Centennial Alumni
In 2017, The Tennessee Alumnus magazine celebrates its 100th continuous year of publication by selecting 100 illustrious graduates to feature in three commemorative issues.
100 Distinguished Alumni
Alan Wilson
Business Leader
Allan Houston
Philanthropist and Former NBA Basketball Player
Amy Miles
Business Leader
Arthur “A.B.” Culvahouse Jr.
Government Service
Barry Wilmore
NASA Astronaut
Bill Landry
Actor, Author and Storyteller
Bill Rhodes
Business Leader
Bob Corker
Former U.S. Senator
Burwell Baxter “B.B.” Bell
U.S. Army General (ret.)
Candace Parker
WNBA Basketball Player
Carol Varnadore Aebersold
Entrepreneur
Charles “Chad” O. Holliday
Business Leader
Charles C. Anderson Jr.
Business Leader
Charlie Ergen
Business Leader
Chris Whittle
Entrepreneur
Clarence Brown
Filmmaker
Condredge Holloway
Trail-blazing Athlete
Davan Maharaj
Journalist
Dave Ramsey
Financial Advisor and Media Personality
Dennis Haskins
Actor
Diane Schmidt
Scientist and Inventor
Don & Ron Frieson
Philanthropists
Donnie and Terry Smith
Philanthropists
Dorothy Hackett Ward
Opera and Theater Pioneer
Douglas Owsley
Scientist
Ed Boling
UT President Emeritus
Ed Jones
Former U.S. Congressman
Estes Kefauver
Former U.S. Senator and Congressman
Everyman/Everywoman
UT Graduate
Frank Bowyer
Dental Pioneer and Philanthropist
Gary Wade
Former Tennessee Supreme Court Justice
George Connor
Professor
Hank Lauricella
Former Louisiana Legislator
Henry “Hank” Hartsfield Jr.
NASA Astronaut
Hershel P. “Pat” Wall
Physician and Administrator
Howard H. Baker Jr.
Statesman
Inquoris “Inky” Johnson
Motivational Speaker
Irvine Grote
Scientist
James “Bucky” Wolford
Business Leader
James “Jim” Clayton Sr.
Business Leader
Jerry Reese
General Manager, NFL New York Giants
Jim and Judi Herbert
Business Leaders and Philanthropists
Jim and Natalie Haslam
Business Leaders and Philanthropists
Jim Powell
Business Leader
Jimmy and Dee Haslam
NFL Team Co-Owners and Philanthropists
Jimmy Naifeh
Tennessee Legislator
Joe Johnson
UT President Emeritus
Joel Katz
Entertainment Lawyer
John and Ann Tickle
Philanthropists
John Cullum
Actor
John Fisher
Business Leader
John S. Wilder
Tennessee's 48th Lieutenant Governor
John Ward
Former Broadcaster
Johnny Majors
Former UT Knoxville Head Football Coach
Julius Johnson
36th Tennessee Commissioner of Agriculture
Kara Lawson
Former WNBA Basketball Player
Kim White
Business Leader
Larry Patrick
Entrepreneur
Lin Dunn
Basketball Coach
Lindsay Young
Lawyer and Philanthropist
Lindsey Nelson
Sports Broadcaster
Lowry Kline
Attorney and Philanthropist
Margaret Perry
UT Martin Chancellor Emeritus
Margaret Rhea Seddon
NASA Astronaut
Margaret Scobey
Diplomat
Mark E. Dean
Computer Engineer
Max Fuller
Business Leader
Min Kao
Entrepreneur
Nancy-Ann Min DeParle
Public Policy Expert
Pat Summitt
Former UT Lady Vols Basketball Coach
Paul Blaylock
Neurosurgeon
Peyton Manning
Former Professional Football Player
Phil Garner
Former Major League Baseball Player
Phil Wenk
Dentist and Business Leader
Philander Claxton
Educator
Phillip Fulmer
College Football Hall of Fame Coach
Randal Weber
Surgeon
Randy Boyd
UT President and Entrepreneur
Ray Jenkins
Defense Attorney
Reggie White
Former Professional Football Player
Ron Nutt
Inventor and Philanthropist
Ron Rice
Entrepreneur
Ruth Henderson McQueen
4-H Administrator and Philanthropist
Scott Kelly
NASA Astronaut
Sharon Lee
Tennessee Supreme Court Justice
Sharon Price John
Business Leader
Spurgeon Neel Jr.
Aviation Medicine Pioneer
Tamika Catchings
Former WNBA Basketball Player
Terry Douglass
Entrepreneur
Todd Helton
Former Major League Baseball Player
Tom Griscom
Communication Strategist
Van Jones
Human Rights Activist
Waymon L. Hickman Sr.
Business Leader
William “Muecke” Barker
Tennessee Supreme Court Justice
William B. Stokely III
Philanthropist
Willie Gault
Former Professional Football Player
Wilma Jordan
Business Leader
Winfield Dunn
Former Tennessee Governor
Selecting the Centennial Alumni
When your total alumni population is around 370,000, how do you narrow that down to 100 to celebrate along with this magazine’s 100th anniversary? You go to the alumni, of course.
In July 2016, we asked members of the nationwide UT Alumni Association—which includes graduates of all UT campuses—for nominations of alumni whose accomplishments and/or service and support to their alma maters made them worthy of inclusion among the 100 most significant UT alumni ever.
We asked that nominees for professional or volunteer achievement be UT graduates from across the UT system who distinguished themselves and their alma maters through contributions to their communities or professions in one of the following categories:
- Volunteer service
- Military service
- Government or elected office
- Public or community service
- Philanthropy
- Entrepreneurship or business
- Education
- Invention or discovery
- Arts or entertainment
- UT brand ambassador
Nominations were solicited from our readers via email, social media and on the Alumnus website. We sought nominations from the chief alumni affairs officers, chief communications officers, publications editors and chief development officers for each UT campus and for UT System administration.
When the nomination deadline came in August, 500 UT graduates from the distant to the recent past had been nominated. For the challenge of reducing that pool of 500 nominees to the group of 100 Centennial Alumni, the job went to a special panel of individuals with an exceptional sense of the university’s history.
So, who comprised this panel of knowledgeable alumni that whittled 500 nominees down to the final 100 memorable, accomplished or admired of UT graduates from all campuses and all career paths? They were:
- Dr. Joe Johnson – President emeritus, UT System
- Ann Holt Skadberg – UTAA volunteer and daughter of Andy Holt
- Lofton Stuart – Former executive director of the UTAA
- Charley Deal – UT Martin
- Chandra Harris-McCray – UT Foundation
- Jayne Holder – UT Chattanooga
- Tim Lanier – UT Health Science Center
- Tom Looney – UTIA
- Haylee Marshall – UT Knoxville
- Rickey McCurry – UT Foundation
- Susan Robertson – IPS
- Kerry Witcher – UTAA