Lawrence Derthick, who earned a master’s degree in education from UT in 1930, was appointed United States Commissioner of Education in 1956 and served through 1961. At the time of his appointment, he was serving as superintendent of city schools in Chattanooga. He was born in Hazel Green, Kentucky, where his father was head of … Continued

The 1869 designation of East Tennessee University as Tennessee’s land-grant institution required that no citizen of the state be excluded from the privileges of the institution on the basis of color or race, requiring the trustees to make necessary provisions for the separate accommodation or instruction of any person of color who applied and was … Continued

On January 31, 2011, more than five hundred students, faculty, staff, and community members marched from the Volunteer Statue to the Carolyn P. Brown Memorial Center for a program, which officially started a year of activities commemorating the 1961 enrollment of African Americans as members of the UT student body. The march was led by … Continued

In 1995 UT hosted the global finals of the Odyssey of the Mind problem-solving, creative competitions for children. Odyssey of the Mind was founded in 1978 by Dr. C. Samuel Miklus and Dr. Theodore Gourley at Glassboro State College (now Rowan University) in New Jersey. The first competition, known as the Olympics of the Mind … Continued

In 1955 President Brehm formed the UT Development Council to solicit gifts and grants for the university. Howard Preston, a Knoxville banker, was elected the first council chairman. The first gift to the Development Fund came at the council’s initial meeting, with the Sovereign States Life Insurance Company of Nashville’s gift of $1,000 annually to … Continued

The UT Development Council established this award in 2007 to recognize exceptional service in the advancement of excellence at UT. Charlie Brinkley, a UT Knoxville business administration graduate, was the first (2007) recipient. Brinkley was a member of the Development Council, had served on the Alumni Association Board of Governors, the UT Athletics Board, and … Continued

In 1884 Professor Hunter Nicholson became a librarian and within one year had cataloged the collection under the Dewey system and recovered nearly half of the 150 books found to be missing as the cataloging was done. A later librarian (Charles Plumb) asserted that he introduced the Dewey system in 1888, but his work was … Continued

Doug Dickey played quarterback at the University of Florida when Robert Woodruff (Athletics Director at UT when Dickey was appointed head football coach) was head coach. After graduation he coached for a year at a high school in St. Petersburg, Florida (1954), and coached at Fort Carson, Colorado (1955–56), while in the armed forces. He … Continued

Knuckleball major-league pitcher Robert Alan Dickey attended UT from 1993 to 1996, majoring in English literature and maintaining a 3.5 GPA before being drafted in the first round of the 1996 major league baseball draft by the Texas Rangers (18th overall pick). Initially offered a signing bonus of $810,000, the Rangers reduced their offer to … Continued

Eleanor Dickinson received the BA in fine arts from UT in 1952 and the MFA from the California College of Arts and Crafts in 1982. She studied at the San Francisco Art Institute from 1961 to 1963. She served as professor of art at the California College of Arts and Crafts from 1971 until her … Continued