The 228-seat auditorium in the Science and Engineering Research Facility was named for Dwight and Gloria Kessel on January 22, 1997, honoring the couple for their longtime support of UT programs. Chancellor Bill Snyder and President Joe Johnson unveiled a plaque. Dwight Kessel, a 1950 industrial engineering graduate, had chaired the Chancellor’s Associates and UT Development Council, as well as the College of Engineering’s 21st Century Campaign. He was the recipient of the College of Engineering’s 1996 Outstanding Industrial Engineering Alumnus Award. He served as Knox County Executive from 1980 to 1984 and, at the time of the naming, was president of KnoxAir, an aviation service company. Gifts from the Kessels in June 1996 provided professorships and graduate student support in the College of Engineering and helped fund part of the County Technical Assistance Service in the UT system’s Institute for Public Service.