The Pasminco Mining Company, an Australian mining company, donated a mile-long rock sample (5,346-foot core drill sample) to the UT Department of Earth and Planetary Science in June 2003. The core, boxed in 120 containers, came from a site near Pasminco’s Gordonsville zinc mine. Dr. Robert Hatcher, who arranged the donation, indicated that studying the … Continued

The Rock, located at the corner of Volunteer Boulevard and Pat Summitt Street, serves as the unofficial message board for the institution. Individual students, student groups, and others paint the surface facing Volunteer Boulevard to express opinions, congratulations, or provide other messages. Only a very small portion of the top of this rock was visible … Continued

In December 2007, Dr. William Dunne, professor of earth and planetary science and associate dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, took a small sample of the Rock and analyzed it. His findings and observations were the following: The Rock has a layered nature consistent with being a sedimentary rock—these rocks are formed by … Continued

In 1952 UT’s Physics Department was awarded a $98,030 two-year contract by Redstone Arsenal, Huntsville. The scientists on the project, directed by R. R. Newton, associate professor of physics, were attempting to discover the causes of the inaccuracy of fin-stabilized rockets, to determine whether, by improved design, the accuracy of the rockets, then about 20 … Continued

“Rocky Top” was written by Felice and Boudleaux Bryant in only 10 minutes in 1967 in room 388 of the Gatlinburg Inn. It was released on December 25, first performed by the Osborne Brothers, and rose to #33 on the country music charts. The Bryants were working on a collection of slow tempo songs for … Continued

The Rocky Top Summer Basketball League, featuring players, recruits, and alumni from UT and other area colleges began in 2007. Teams, sponsored by local businesses, played at the Bearden High School gymnasium, which was not air-conditioned, to packed crowds. The league moved its location to the air-conditioned and larger Christian Academy of Knoxville gymnasium in … Continued

The words to “Rocky Top” are: Wish that I was on ol’ Rocky Top, down in the Tennessee Hills; / Ain’t no smog or smoke on Rocky Top; Ain’t no telephone bills; / Once I had a girl on Rocky Top; half bear the other half cat / Wild as a mink, but sweet as … Continued

Scholarships made possible by the bequest of Fred Mason Roddy and the foundation that has continued to support them are annually awarded to entering freshmen each year on the basis of academic merit and leadership. The awards are for four years, and recipients are invited to join the Chancellor’s Honors Program.

Fred Mason Roddy, a mechanical engineer, graduated from the university in 1927. He went to work for the Eastman Company in Kingsport. He invented a machine for granulating, dicing, and pelletizing plastic and founded Cumberland Engineering Company in Kingsport in 1939. He moved the company to the Providence, Rhode Island, area in 1940, and the … Continued

The football equipment room in Neyland-Thompson Sports Complex was named the Roger Frazier-Max Parrott Equipment Room in ceremonies held on January 25, 2003. Their classmate, Memphian Gordon Summerfield, made a gift to the STEP UP campaign for athletics facilities that resulted in the naming of the equipment room for equipment manager Roger Frazier and assistant … Continued