Dr. Nathalia Wright, professor of English, was named macebearer in 1982.

Johanna Noonan of Cookeville is credited with being the first female in the South to graduate in engineering (and she was the first women to enroll in engineering at UT). She was in the UT Chemical Engineering Program (then in the Department of Chemistry) in 1922. She served as vice president of the senior class.

Minnie A. Stoner of Boston was recruited to direct a University Boarding Club and to start cooking classes. She held the baccalaureate degree from South Dakota Agricultural College and a diploma for postgraduate work from the Boston Normal School of Household Arts. Beginning in the spring of 1896, she conducted cooking classes, using Bunsen burners … Continued

Ann Baker Furrow, 26, appointed in 1971, was the first female appointed (by Governor Winfield Dunn) to the UT Board of Trustees. Her appointment was in accord with the 1971 bill (sponsored by Rep. Frances Doyle [D-Nashville] and Rep. Owen Fleming [D-Bristol]) requiring that the next vacancy on the board be filled by a woman … Continued

In 1902 Lilian Wyckoff Johnson joined the UT faculty as an assistant professor of history and was the first female faculty member to hold the PhD. She received the BA from the University of Michigan and had been an instructor of history at Vassar College before earning the PhD from Cornell. She additionally taught courses … Continued

On February 15, 1879, the UT Board of Trustees adopted recommendations of the faculty related to advanced degrees. The PhD was to be conferred upon “graduates of this University or other institutions of like grade, who shall have completed with distinction a two-years’ course of professional study under the direction of the Faculty, and submitted … Continued

Dr. Jack Dongarra, computer science, was elected to the academy in 2001.

In 1968 Bob Johnson was the first-ever draft pick (the second player chosen in the draft) of the AFL expansion team (now NFL team) Cincinnati Bengals. In 1973 the UT band put on a halftime performance during a nationally televised Bengals game.

Dr. Gerald Mahan, physics, was elected to the academy in 1995.

The early literary societies (e.g., Chi Delta) had limited dramatic productions as part of their activities, and the first plays on campus are believed to have been presented about 1836. The first organization exclusively devoted to drama was the Kit Kat Klub Dramatic Club, formed in 1898 by male students. The Rouge and Powder Club … Continued