TN State Representative, Scientist & Entrepreneur, Champion of Post-Secondary Education
Inducting Institution: King University
David Coffey embodies the characteristics of an exemplary citizen who, for years, has given unselfishly of his time, talent, and resources in support of King University and the community at large. Upon graduating from King in 1955, Coffey entered the University of Tennessee at Knoxville to pursue an advanced degree. He then entered the business world and for the next fifty-plus years, he made an incredible impact on numerous organizations as an entrepreneur.
In 1986, Coffey was elected to the Tennessee General Assembly, where he served as a representative from 1986 to 1996. He has gone above and beyond, not only exhibiting a peerless work ethic and entrepreneurial vitality in business but also an altruistic disposition, paying forward for the greater good. Always a supporter of post-secondary education, Coffey was a champion for securing state funding for the Roane State Community College campus in his Oak Ridge district. The first building on the campus was constructed in the late 1990s and is named the Coffey-McNally Building.
Coffey’s philanthropy and overall support of King University through the annual fund for scholarships and programs, the general endowment fund, the chemistry department, and campaign, and through the support of other human services has impacted hundreds, if not thousands, of students who have gone on to do their part in changing the world for the better.
Print Page
Email to a Friend
