Rita Sanders Geier
Contact:
University of Tennessee
Howard H. Baker, Jr.
Center for Public Policy
1640 Cumberland Ave.
Knoxville, TN 37996-4014
Office: 865.974.2246
Fax: 865.974.8777
Email: rgeier@utk.edu
Bio: Ms. Geier is a civil rights pioneer who 39 years ago sued the state of Tennessee to desegregate its higher education system and she has now come back to help lead diversity efforts at the state's flagship institution.
Geier was a 23-year-old faculty member at Tennessee State University in 1968 when she filed the lawsuit after the University of Tennessee announced plans to expand in Nashville. She feared that UT-Nashville would become a four-year, predominantly white school with top-notch facilities while historically black TSU would be neglected.
Geier has a law degree from Vanderbilt University, a master's degree from the University of Chicago and a bachelor's degree from Fisk University.
Prior to joining UT, Geier worked at the Social Security Administration in Washington, D.C., as executive counselor to the commissioner for special initiatives, serving as principal adviser on Medicare appeals, identity theft and other initiatives. She has had a long career in federal government as a trial attorney and administrator working with the Department of Justice and the Appalachian Regional Commission in Washington, D.C.
Geier spoke at fall 2006 commencement and at the seventh annual Julian Blackshear Scholarship Banquet, sponsored by the University of Tennessee's Black Law Student Association, in April.
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Sunday, Jan. 31, 2010
Tuesday, Feb. 2, 2010
Wednesday, Feb. 3, 2010
Tuesday, Feb. 9, 2010
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Contact Senator Baker
Honorable Howard H. Baker, Jr.
P.O. Box 600
Huntsville, TN 37756
423-663-9148
hbaker@bakerdonelson.com
