Dr. Mary Ellen Pethel
Assistant Professor of Global Leadership Studies, Associate Director of Belmont Global Honors and Belmont Data Collaborative Senior Data Fellow, Belmont University
Dr. Mary Ellen Pethel is an assistant professor at Belmont University where she also serves as Global Honors Program Associate Director and Belmont Data Collaborative Senior Data Fellow.
Pethel is also a faculty leader for the Fisk-Belmont Social Justice Collaborative, Belmont Summer Institute with Queen’s University, and academic director for University You, a partnership between Metro Nashville Public Schools and Belmont University.
She completed her Ph.D. in history at Georgia State University and later earned a post-graduate certificate in digital humanities at George Mason University. She has authored five books including Title IX, Pat Summitt, and Tennessee’s Trailblazers, which won the 2022 Tennessee History Book Award. Howdy! The Minnie Pearl Story will be published in 2025.
In addition to traditional scholarship, Dr. Pethel is the executive director of NashvilleSites.org. This comprehensive digital platform offers 40 walking and driving tours, which are free, self-guided, mobile-friendly, and credibly-curated.
She serves as a board member of Preservation Society of Nashville and as an ex-officio member of the Nashville Historical Foundation. She also serves as a school archivist at Harpeth Hall School and consults on film projects such as Facing the Laughter and the docuseries If Not For Them. Mary Ellen regularly engages with the community through public speaking appearances, guest lectures, interviews, panels, and podcasts.