A water bottle filling station, which refilled water bottles three times as fast as a typical water fountain, was installed on February 14, 2011, in the Aquatic Center. The EZH2O station, manufactured and donated by Elkay Manufacturing Company, used a sensor to keep the operation hands-free. This, along with the machine’s antimicrobial surfaces, helped to … Continued

Water Polo was introduced in 1973–74 in the intramural program of the university. In the first season it was offered, 59 men’s teams and 10 women’s teams competed. The Water Polo Club was organized in 1992 as one of the first members of the newly formed Southeastern Collegiate Conference.

Waterless urinals that save one to two gallons per flush and forty thousand gallons of water a year were first installed in 2004 in the Art and Architecture Building.

Curt Watson played football for his Cumberland County High School team—nicknamed “The Jets.” He entered UT in 1968 and became known as the “Crossville Comet” during his football days playing fullback. Watson earned All-SEC in each of his three varsity seasons. In 1971 he went on to professional football, playing two years with the New … Continued

In 1972 WATTec Inc. (Welding and Testing Technology Exhibition and Conference) was instituted under the joint sponsorship of 37 technical and professional societies in East Tennessee. The conference morphed into an energy conference but faded away.

In 2012 the Southeastern Conference announced that it would hold a “We Back Pat” week, during which SEC women’s basketball teams would provide support by increasing the awareness of the Pat Summitt Foundation and its mission during their games and would wear “We Back Pat” T-shirts during warm-ups, and the coaches wore the T-shirts on … Continued

In 1871 the US War Department established a weather station at the university and appointed Professor J. K. Payne to make “meteorological observations.” Soon thereafter, the Knoxville newspapers began the practice of printing daily weather reports and forecasts.

Charles Weaver was the first chancellor of the Knoxville campus. He was appointed in 1968 when the institution was reorganized into a statewide system. He was born in Murfreesboro and grew up in Nashville. He attended Vanderbilt for two years, working as a cable splicer’s helper for Southern Bell Telephone & Telegraph to help defray … Continued

The Faculty Senate passed a resolution encouraging the athletics director not to schedule weekday football games for UT at home or on the road in 2005. The March 7 resolution was in response to what senators called a “proliferation” of Thursday night football games in the Southeastern Conference. UT has not played a Thursday night … Continued

Dr. Wehry joined the faculty of the university’s Chemistry Department in 1970. He retired in 1996. In 1985 he received the Outstanding Scholar Award from the university’s Phi Kappa Phi Chapter and was named a Chancellor’s Research Scholar in 1986. He gained national recognition as a specialist in analytical optical spectroscopy and high-resolution fluorescence analysis. … Continued