Chris Whittle
Chris Whittle has built empires by challenging the status quo. Born in Etowah, Tennessee, his entrepreneurial drive emerged early. As…
Arthur “A.B.” Culvahouse Jr.
For more than four decades, Arthur “A.B.” Culvahouse Jr. quietly has played an important role at the intersection of law,…
Paul Blaylock
Born in the cotton fields of what he calls Skullbonia, Tennessee, it seems fate that Paul Blaylock pursued the skull…
Candace Parker
Through tears after leading her Los Angeles Sparks to a game five victory over the Minnesota Lynx during the WNBA…
Jimmy Naifeh
Over nearly four decades of public service, Jimmy Naifeh has left enduring footprints from one end of Tennessee to the…
Irvine Grote
How do you spell relief? R-O-L-A-I-D-S. Today’s heartburn relief may never have been available without Irvine Grote’s invention of dihydroxy…
Margaret Rhea Seddon
Margaret Rhea Seddon didn’t originally set out to be a pioneer. Yet, as a physician and one of the first…
Jim and Natalie Haslam
By Bill Haslam You don’t have to walk far around the UT Knoxville campus to see the impact that Jim…
Henry “Hank” Hartsfield Jr.
For NASA astronaut Henry “Hank” Hartsfield Jr., his shuttle missions proved anything but clear skies. Seconds before the maiden voyage…
Van Jones
Van Jones took the UT Martin campus by storm. As arguably the most controversial editor of the student newspaper, The…
John S. Wilder
John S. Wilder served as Tennessee’s 48th lieutenant governor, a seat he held for 36 years (1971-2007). When his tenure…
Johnny Majors
Johnny Majors was born into a Tennessee football family, the eldest of five sons who all played college football. Coached…
Tom Griscom
Tom Griscom’s career has taken him from the heart of a metropolitan newspaper to the corridors of the White House…
Joe Johnson
By Joe DiPietro Joe Johnson—right up there with Andy Holt and Ed Boling—is synonymous with the University of Tennessee. His…
Mark E. Dean
Mark Dean helped shape modern computing. He was chief engineer on the team that designed the original IBM PC in…
Hank Lauricella
By Jim Haslam (Knoxville ’52) Hank Lauricella was my best friend. We met when we were both 17 years old…
Philander Claxton
At 16 years old, Philander Priestly Claxton embarked on a career that would earn him the nickname “Crusader for Public…
Sharon Lee
When Tennessee Supreme Court Justice Sharon Lee dons her judicial robes and listens to arguments, she carries with her lessons…
Jim and Judi Herbert
Jim Herbert began his UT career living in a 10-by-12 room in the center of a greenhouse. It was board…
Ray Jenkins
Everyone knew the suspect well—a drunk farmer who lived with his younger wife in Tellico Plains, Tennessee. She’d been beaten…
Pat Summitt
By Joan Cronan When Pat Summitt found herself making the sudden and unexpected jump from assistant to head coach because…
Dorothy Hackett Ward
Despite racial tensions that crackled that hot Chattanooga summer, Dorothy Hackett Ward didn’t hesitate to go forward with a performance…
Bob Corker
A youthful Bob Corker went on a mission trip to Haiti and came home wanting to give back to his…
