 community leaders and education champions to the event host committee. The complete host committee is attached.

“This is a community that understands the value of strong public schools as evidenced by the makeup of this year’s host committee. Some of Nashville’s most impactful leaders in business, government, education and community service have come together to rally community support for the schools and honor those who demonstrate the value great schools can have on a city,” said Brenda Wynn, co-chairwoman of this year’s event and Davidson County clerk. “This year’s honorees tell a tremendous story of service, leadership and success, and the role public education has in continuing that.”

The NPEF will also be presenting the Inspiring Innovation Award and the inaugural Inspiring Educator Award at the event. Those winners will be unveiled at the Oct. 2 luncheon.

Miller and Wynn are joined by Ron Corbin and Robert McNeilly, III, who are serving as table host chairmen for the event.

To purchase tickets, visit nashvillepef.org/hall-of-fame or call 615-727-1515. All proceeds support the NPEF’s work to support and strengthen our public schools.

About the Nashville Public Education Foundation

The Nashville Public Education Foundation is a nonprofit organization committed to pulling together the vast intellectual, creative and financial resources of the Nashville community to create a shared vision of the city’s education system and provide the needed targeted resources to make it a reality. More information is available at www.nashvillepef.org.

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