Meet Leigh Ann Gardner- New MSTP Grants Manager
Background: I was born and raised in Nashville, in L.A., also fondly known as “Lower Antioch”. I attended college in Mississippi (Mississippi University for Women) and started a career as an archivist. I lived in Central Illinois for five years while my husband was in graduate school. We moved to Murfreesboro in 2007, where I still reside. I was raised as a Commodore fan by my late father, who was a huge VU van. He never attended college but grew up in Nashville. He attended VU baseball, football, and basketball games from the 1940s until his death in 2015.
Family: My husband, Justin, is an Assistant Professor in the School of Agriculture at Middle Tennessee State University. We have 2 teens, Hardy (aged 16) and Ellie (aged 13). I have a lovable but anxious dog of indeterminate breed named Vincent. His archnemesis is our three-legged wonder-cat, Cocoa.
Path to the MSTP: My path to research administration and the MSTP was not straightforward. I started my professional career as an archivist. I then worked as a paralegal/legal assistant for five years. Following a three-year stint as a stay-at-home parent, I returned to graduate school, obtaining a master’s degree in Public History (with a concentration in Historic Preservation). After working in grant-funded positions for several years at the Center for Historic Preservation at MTSU, I accepted a position in the Office of Research and Sponsored Programs, where I worked with Julie Gannon! I worked at MTSU as a research coordinator and awards manager until 2020, when I started at Vanderbilt University Medical Center. I worked as a Grants Manager in the Division of Allergy, Pulmonary, and Critical Care Medicine. I am excited to join the MSTP!
Hobbies: Reading, attending book club meetings, walking, watching television, hanging out with my family, and cooking. I’ve been teaching myself how to cook Indian food and recently received a cookbook of Eastern European recipes that I can’t wait to start cooking through. I also continue my research documenting African American benevolent and fraternal lodges in Tennessee. This research includes exploring and documenting cemeteries, one of my favorite pastimes. I also read English history as a hobby, focusing on the years 1300-1800.
Fun Facts:
- My parents owned a grocery store in Woodbine, and I spent most of my time between the ages of 3 and 7 in the store. The store was closed when I-440 was built just outside the backdoor, taking out half of the neighborhood.
- My undergraduate university, Mississippi University for Women, was the public women’s college in the United States. It has admitted men since 1981.
- I have a book being released in February 2022 by Vanderbilt University Press about my research on African American benevolent and fraternal groups in Tennessee. The title is To Care for the Sick and Bury the Dead: African American Lodges and Cemeteries in Tennessee.
- I love museums and make my family visit an “odd” museum when we go on vacation. Examples are the American Museum of the House Cat (North Carolina), the Scottish Tartans Museum (North Carolina), the Air Force Armament Museum (Florida), and the Museum of Osteology (Oklahoma).
- Some of my favorite shows are Cobra Kai, The Great British Baking Show, The Office, Gilmore Girls, and Downton Abbey.
I was a featured historian/speaker on a documentary for Nashville Public Television about African American fraternal and benevolent groups. The name of the program was A Time of Joining, and you can watch it here.
