Team Wins Statewide Competition for Fifth Time

Featured Photo: From left, Drew Reynolds, Daniel Trentham, Leanah Chestnut, Associate Professor of Finance Hunter Holzhauer, Jacob Snook and Reedhi Bamnelkar

For the fifth consecutive year, a team of UT Chattanooga students has won the Chartered Financial Analyst Institute Greater Tennessee Research Challenge.

The team—Jacob Snook, Daniel Trentham, Reedhi Bamnelkar, Leanah Chestnut and Drew Reynolds—are members of the SMILE Fund (Student Managed Investment Learning Experience) in the Gary W. Rollins College of Business. SMILE members research and make decisions on where to invest money from the UC Foundation.

For the competition, they analyzed SmileDirectClub, a Nashville-based direct-to-consumer medical technology company that provides clear aligners to help straighten teeth.


Martin Chosen for Educator Award

Erika Martin

Erika Martin (Chattanooga ’12, ’16) is one of 46 public school educators nationwide to receive the California Casualty Award for Teaching Excellence by the National Education Association Foundation.

Named after the California Casualty Insurance Co., the award recognizes educators for their dedication to the profession, community engagement, professional development, attention to diversity and advocacy for fellow educators.

“Being a classroom teacher, and now an instructional coach, continues to provide opportunities to work toward positive changes in education for all students. That is what motivates me daily,” says Martin.

She has been an elementary school instructor in the Hamilton County School System for almost 10 years.


To the Rescue

A father and daughter photographed together in a parking lot
Hannah and Brad Petty

UTC freshman Hannah Petty helped her father, Brad, a captain in the Chattanooga Fire Department, save a woman’s life on the side of Interstate 24 west of Chattanooga.

The woman had been shot in the head by a man in a passing car. While her father was helping to stop the blood flow and stabilize the woman, Hannah spoke with a 911 operator, relaying medical information from her father.

“I went into it thinking, ‘I’m going to do anything that I can do, kind of control the controllable,’” Hannah says.

The woman lived, and a man was later arrested and charged with conspiracy to commit attempted first-degree murder and unlawful possession of a weapon while committing a dangerous felony.


50th birthdays Celebrated


Five National Pan-Hellenic Council fraternity and sorority organizations celebrated their 50th anniversaries at UT Chattanooga in 2021. Kappa Alpha, Delta Sigma Theta and Zeta Phi Beta sororities and Omega Psi Phi and Alpha Phi Alpha fraternities all opened chapters at UTC in 1971.