George Caldwell Taylor earned the AB degree from Tusculum College in Greeneville, Tennessee, in 1906 and the bachelor of laws degree from UT in 1908. He served as US Attorney for the Eastern District of Tennessee from 1921 to 1928 before becoming the US District Judge for East Tennessee (1928–49). He was a member of the UT Board of Trustees from 1944 to 1952. In 1966 his son, Jerome Taylor, then a member of the board of trustees, spearheaded the move to have the College of Law building named the George C. Taylor Law Center.