Hailed as a man whose life has blessed the lives of those around him, long-time Greene County attorney Dr. Robert H. Bailey was named the recipient of the 2005 Tusculum College Distinguished Service Award (DSA) on Friday night.

Tusculum College President Dr. Dolphus E. Henry presented the award to Bailey, who declared afterward that he was completely surprised by the honor.

Speaking briefly to the crowd of about 150 in the Chalmers Conference Center of the Niswonger Commons on the campus, Dr. Bailey said he saw many present he believed more worthy of the award than he. The abundance of congratulations he received from friends at the close of the ceremony, however, indicated that others found it fitting that Dr. Bailey was the honoree.

Before giving the award, Dr. Henry presented a summary of Dr. Bailey's life, activities, and history of support to Tusculum College. The list was sufficiently detailed that Dr. Bailey joked after the dinner that it had excluded only a past appendix surgery he had undergone.

The DSA was first given by the college in 1992, and has been presented annually ever since to an individual, or in one year, two individuals, who have demonstrated on-going and outstanding support for Tusculum College.

"The individual we will honor tonight with the Distinguished Service Award for 2005 is a person truly deserving of seeing his name listed alongside those of the extraordinary people who have received this award in past years," said Dr. Henry. " He has long been a valued friend and alumnus of Tusculum College, and is one of those rare individuals about whom it can honestly be said, 'It is always a pleasure to see him.'"

After graduating from Greeneville High School, the honoree enrolled at Tusculum College as a "day student," as commuters were called at that time. At Tusculum College, Bailey was active in the Pioneer Players, the Outing Club, the yearbook staff, the Glee Club, the Student Christian Association, and the Polity Club, among other things.

After graduation, he served in the U.S. Army in the early 1950s, then went back to school to earn a law degree at the University of Tennessee in 1955. He was president of the Phi Delta Phi legal fraternity at UT.

He opened a private law practice in Baileyton in 1960. "He's a community lawyer," said Dr. Henry. "That fits his style and personality. He loves his community and the people who make it up."

Dr. Bailey has been active in the Rotary Club and the Ruritan Club, Dr. Henry said. As a Ruritan, he is a past Tennessee District Governor and was once a National Director. In 1967 he was President of Ruritan International, said Dr. Henry.

Dr. Bailey has also been active in Masonic life, having been the Illustrious Potentate of Kerbela Shrine Temple in Knoxville in 1976 and at one time a Master of the Greeneville Lodge. He has also been active politically and was a delegate to the 1977 Constitutional Convention, Dr. Henry recounted.

The Tusculum College president referred to Dr. Bailey as "a Christian man who faithfully serves God through his church, Greeneville First Church of God. He sings in its choir and teaches Sunday School," Dr Henry said.

Dr. Bailey also has worked in church mission camps in Haiti and recently returned from mission work in Ecuador. "Closer to home," said Dr. Henry, "he serves on the Board of the Locust Springs Christian Retreat Center at Baileyton, and those who know him well say he has a special place in his heart for that project."

Dr. Bailey is a former member of the Tusculum College Board of Trustees, which he served as a treasurer for two years and a chairman for two more years. His service to Tusculum College led the College to present to him an honorary Doctorate of Law degree in 1984.

Dr. Bailey has been involved in establishing and supporting several endowed scholarship funds at the college.

Said Dr. Henry in making the presentation: "One sentence on the certificate we present tonight sums up particularly well the essence of the man we honor here. Let me read that sentence: 'His life has blessed those around him.'

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