The confidence to succeed

Alumni Profile

Tony Vest (BS/ME '69)was often labeled as both a "jock" and a "hood" during his high school years. Growing up as a kid from a blue-collar background, he began working in his father's gas station at the age of eight.

When a fellow "gifted" high school student challenged him to try to enter college, Tony decided to give it a shot --and chose a nuclear engineering major. He thought nuclear engineering sounded like a tough subject.

Sandy and Tony Vest began funding the Anthony L. Vest scholarship endowment in 1990

His high school grades were good enough to get him into the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, where he paid for his first year and a half of college by working summer jobs. His father had gone into debt when he bought the family's gas station but he was able to pay for part of Vest's second year.

Vest's reputation changed abruptly when he came to UTK, and suddenly he was known as an academic type. "Going from being known as a "hood" to being accepted as a high achiever was a good adjustment," Tony said. "It taught me that I could be whatever I chose to be."

He added, "People's perceptions of you are most often based on how you present yourself."

Vest switched majors from nuclear to mechanical engineering later in his college career. "I thought mechanical engineering sounded interesting and I already had the background from working on cars." Vest said.

Vest earned a bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering from UTK in 1969 and earned a Master of Business Administration degree from Brenau University.

He began his career as a field engineer for General Electric and soon was promoted to manage GE's power generation services for nuclear utilities. After 15 years with GE, Vest went out on his own and founded Onsite Engineering and Management, Inc., a company which earned $20 million dollars in annual revenues by 1993.

Vest eventually formed two other corporations: Onsite Investigations, Inc. (OSI) and Management Programs Corporation (MPC).

He also became a member of organizations such as the Federal Reserve Bank Adv isory Council, the National Chamber of Commerce and the Small Business Council.

Vest met his wife Sandy, an investment advisor, at one of his guest lectures at Emory University. They were married on August 11, 1990.

Sandy Vest earned a bachelor's degree in finance from Florida Atlantic University and an MBA from Emory University in 1989. Her work history includes stints at General Electric, Shearson Lehman and IBM. As an investment advisor she specializes in asset allocation strategies, retirement and estate planning and tax advantaged investments. She also conducts seminars on basic investment principles.

The Vests divide their time between homes in Jackson Hole, Wyo. and Lookout Mountain, Ga. Their daughter, Shannon, graduated from UTK in 1994.

Looking back at their own successful endeavors, the Vests understand the importance of education. "Our support of educational institutions is based on the belief that education is essential to maintaining a free society. Democracy cannot exist where the population is uneducated," said Sandy Vest.

In keeping with their educational philosophies, the couple began the Anthony L. Vest scholarship endowment in 1990.

The scholarship is awarded to students who, like Tony Vest, "are expected to be blue-collar workers and yet are trying to raise the standards for their families," he commented.

To qualify for the Vest scholarship, students must have graduated from Dobyns-Bennett High School in Kingsport, must maintain a 2.5 grade point average and must be interested in a career in engineering.

Along with financial help through the Vest scholarship, Tony Vest also hopes to pass along a lesson he learned from his mother. "If you have confidence in yourself, you will learn to take risks. More kids need to receive that message these days," he said.

by Wendy Bigham