Governor Frank Clement named Clayton Dekle Tennessee’s first state architect in 1955, following Dekle’s service with Tennessee’s Parks System. The Georgia Tech architecture graduate became the UT system’s director of Facilities Planning in 1981, a position he held at his death in 1987. The position was broadened from that of University Architect following Malcolm Rice’s retirement. He was instrumental in restoring the state Capitol Building in Nashville, served as an architectural consultant on a variety of other historic preservation projects, and was an architectural adviser for the redevelopment plan of Fisk University.