First Alumnus to Serve as President of the University
The first alumnus to serve as the institution’s full-time president was James H. Piper, an 1830 graduate, who served for one year during the 1833–34 school year.
First African American Vice Chancellor
Dr. Clifton Woods III, who had previously served as interim provost, was appointed vice president for research by Chancellor Loren Crabtree in January 2004. He served until becoming associate to the chancellor in August 2006.
First Alumnus to Teach at the University
David S. Hart, class of 1821, joined the faculty as tutor and mathematics teacher upon his graduation and served from 1821 to 1823.
First African American Vice President of the UT System
UT President Lamar Alexander announced in January 1989 the appointment of Dr. Michael Nettles to the newly created position of vice president for assessment. Nettles held the bachelor’s degree from UT and two master’s degrees and a doctorate from Iowa State. He came to UT from the Educational Testing Service in Princeton where he was … Continued
First Alumnus to Win a Pulitzer Prize
Owen Davis, who attended UT as a subfreshman in 1888–89, received the Pulitzer Prize for drama for his play, Ice-Bound, in 1923.
First African American Football Team Captain in the SEC
Linebacker Jackie Walker was elected team captain in 1971, becoming the first African American SEC football captain. (Gary Theiler and Phillip Fulmer were elected alternate captains.)
First African American President of the Faculty Senate
Dr. Dhyana Ziegler of the Broadcasting Department was elected to the 1995 presidency of the Faculty Senate.
First African American Fraternity Pledge
Charles B. Fancher Jr., a junior journalism major from Nashville, was one of 39 pledges tapped by Zeta Beta Tau Fraternity in fall 1968. Fancher indicated that he went to a lot of houses, was asked to return to several, but decided to go only to ZBT.
First African American President of the Student Government Association
Jimmie Baxter was the first African American to hold this office. He was elected in 1969. When the votes were first counted, he had lost the election by two hundred votes, but the Student Tribunal declared the election to be invalid because of the requirement of placing Social Security numbers on the IBM ballots. In … Continued
First African American Graduates
Lillian Jenkins received the MS in special education in August 1954. Harry S. Blanton earned the first doctoral degree, the EdD in educational administration and supervision in 1959. R. B. J. Campbelle Jr. was the first African American to earn the LLB (Law) degree in 1956. Brenda Joyce Peel was the first to earn the … Continued