With funds appropriated by the state to provide accessibility within UT buildings to students with handicaps, an elevator was installed in the middle of the front hallway of Ayres in 1983. This elevator, being inconsistent with the original architectural design of the building, was removed as part of the 2009–10 renovation. Three elevators were installed … Continued
The class of 1918 provided the first permanent flagpole on the Hill. In the summer of 1940, an 80-foot flagpole (the highest in the vicinity) was erected. The flagpole was lowered to 40 feet as part of the 2004 relandscaping of the Hill. The 2009–10 renovation replaced the flagpole but retained the 40-foot height.
In May 1940 the All Students’ Club approved spending $400 from the surplus earned from student dances to provide floodlights to light Ayres Hall’s Tower. On October 10, 1940, ASC President Bascom Williamson presented the lights to the university on behalf of the students; President James D. Hoskins accepted the lights; the band gave a … Continued
Born in Memphis, Brown Ayres attended Washington and Lee and transferred to the Stevens Institute of Technology where he received the BS in engineering in 1878. Johns Hopkins granted him a fellowship in physics in 1879–80. By 1888 he had earned the PhD from Stevens. At Stevens, Ayres was especially interested in electricity and became … Continued
The BEST program was launched in 1997 under Bartlett banker and State Representative Dan Byrd. There were two parts: a prepaid tuition program and a college savings program. The prepaid tuition program assumed that tuition would rise at an annual rate of about 6 percent a year and earnings on investments would rise about 7.5 … Continued
In 1881 a Latin Science course was added to the curriculum. The science course, which led to the bachelor of science degree, included no Latin or Greek courses, either as required or optional. The Latin Science course combined elements of the classical and the science curricula. The UT catalog for 1881 to 1882 indicates that … Continued
The academic gown, worn by persons who have earned the bachelor’s degree, is black and is distinguished from graduate degree gowns by its flowing sleeves being pointed over the hands. Bachelor’s gowns are worn closed. Frequently, a white collar is worn with the gown, and bachelor’s hoods may be worn. At UT only students receiving … Continued
Dr. Badenhop joined the faculty of the university’s Department of Agricultural Economics and Rural Sociology in 1946 and continued to serve on the faculty until his retirement in 1988. He gained recognition as a specialist in agricultural marketing and economic development and authored many journal articles, Agricultural Experiment Station bulletins, and miscellaneous monographs. He was … Continued
Tom Baer was a member of Phi Kappa Tau Fraternity. On the evening of August 20, 1988, Jeffrey Underwood—who had been drinking at a nearby bar and taking drugs—entered an impromptu party being given at the Phi Kappa Tau house. The fraternity’s house manager, Scott Brown, asked him to leave. When Underwood pulled a knife, … Continued
John M. Bailey (MS, electrical engineering, 1952) was technical director of the Patriot Missile Project for Martin Marietta in Orlando from 1966 until he joined the UT faculty two years later. The Patriot, built to replace the Hawk missile systems in the role of protecting armies, was deployed in 1990 and 1991 to knock Iraqi … Continued