Pierce retired from Vanderbilt University in 2007 after a career of almost thirty years as the Senior Director of the Opportunity Development Center (ODC). She was responsible for all University and Medical Center matters related to equal opportunity and affirmative action laws, regulations, and guidelines. She designed and conducted workshops for faculty and staff on a variety of topics related to equity and diversity, and she served as a fact finder and mediator of grievances filed by faculty, staff and students. Previously she worked as Compliance Director for the State of Tennessee Human Rights Commission. She currently serves as Immediate Past Chair of the Board of Commissioners of the Tennessee Human Rights Commission. She also serves as a member of the Economic Council Foundation Board and Chairs the Scholarship Program and is a Board member of the Nashville Sports Council where she serves on the Legacy Committee for the 2014 Women’s Final Four basketball tournament.
Ms. Pierce achieved outstanding success in the academic world and is recognized internationally as an advocate for diversity and equity. She has presented numerous programs on disability issues, gender issues, including sexual harassment, and cultural diversity for Nashville community organizations, and at regional, national, and international conferences. She has given her time to many organizations to help promote opportunities and advocate equity for women. She has served as a volunteer or member of thirty-four organizations, served as President or Vice President of nine organizations and served as a member of the Board of Directors of twenty organizations of which two are international organizations. She is the recipient of numerous awards including the Rotary International Jean Harris Award, YWCA Academy of Women of Achievement, the Women in Higher Education in Tennessee June Anderson Award, the 2003 Nashville ATHENA Award, the 2006 Tennessee Economic Council’s Excellence & Equity Award, Tennessee State University’s 2008 Woman of Legend and Merit Award and Nashville’s largest women’s organization CABLE prestigious Molly Todd Cup which is given to a woman who spends much of her life making the world a better place to live. She is a graduate of Leadership America, Leadership Nashville, the Oxford University Roundtable, and is an inductee of the Tennessee International Women’s Forum. She was selected as one of Tennessee’s national delegates to participate in Vision 2020 Program at Drexel University. She has a BS degree from the University of Tennessee in 1973. She played basketball at UT in 1968 under Joan Cronan. She completed the Bryn Mawr University Institute for Women in Higher Education Administration and the National Institute for Leadership Development at Arizona State. She is married to Jacky Goss and they reside in Harriman, TN. They have two sons and four grandchildren.