Dr. Ella J. Day joined the faculty of the university’s College of Home Economics (later Human Ecology and now within the College of Education, Health, and Human Sciences) in 1929. She served as the first head of the Department of Child Development and Family Relations from 1937 until 1949. She retired from the university in 1957. Dr. Day was a pioneer in the study of child development. Her special interest was in language development in twins, and she wrote two articles on the subject for Child Development in 1932.
Under her leadership, the University of Tennessee Nursery School was planned and built in 1937. It served as a prototype nursery school for institutions throughout the country. Day’s contributions to the intellectual life of the university have been recognized by placement of a plaque in her honor on a faculty study.