Tom Horton, a senior in the College Scholars Program, was the first UT student to be awarded a Marshall Scholarship in 1982. He was one of only two students from state universities to be offered one of the prestigious awards. The Marshall Aid Commemoration Act was passed by the United Kingdom’s Parliament on July 31, … Continued

In April 1836 the board of trustees appointed the Reverend W. J. Keith, professor in the Department of Ancient Languages, as librarian. Prior to 1836 the teaching faculty elected the librarian from among their numbers. Keith is listed as professor and librarian in the 1839 catalog. The 1839 catalog indicates that Keith presided over a … Continued

Following action by the legislature in the 1984–85 session, Martin Luther King’s birthday began to be celebrated as an official university holiday. The first observance was on January 21, 1985. (King’s birthday was January 15.)

In 1950 faculty rank as well as faculty status was extended to the university’s professional librarians. Mr. William H. Jesse, head librarian from 1943 to 1970, was the first person so designated. His title was also changed from librarian to director of libraries. Faculty status for professional librarians had been granted in 1910 to Lucy … Continued

Tim Patnode (BFA 1996) served as a UT-costumed mascot from 1993 to 1997. In 1996, during the UT vs. UGA Women’s Basketball Final Four in Charlotte, North Carolina, he (as Smokette) was ripping apart a giant stuffed bulldog that had been won the previous day at a theme park. In the roughhousing, and unbeknownst to … Continued

Safety Eric Berry, a junior from Fairburn, Georgia, was named the Jim Thorpe Award winner on December 10, 2009, on his second trip to the finals for the award. The Jim Thorpe Award for the best defensive back in college football was created in 1986. It was conceived by former Oklahoma City talk show host … Continued

April 12 and 13, 2002, was the first reunion of housing staff of the university. About 90 former resident assistants, housing directors, and other staff from as far away as California, attended. Eleven hundred former staff members were identified and invited to participate.

Dr. Michael Goldman performed the first kidney transplant at UT hospital on February 27, 1985. The recipient, Frank E. Smith, age 37, received a healthy kidney from his sister, Beverly Bonds, age 36.

As the preliminary to the Knoxville Knights-Greensboro Generals Ice Hockey game February 11, 1967, the newly organized UT Ice Hockey Club played its first collegiate match against Miami of Ohio at the Knoxville Civic Coliseum. Miami won, 9-6.

Edna Hixon, UT graduate and then state editor of the Knoxville Journal, was the first woman from Knoxville and one of only 12 Tennesseans to be selected for the Navy’s auxiliary, the WAVES (Women Accepted for Volunteer Emergency Service). She was a member of Phi Kappa Phi at UT.