Few magazines of any type, let alone university alumni publications, are still printing after 100 years.
To those of us involved, it’s a privilege that we happen to be the current custodians of the magazine on this momentous occasion. We’ve planned several special features to celebrate with you over the three issues of our centennial year.
First, since the Tennessee Alumnus is for graduates of any University of Tennessee campus, we’re bringing you a special section in each issue with profiles of some of the best-known, most-distinguished and highly accomplished alumni of every UT campus—our 100 Centennial Alumni.
They’ll be featured in near-equal installments of 33, 33 and 34 profiles, respectively and in no particular order, in each issue this year.
Each of our 2017 issues also has its own, distinctive theme.
The theme for this one, introducing our centennial celebration, is “the past”—we look back at the last 100 years in some important areas in the life of the university. The theme for our May issue will be “the present,” when we focus on where the university and its graduates are now. “The future” is the theme for our final 2017 issue, in September, when we’ll take a peek at what’s next for UT students and alumni.
Flip through the current issue in your web browser.
You may have also noticed we gussied up a bit. The print magazine and website have both been redesigned to update and enhance our publication’s appearance for a more contemporary look. We hope you’ll find both user-friendly.
Finally, about the rest of us: the UT grads who aren’t among the Centennial Alumni.
When you begin with a pool of 370,000 UT alumni around the world, narrowing that to just 100 is a tall order. Almost 500 UT grads—living and posthumously—were nominated, and all nominees will be included in a package to be revealed on our website upon publication of our final anniversary issue in September.
That leaves the rest of us, the 369,500 others who earned our degrees and found them rewarding professionally, personally, or both, but who otherwise may be unsung members of the big UT alumni family. This anniversary celebration wouldn’t be complete without an acknowledgment of the vast presence of our alumni population via the everyman and everywoman UT grad, so here’s to you, us!