Background
Willis, Eleanor Lawson was born on September 15, 1936 in Nashville, Tennessee, United States. Daughter of Harry Alfred Junior and Helen Russell (Howse) Lawson.
Willis, Eleanor Lawson was born on September 15, 1936 in Nashville, Tennessee, United States. Daughter of Harry Alfred Junior and Helen Russell (Howse) Lawson.
Bachelor cum laude, Vanderbilt University, 1957.
Host children's syndicated television show, Station WSIX-television, Nashville, 1961-1964;
teacher head start program, Metro Public School, Nashville, 1965-1967;
co-investigator cognitive education curriculum project, Peabody College, Nashville, 1979-1981;
director, founder, Heads Up Child Development Center, Inc., Nashville, 1973-1987;
director, Tennessee Volunteers for Gore for President Campaign, Nashville, 1987-1988;
director development, Vanderbilt Institute Public Policy Studies, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, since 1988. Member task force on child abuse Department Human Superior vena cava syndrome, Nashville, 1976. Member mental health center advisory board Vanderbilt University, 1978-1980, board directors Vanderbilt Child Development Center.
Member instrumental enrichment advisory board Peabody/Vanderbilt University, 1981-1982.
President Nashville Bar Auxiliary, 1967-1968, Nashville Symphony Guild, 1984-1985, W.O. Smith Nashville Community Music School, 1987-2010. Founder, board directors Rochelle Center, Nashville, 1968-2010. Vice-chairman Century III Committee, Nashville, 1978-1980.
Homecoming 1986 Steering Committee, Nashville, 1985-1986. Director Tennessee Volunteers for Gore for President Campaign, Nashville, 1987-1988. Member Cheekwood Fine Arts Center, Nashville City Ballet, Nashville Symphony Association, Democratic Women of Davidson County.
Appointed Metro Arts Commission, 1992, Metro Educational Access Corporation, 1994-1997. Executive director Friends of Warner Park, 1994-2010. Leadership council John F. Kennedy Center, since 1995.
Founder Nashville Tree Foundation. Board directors, founder Cumberland Region Tomorrow, 2001-2010. Member Exchange Club of Nashville (president 2005-2006), Vanderbilt Alumni Association.
Married Alvis Rux Rochelle, August 25, 1956 (divorced March 1961). Married William Reese Willis Junior, March 7, 1964 (divorced June 1994). Children: Alfred Russell Willis, William Reese III, Brent Lawson.