With Easter break safely behind us and summer break on the horizon, students are beginning to focus on the goal: finishing strong. Sharing that goal with us is the Vice President of Business and Finance Chris Conine.

Along with these responsibilities, Conine also recently stepped up to serve as president pro tempore. But these positions of authority

Conine, a “preacher’s kid” from Athens, Ga., grew up with his fair share of trials.

“I was a byproduct of three sisters and one bathroom.”

As a college-town resident, he confessed to having always envisioned attending a large state school, but instead chose to attend Lee.

“I felt a sense of community at Lee that I hadn’t felt anywhere else.”

Conine’s next step was to enroll at Lee where he hoped to pursue his dreams of being a doctor. But once again, his plans changed.

“Biology class showed me that [medicine] was not my gift,” Conine said.

After discovering this, he quicklyproceeded to enroll as a business and accounting double major, where Conine felt that the business world made sense with his personality. As someone who loved solving problems and helping people, the role of a financial advisor was the perfect fit.

“I knew I wasn’t meant to be a pulpit minister,” Conine said, explaining a time when he struggled to know how God could use him for ministry.

“Someone pulled me aside and said, ‘This is how you can impact his kingdom’.”

After spending much of his freshman and sophomore years asking God to lead him into the right ministry career, Conine said he felt God saying, “Just serve with the gifts I’ve given you.”

Conine spent the rest of his college career focusing on his gift of being a financial “bridge builder” in order to help others. But during all that time of work, Conine found time for play in the form of intramural sports, student government and the fellowship of Hughes Hall, which has created lasting relationships that he still enjoys today.

“Lee was a close community.”

The changes to Lee that Conine has witnessed over the past 20 years have been positive ones, which he attributed to our highly-committed president.

“Lee…lacked focus, and God breathed a dream into [Conn], and he spread it to the students.”

During his time as a student, Conine felt the spread of dreams through influential people like Dr. Dwayne Thompson, a man who held Conine to a very high standard, and Ellen French, a woman who taught him to be a Christian scholar.

After college, Conine spent 11 years working for the U.S. Treasury managing 65 agents until 1997, when he and his wife happily found out that they would be having triplet sons.

After leave the U.S. Treasury, Conine determined to be “the best CPA in Chattanooga.”

He strived at until he received an offer from Dr. Conn to step into the position of vice president for business and finance.

With a full-time job, a wife and three boys, Conine realizes the importance of balancing time.

“When I get home, I have a purpose to be a good dad.”

As a firm believer in the idea of quality vs. quantity, one of Conine’s favorite things to do is watch his favorite football team, the Volunteers, with his sons Connor, Mason and Logan.

“It’s a common bond we share.”

While Conine enjoys things like college football, the city of Boston and attending University of Tennessee (UT) games with his sons, his passion is in running. With the high stress of a finance job, he needed something that helped him release stress and decompress.

“When you run, there are no barriers, no constraints.”

A runner since his early 20s, Conine has found a sense of community in through this activity. Bill Estes, associate professor of education, is someone with whom Conine shares the love of running.

Every Saturday at 6 a.m., while many are still asleep, Estes and Conine meet to run anywhere from 10-22 miles and enjoy the stillness of the morning. For Conine, running is not about competition.

“I seek to do my personal best.”

Conine is currently preparing his personal best for a half-marathon in Nashville on April 26, which he is looking forward to.

Not only does Conine put his personal best into his passion of running, but he also strives to achieve his greatest potential in his work. His love of serving others and desire to assist people in their financial difficulties drives him to press on. He feels that at Lee, he can be a team member among a staff and faculty of other highly-committed individuals.

“Lee is a place where the works of your hands can truly be permanent.”