Ronald Davis and Marsha Yarbro, GEB
November 9, 2021
Ronald Davis: February 1981. The month and year when Ronald began his decades’ long tenure in the GEB, just one month after his wife, Kim, started working there as well! Ronald is the GEB kingpin lab manager. In addition to managing the teaching labs, he plans, directs, evaluates, trains, hires and schedules, but he also does A LOT of grunt work. He reports he’s especially adept at furniture moving and glassware (think test tubes and lab beakers) cleaning. Others concur… When AFSA campus mail was temporarily routed to General Stores, Ronald was the hero behind the scenes who, for months, delivered boxes, packages, and whatever else to Hyman 4th floor. He says he brings so much experience to the table that he knows his experience is not that weighty (we beg to differ). Ronald is passionate about serving students, faculty, and co-workers. While most believe that Ronald is the ultimate perfect employee, we’ve learned that his professional journey to UTHSC began when he got fired from a New York boarding school for boys with dyslexia. He had taught math and science, but it just wasn’t a best fit. Having a bachelor’s in Marine Biology, and a master’s in Marine Botany, he responded to an ad in the newspaper (remember those?) and landed his current position with UTHSC. Since then, he’s earned an executive master of business administration from University of Memphis. Ronald is passionate about serving students, faculty, and coworkers. He also shares that UTHSC students have good hearts, and all want to serve their fellow humans rather than just their own self-interests. New York’s loss has been Memphis’s gain!
Marsha Yarbro: November1987. The month and year when Marsha began her decades’ long tenure in the GEB. She is a licensed clinical laboratory scientist with a specialty in Microbiology. Marsha has the title of senior laboratory technologist, and sets up teaching labs for students from the various colleges who are taking microbiology and parasitology lab courses as well as assisting students with student molecular labs. Other than work, Marsha’s passion is crocheting. She participates in a ministry in which she’s provided numerous afghans, baby blankets, and shawls to many who’ve experienced health issues, loss of a loved one as well as celebrating a new baby or marriage. She confides that she can never leave Hobby Lobby without her car fully loaded…with yarn. Marsha also shares that she remembers what it was like to be a student “all those many years ago.” Because of those memories, she continually focuses on providing dedicated support to faculty and students. Marsha boasts that as long as her health and body hold out, she will continue to be a member of the UT family!
The 1980s brought many good things: MTV, earth shoes, Nintendo, and personal computers, but let’s seriously applaud that decade’s two most outstanding yuppies, Ronald & Marsha! Their GEB stick-to-itiveness is an enviable model of team collaboration and spirit!