Dr. Charles Hadley Weaver assumed the post of chancellor of UT’s Knoxville campus on July 1, 1968, with the reorganization of the university into a statewide system. He was a 1943 graduate of UT’s Engineering College, had taught at UT, and had returned to UT in 1965 (from Auburn, where he was Westinghouse Professor of … Continued

The first (and only) Blount College building (1799) was on Gay Street, at the site of what is now the Tennessee Theatre.

Engineering Professor R. C. “Red” Matthews introduced cheerleading and megaphones to the sidelines of the football field in 1907.

The 1906 addition to Estabrook Hall, which enwrapped the 1898 structure, was the first building of the university built with a state appropriation. The trowel used to lay the cornerstone at the event was so inscribed to commemorate the occasion.

The first chess tournament, sponsored by the Chess and Checkers Club (organized in 1911) opened February 17, 1912, and continued a month. There were 11 entries, and 198 games were played. The winner received a handsome five-inch loving cup.

The first building on the Hill was Old College, originally called the College Building, built at a cost of $13,000. The building was completed in 1828, repaired (but without the original dome) following the Civil War, and renovated in 1909. Old College was razed in 1919 to allow construction of Ayres Hall.

On June 11, 2007, a 108-member UT Choir, drawn from members of the Concert Choir, the Women’s Chorus, the Men’s Chorus, the Chamber Singers, and the UT Singers, presented a 7:00 p.m. prelude concert to the 8:00 p.m. New England Symphonic Ensemble’s performance and formed the core of a combined choir that performed Schubert’s Mass … Continued

After the Civil War, the cadets attending the university were fairly isolated. Under strict military discipline, their contacts—even with their friends in the city—were seriously restricted. In 1875–76 one of the cadets, Sgt. A. N. Jackson, turned the situation into a profitable business for himself. He established a private mail service between the university and … Continued

The first recipient of the Philander P. Claxton Medal was Lisa Ann Stone in 1996. The award recognizes a student graduating with an arts and sciences degree who plans to enroll in UT’s graduate education program and then teach in a Tennessee public school.

The site and building of Blount College (the original name of the University of Tennessee) was on Knoxville’s Gay Street, where the Burwell Building and Tennessee Theatre now stand. Completed and open by 1799, it was a frame structure located on the entire block—four acres of land. The trustees of the college had purchased the … Continued