First Female Administrator
Angie Warren Perkins was named acting dean of the Women’s Department in 1898. She served without compensation.
First Electric Lights
Electrification of the campus began in the summer of 1889 and was completed for the 1889–90 school year. The lights were powered by a dynamo located in the Mechanical Building. Gas lighting had been installed in 1875-76 and was discontinued in 1884.
First Female Agricultural Agent
In 1910 both the first male and the first female agricultural agents were employed by what is now UT Extension. On December 10, 1910, Virginia Moore was employed to be the first agent to work with women and girls in developing canning clubs. Her salary was $1,200. Canning clubs began in 1911.
First Elevator
The Physics and Geology Building (now the Earth and Planetary Sciences Building), completed for classes in 1930, was the first on-campus building to have an elevator.
First Female Agriculture Graduate
Isabel Robinson graduated from the College of Agriculture in 1921.
First ESPN GameDay Same-School Doubleheader
ESPN broadcast its first same-school doubleheader from Thompson-Boling Arena on January 15, 2011. The men’s basketball team played Vanderbilt at noon, and the Lady Vols played Vanderbilt’s Lady Commodores at 8:00 p.m.
First Female Alumni Association President
Madge Harrison of Memphis, who attended the UT Martin Branch and graduated from UT Knoxville in 1940, served as the first female Alumni Association president in 1972–73. She was also the first chair of the Women’s Activities Committee. During her term of office, the association sponsored its first alumni tours and established the Undergraduate Alumni … Continued
First ESPN GameDay Show from Campus
The first EPSN GameDay show was broadcast on Saturday, September 9, 1995, in connection with the Tennessee vs. Georgia football game. ESPN sent two crews—one produced the actual game, while the other produced the college football preview show, College GameDay. The on-campus studio for the GameDay show was the east pedestrian ramp at Thompson-Boling Arena. … Continued
First Female American World Indoor 800-meter Title Winner
Chanelle Price, former Lady Vol Track standout, became the first American woman to win the women’s 800-meter world indoor title on March 9, 2014, in Sopot, Poland. She finished with a personal best time of 2 minutes and .09 seconds.
First Executive Director of the Tennessee Governor’s Academy
Dr. Vena Long, professor of mathematics education and associate dean for research and professional development in the College of Education, Health, and Human Sciences, was named TGA’s first executive director in March 2007. A fourth generation teacher—on both sides of her family—Long came to UT in 1999 after teaching mathematics education at the University of … Continued