A spark – that moment when two objects collide to create a catalyst for brilliant illumination. This type of inspiring energy is an everyday occurrence at the University of Tennessee.
Among our core tenets is research and discovery. The UT System is one of four university systems with a prestigious management role of a U.S. Department of Energy national laboratory. Through UT-Battelle, the university has managed Oak Ridge National Laboratory for the U.S. Department of Energy since 2000 and this year received a five-year extension on our contract. It is a powerful partnership for the university and made even stronger through the Oak Ridge Institute at UT, which received a $20 million grant from the U.S. Department of Energy. The institute will develop scientists and engineers who will help solve some of the world’s most complex problems.
Photo by Sam Thomas
It’s one of many ways in which UT, through our 50,000 students and 400,000 alumni around the globe, is impacting and changing the world in small and large ways. It’s part of what excites me about our “Everywhere You Look, UT” mural campaign on barns, silos and building walls across Tennessee. Everywhere, UT is doing good and impacting lives. (To learn more about the mural campaign or to suggest a location, visit everywhere.tennessee.edu/murals.)
I hope you are as inspired as I am about the great work occurring within our campuses and institutes.
Randy Boyd, Knoxville ’79
