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Distinguished Alumni

Chuck Kinney

Congratulations to Chuck Kinney, Class of 1970, former fire chief and fire commissioner of the Nichols Joint Fire District, who was recently selected by the Veterans of Foreign Wars as the top firefighter in the state of Tennessee for 2006-2007. Each year VFW posts around the country search their respective communities for a candidate who has demonstrated outstanding and selfless contribution in one of the following categories: firefighter, emergency medical technician and law enforcement officer.

The selection process begins at the local VFW post and continues upward to the district, state and national levels. Each level requires a separate independent board that reviews each candidate's résumé and the accomplishments they have made throughout their life.

Chuck finished at the state level and was named VFW Firefighter of the Year for 2006-2007 for Tennessee. He received recognition from the Tennessee VFW State Commander in Chief in Nashville on Dec. 13, 2006. Tennessee Gov. Phil Bredeson, state Senator Tommy Kilby and state Rep. Jim Cobb also honored him at the state capital on March 14, 2007.

At 18 Chuck joined the Nichols, NY Volunteer Fire Department (Wappasening Hose Company) and has been in the fire service ever since. He helped found the Nichols Emergency Squad and completed the American Red Cross Standard and Advanced First Aid courses, the only emergency medical response training available in 1969. He later enlisted the the U.S. Air Force and while stationed in Anchorage, Alaska, joined the Greater Anchorage Area Borough Fire Department as a part-time paid firefighter. After being honorably discharged from the Air Force, Chuck returned to Nichols, where he served as firefighter, emergency squad member, assistant fire chief and ultimately fire commissioner. He completed the newly formulated EMT certification training in 1977 in New York and is now considered to be one of the longest serving, continuously-certified EMS responders in the country.

In 1986 he moved to Spring City, Tenn., and became one of the first firefighter/EMTs at Watts Bar Nuclear Plant. He retired from the Tennessee Valley Authority in 1999. He also joined the Rhea County Fire Department and served as deputy fire chief in the 1980's.

In 1988, after completing several fire investigation courses, Chuck was named fire investigator of the the Rhea County Fire Department and arson investigator for the Rhea County Sheriff's Department. He has also served as an adjunct instructor for Chattanooga State Techical Community College, the Tennessee State Fire School and the National Fire Academy. He currently serves as assistant fire chief and fire investigator for the Rhea County Fire Department and deputy director of the Rhea County Emergency Management Agency. Along the way, Chuck managed to complete an associate's degree in business management and a bachelor's degree in fire science.

He and his wife, Sue, live in Dayton, Tenn., and have one son who serves as a paramedic in Atlanta. He can be contacted by e-mail at arsoncop@volstate.net.

William Thomas, M.D.

Congratulations to Bill Thomas, Class of 1977, who was recently awarded the Heinz Award for the Human Condition, named after the late U.S. Senator John Heinz of Pennsylvania. The monetary award from the Heinz Family Foundation is among the largest individual acheivement prizes in the world. Now in its 12th year, only five Heinz awards are given annually, and recipients do not fill out an application form to receive one.

Bill has written six award-winning non-fiction books, beginning in 1996 with The Eden Alternative which intgroduced the idea to make long-term care facilities more homelike for residents by adding inviting decor, potted plants, gardens and pets. A more recent work, What Are Old People For: How Elders Will Save the World, was named the 2004 Book of the Year by the American Medical Writer's Association.

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