Research Centers of Excellence
Tennessee State University’s Centers of Excellence advance innovation and discovery through interdisciplinary research, collaboration, and education. These centers bring together faculty, students, and industry partners to address complex challenges, support groundbreaking research, and create opportunities that strengthen communities and drive progress across a variety of fields.
Specialized Research
Micro Nano and Biotechnology
The Center for Micro Nano and Biotechnology promotes multidisciplinary education and research by providing faculty and students with access to advanced nanoscience and biotechnology resources. Through innovative learning opportunities and industry collaboration, the Center fosters scientific discovery and prepares the next generation of researchers and professionals.
Office of Business and Economic Research
The Office of Business and Economic Research (OBER) supports Tennessee State University’s mission through applied research focused on urban development, entrepreneurship, and small and minority businesses. The office provides valuable economic and demographic analysis and publishes resources that highlight trends affecting the Nashville business community.
Massie Chair of Excellence
The Massie Chair of Excellence Program is dedicated to increasing the number of minority environmental engineers by supporting historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs) and Hispanic-serving institutions (HSIs). Through advanced education and research opportunities, the program helps prepare the next generation of leaders in environmental engineering.
Program Support
The program is sponsored by the U.S. Department of Energy's Office of Environmental Management and honors Dr. Samuel P. Massie, the first African American professor at the U.S. Naval Academy. Its mission reflects Dr. Massie's legacy of academic excellence and innovation.
University Partnerships
The Massie Chair of Excellence Program provides environmental engineering professorships at nine HBCUs selected through their partnerships with Fortune companies participating in AMIE (Advancing Minorities' Interest in Engineering), a coalition that promotes collaboration between historically Black colleges and industry leaders.
Center of Excellence for Information Systems and Engineering Management
The mission of the Center of Excellence in Information Systems and Engineering Management (COE-ISEM) is to provide an environment conductive to and facilities in support of interdisciplinary research in selected areas of information systems. The Center consists of researchers, support staff, and students in the areas of astronomy, advanced control systems and systems identification, applied mathematics, and management information systems. Graduate and undergraduate students are drawn from computer science, physics, mathematics, and engineering curricula. The center is located in the Avon Williams Building of TSU’s downtown branch campus.
Center of Excellence for Learning Sciences
The Center of Excellence for Learning Sciences at Tennessee State University is one of the state’s accomplished Centers of Excellence. Centers were established by the association of the Tennessee General Assembly in 1984 to expand research and contribute to the overall economic and community development base of the State of Tennessee. The mission of The Center of Excellence for Learning Sciences is to conduct multidisciplinary research and demonstrations concerning practices, policies and programs of the institutions and communities that influence the educational, social, physical and psychological well-being of children & families.
Center for Prevention Research
The Center continues to develop a long-standing and active relationship with the local community including African Americans, Hispanics and other under-served communities in addressing their health-related needs and is a hub of research activity and training for faculty and students.
Center of Excellence in Battlefield Sensor Fusion
Tennessee State University’s Center of Excellence in Battlefield Sensor Fusion is a multi-disciplinary research initiative established with the support of the U.S. Department of Defense through Army Research Office. The Center’s research mission is to develop decentralized and scalable sensor data and information fusion technologies applicable to large array of distributed multiple modality smart sensors scattered randomly in the battlefield environment. The program involves multi-disciplinary research faculty and students from two participating universities.
Cooperative Extension Program
The mission of the Tennessee State University Cooperative Extension Program is to help educate and provide information to limited-resource urban and rural families, individuals & other groups and organizations. We use research-based information and technology to focus on priorities and needs which help improve quality of life.