Long before Lipscomb offered doctoral degrees or professional programs in pharmacy and public policy, it was a small junior college with a vision. In 1946 Lipscomb made a huge change to the school by adding a junior year followed by a senior year in 1947. This would make the institution a four year school. The decision to become a four-year institution reshaped everything at Lipscomb. “Prestige-wise, it was a better move,” said Craig Bledsoe, provost and chief academic officer from 1997 to 2022 “It allowed the university to grow its programming and improve its academic reputation.” Bledsoe, now the director of the Ph.D. in Leadership and Policy studies program, is…