Casual Chris earns fancy LMU award

Chris Caldwell

Casual Chris Caldwell, the county's senior director of finance, is the 2012 R. Martin Peters Young Alumnus of the Year.

Now, I don't know exactly what this means, but it sounds kind of smart. And cool.

So, congrats to Caldwell. (He got a nice looking clock, but no coin.)

The honor was announced in one of county communication director Michael “Big Sexy” Grider's spin releases, which he is prone to email, particularly during the beginning of the week when not jack is going on and he figures he'll get some coverage.

But I digress.

The Lincoln Memorial University Alumni Association recently picked Caldwell with the honor.

In a letter to the casual one – clickright smack here for it – LMU Director of Alumni Services Donnie Lipscomb said:

“Your recent appointment as finance director of Knox County shows the confidence the Knox County government has in you with their most important information. You play an important role that touches the lives of so many people. Also, you are a positive role model not only in your community but throughout East Tennessee.”

Knox County Mayor Tim Burchett promotedCasual Caldwell to the position in July after the last guy he broughtin lasted about two weeks. Chris has worked with the county for more than a decade, including the past five or so years with a small team that puts together the annual spending plan.

The award, according to the spin release, is given to an individual “who embodies the character and spirit of its namesake and exhibits qualities including patriotism, leadership ability, volunteerism, a strong work ethic and ambassadorship on behalf of the university.”

(Caldwell, 33, is a graduate of the school. I got no idea what he studied, but I assume it dealt with numbers.)

“Chris is great to work with, and is very deserving of this recognition,” Knox County Mayor Tim Burchett said. “He doe an outstanding job as finance director, and is committed to being a good steward of taxpayer money.”