Upon recommendation of the College of Law, the UT Board of Trustees approved awarding an honorary doctorate of laws to John Seigenthaler at the spring 2013 College of Law spring commencement. A Nashville native, Seigenthaler worked at the Tennessean for 43 years, moving up from reporter to assistant city editor to special assignment editor and ultimately to editor, publisher, and CEO. While there, he investigated corruption within the local branch of the teamsters and looked into the criminal activities of Dave Beck and Jimmy Hoffa. His articles led to the impeachment trial of Chattanooga Criminal Court Judge Ralston Schoolfield.
In the early 1960s, Seigenthaler served in the US Department of Justice as administrative assistant to Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy. During the Freedom Rides of 1961, Seigenthaler was sent in his capacity as assistant to Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights John Doar to be the chief negotiator for the government in its attempts to work with Alabama Governor John Malcolm Patterson. As he attempted to assist Susan Wilbur, a Freedom Rider who was being chased by an angry mob, he was hit by a mob member with a pipe and knocked unconscious.
In 1982, while still working at the Tennessean, Seigenthaler became founding editorial director of USA Today. He retired as chairman emeritus of the Tennessean and from USA Today in 1991.
Seigenthaler founded the First Amendment Center in 1991 to create national discussion, dialogue, and debate about First Amendment rights and values. The center is an operating program of the Freedom Forum and is associated with the Newseum and the Diversity Institute. The center has offices in the John Seigenthaler Center at Vanderbilt University and at the Newseum in Washington, DC.
Seigenthaler attended Peabody College, which is now part of Vanderbilt University, and the American Press Institute at Columbia University. He served in the US Air Force after World War II.