In 1994, during the investiture of the chancellor of the Knoxville campus at the Charter Day celebration on September 12, the Chancellor’s Medallion was introduced and became part of the official academic regalia of those who serve and have served as chancellor of UT Knoxville.
The medallion, designed by Ted Williams, UT alumnus and graphic artist in the UT Publications Services Office, was based on design suggestions made by 14 students in art classes taught by Lynn Jodrell and Michael Richards during the spring 1994 semester. The field of the medallion bears a torch and surrounding this central representation of the role of the university to prepare and to serve is a border reflecting the rich heritage of the institution. Petals of daisies, which grew in profusion on the Hill in the early nineteenth century, suggest the growth, flowering, and spread of knowledge, as well as the land-grant mission of the university. The petals are interspersed with a U and a superimposed T, recalling that the Territorial Assembly chartered Blount College at its first session that was held in Knoxville two years before Tennessee became a state. The symbolic UT points to the position of the institution as the university of the entire state, which it became in 1879 with its redesignation as the University of Tennessee.
On the reverse of the medallion is inscribed the name of the chancellor and the date of election to the position by the UT Board of Trustees.
The wearing of a seal or coat of arms with academic regalia by the heads of universities began in the sixteenth century in Italy, with a chain and seal of office being worn by rectors, chancellors, and presidents of universities. As part of the bicentennial observance, the Chancellor’s Medallion became a part of the official academic regalia of those who serve and have served as chancellor of the institution.
In 2010 the medallion itself was changed to a version of the chancellor’s medal created in 2010 by Chuck Thomas in the university’s Creative Services Department. The new medallion features a representation of Ayres tower and the date of founding of the institution surrounded by a thin, orange band, around which are the words Chancellor and The University of Tennessee, Knoxville. The medallion hangs from a ceremonial chain of office that has small plaques giving the names and dates of service of previous chancellors and round dividers with the center of the UT seal on them. The back of the medallion has the same surrounding band but replaces Ayres tower with the UT logo showing the shape of the state as the top of the U and T.