Carol Transou

Carol Gardner Transou spent spent 25 years teaching American History at Science Hill High School and was named the district’s first statewide Teacher of the Year in 1987, where she represented Tennessee across the state and nation. She is a native of Brentwood, Tennessee and a graduate of the public schools of Nashville.

During her time on the Hill, Transou worked closely with ETSU in hosting student teachers and welcoming prospective teachers as obersevers. She was recognized as an innovative teacher and described by evaluators as one who made history “come alive”.

Transou retired from teaching in 1992 but found many other opportunities for service. She served on both the Executive Committee and the Board of the East Tennessee Foundation.  In addition, she chaired their Harris Fund for Washington County.  In 2001, the Sunshine Lady Foundation named her as a “Sunbeam,” because of her funding several charitable programs for area organizations.

A special interest for Transou is the ETSU Roan Scholars Program and service on that Selection Committee.  Another area of involvement is the “Pride of the Hill” Scholarship Program for Science Hill, which she initiated in 1984. In 1990, She was also named Tennessee’s first Teacher-Scholar in a program sponsored by the National Endowment for the Humanities which provided her a grant to study the Vietnam War and how it would be taught in the classroom.

Transou is survived by her husband of 60 years, Rev. Bedford Transou, who was the United Methodist Campus Minister at ETSU for 25 years. She was honored as an honoree alumni of ETSU  in 2010. She received a BA degree magna cum laude from Lindenwood College in St. Charles, Missouri and did graduate work at Vanderbilt University, Converse College, and East Tennessee State University.