First suggested by Dr. John H. Fisher of the English Department in the ’80s, the Alumni Academic Hall of Fame came into being in 1994 as one of the projects undertaken in commemoration of the two-hundredth founding of the institution (as Blount College). The dean of the libraries officially accepted emplacement of the Hall of Fame in the John C. Hodges Library on September 12, 1994, at the Hall’s first induction ceremony. State historian Wilma Dykeman Stokely and honoree John Noble Wilford spoke at the induction, which was held in the Jack E. Reese Galleria of Hodges Library.
Plaques honor alumni and alumnae who have achieved national or international distinction in the arts, letters, sciences, or professions. Members were to be inducted biennially.