The costumed Smokey began competing in the College National Mascot Championships in the early 1990s, and in 2000 first won the national championship in the contest. Schools send in two-minute tapes of their mascots doing community service, visiting with children, and other instances of interacting with people. Twelve schools are selected to compete by presenting … Continued

In 2005 the Athletics Department replaced the image of the affable bluetick hound with a snarling Smokey, adding six new Smokey logos and retiring the previous Smokey figure. The new marks included two “puppy” versions of Smokey that retained a pleasant visage of the mascot.

In September 1978, the first issue of Smokey’s Tale was mailed to subscribers and supporters of UT athletics. A picture tabloid covering UT and Southeastern Conference sports, the magazine was published 40 times a year—each week during September through May and each month in the summer. The first editor was Rob Schriver, and Coach Ray … Continued

In 1976 the Men’s Athletics Department requested Alpha Gamma Rho national agricultural fraternity to consider undertaking training the mascot and caring for Smokey during games and other events. Two students annually serve as Smokey’s trainers, one being the senior trainer and one serving as a junior in training. The trainers receive a partial scholarship and … Continued

Beginning July 1, 1986, students and faculty were allowed to smoke only in designated areas, which included private, enclosed offices; open spaces and streets outside UT buildings; lounges specifically designed for people to smoke; lobby areas of sports complexes; and rooms in residence halls. The UT Institute of Agriculture adopted a policy of allowing smoking … Continued

Started in 1978, the Smoky Mountain Field School, managed by UT University Outreach, offers courses and experiences using the Great Smoky Mountains National Park as the “classroom.”

In 1973 Professor David Etnier of the UT Ecology and Evolutionary Biology Department discovered a previously unreported Tennessee fish, Percina tanasi—a species of darter that is a bottom-dwelling, current-loving perch—in the Little Tennessee River. In 1974 TVA’s Tellico Dam project threatened to eradicate the 12 miles of river that was the fish’s only known spawning … Continued

A 1973 industrial engineering graduate, Richard Snead, returned to Miami upon graduation as an engineer to work with a construction company. He worked his way up to project manager, where his primary area of responsibility was constructing buildings for the restaurant industry, and Burger King was one of his major clients. Burger King offered him … Continued

Dr. Snider joined the faculty of Industrial Engineering Department of the university in 1968 and served as head of the department from 1976 to 1991. He continued as a faculty member and director of the Engineering Institute for Trauma and Injury Prevention until he was killed in 1997 in the crash of a small plane … Continued

William T. Snyder earned the BS from UT in 1954 in mechanical engineering, and the MS (1956) and PhD (1958) from Northwestern. He served on the faculties of North Carolina State and SUNY Stony Brook before joining the faculty at the UT Space Institute as associate professor of aerospace engineering in 1964. In 1970, the … Continued