The Board of Trustees today approved the degrees for Tennessee natives John Seigenthaler and Mary Costa. Seigenthaler will receive an Honorary Doctor of Laws degree and speak at the College of Law commencement at 5:00 p.m. on May 10. Costa will speak and receive an Honorary Doctor of Humane and Musical Letters at the College of Arts and Science commencement at 9:00 a.m. on May 10.

Theirs will be the fifth and sixth honorary degrees UT Knoxville has awarded.

“Throughout his career as a journalist, writer, and public servant, Mr. Seigenthaler has been a staunch advocate and defender of free speech and civil rights. His passion for human equality, for the pursuit of truth, and for protection of free speech and a free press have improved the lives of all Americans,” College of Law Dean Doug Blaze wrote in his letter nominating Seigenthaler for the honor.

A Nashville native, Seigenthaler worked at The Tennessean for forty-three years, moving up from reporter to assistant city editor to special assignment editor and ultimately to editor, publisher, and CEO. While there, he investigated corruption within the local branch of the Teamsters and looked into the criminal activities of Dave Beck and Jimmy Hoffa. His articles led to the impeachment trial of Chattanooga Criminal Court Judge Ralston Schoolfield.

He took a short break from journalism in the early 1960s to serve in the US Department of Justice as administrative assistant to Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy. He served as negotiator with the governor of Alabama during the Freedom Rides. During that crisis, while attempting to aid Freedom Riders in Montgomery, he was attacked by a mob of Klansmen and hospitalized.

In 1982, while still working at The Tennessean, Seigenthaler became founding editorial director of USA Today. He retired as chairman emeritus of The Tennessean and from USA Today in 1991.

Seigenthaler founded the First Amendment Center in 1991 to create national discussion, dialogue, and debate about First Amendment rights and values. The center is an operating program of the Freedom Forum and is associated with the Newseum and the Diversity Institute. The center has offices in the John Seigenthaler Center at Vanderbilt University and at the Newseum in Washington, D.C.

Seigenthaler attended Peabody College, which is now part of Vanderbilt University, and the American Press Institute at Columbia University. He served in the US Air Force after World War II.

The other honorary degree recipient is a well-known Knoxvillian and advocate for children and advancing art and culture.

School of Music Director Jeff Pappas nominated Costa for the honorary degree, saying she was worthy of the honor “because of her extensive and varied career, not just as a musician and entertainer, but for her role as a cultural ambassador, an advocate for the arts, education, young musicians, and at-risk children at the regional and national levels.”

Costa studied at the Los Angeles Conservatory in the late 1940s. An internationally acclaimed soprano, she performed in forty-four operas and worked with many of Hollywood’s legendary entertainers, including Bing Crosby, Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Sammy Davis Jr., and Jack Benny.

But it was early in her career, while she was singing and doing commercials on the radio, that Walt Disney discovered Costa and cast her as Princess Aurora in the 1958 film Sleeping Beauty.

Costa’s big break in opera came in 1958, just after she finished Sleeping Beauty. She was chosen to replace an indisposed Elisabeth Schwarzkopf for a gala concert at the Hollywood Bowl. Costa went on to sing leading roles in opera houses worldwide, including the Metropolitan Opera, Covent Garden, the Royal Opera House in London, the Bolshoi Theatre, and the San Francisco Opera.

Costa—once heralded by The New York Times as “one of the most beautiful women to grace the operatic stage”—was the guest soloist at the memorial service for President John F. Kennedy at the Los Angeles Sports Arena in 1963. She also sang at the inaugural concert of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in 1971.

She received the Licia Albanese–Puccini Foundation’s Lifetime Achievement Award in 1989 and the Disney Legends Award in 1999, and was honored with the Metropolitan Opera Guild’s Distinguished Verdi Performance of the Twentieth Century for her 1964 Met debut as Violetta in La Traviata. She was appointed to the National Council on the Arts by President George W. Bush in 2003 and served until 2007.

Costa has traveled across the country giving motivational talks at schools and colleges. She has served as an ambassador for Childhelp, a national nonprofit organization dedicated to helping victims of child abuse and neglect.

UT Knoxville also has given honorary degrees to Howard H. Baker Jr., Dolly Parton, Al Gore, and Charles O. “Chad” Holiday.

Read more about today’s Board of Trustees meeting at the University of Tennessee System website.

—

C O N T A C T :

Amy Blakely (865-974-5034, ablakely@utk.edu)

Patouillet has more than thirty years of experience in the alumni profession. Most recently, he led Patouillet Consulting, LLC, an alumni and development consulting firm based Atlanta, Georgia. Before taking the company full time in December 2011, he served as the associate vice president of alumni affairs and executive director of the University of Florida Alumni Association, associate vice chancellor and executive director at the University of Pittsburgh Alumni Association, and executive director of the University of South Florida Alumni Association.

He will begin serving in his new role July 1.

“Lee has a tremendous reputation in the industry and a clear understanding of our journey to become a Top 25 institution,” said Chancellor Jimmy G. Cheek. “During his career, he has led alumni programs at two Top 25 public research universities, and understands how to engage alumni to help us meet that goal.”

Patouillet has a bachelor’s in American studies from the University of South Florida, a master’s in education from UT, and a doctorate in administrative and policy studies from the University of Pittsburgh. The alumni organizations led by Patouillet have received more than 10 Council for Advancement and Support of Education (CASE) circle of excellence awards.

“We are ecstatic to bring someone with Lee’s background to our team. Not only is he an industry leader in alumni relations, but as a UT alum, he has a passion for our great institution and understands what makes UT special,” said Scott Rabenold, vice chancellor for development and alumni affairs for the Knoxville campus.

“As an advancement professional and a proud alumnus, I am honored and excited to be joining the team committed to UT’s goal of becoming a Top 25 public research university, and I look forward to developing a great partnership with the UT Alumni Association,” Patouillet said.

UT Knoxville, has more than 220,000 alumni worldwide. For more information, visit the Alumni Association’s website.

—

C O N T A C T :

Tiffany Carpenter (865-974-1476, tcarpent@utk.edu)

See the new design at the Torchbearer website.

Rogero will deliver the keynote address and also will be presented with the 2013 College of Communication and Information Diversity Award.

Alice R. Bowling Wirth, a lecturer in the college’s School of Communication Studies and director of the college’s Diversity Student Leaders Society (DSLS), said the banquet is DSLS’s major fundraiser for the year.

“The banquet provides an inspirational diversity experience for everyone who attends in addition to raising funds to support the college’s diversity and inclusion program,” Wirth said. “Our goal is to provide an open and accepting community for CCI students, to provide underrepresented students with support, mentoring, and programs to help them stay in college, and to help students be more marketable in the global workforce.”

Rogero was elected mayor of Knoxville in 2011. She is the first woman to hold the office. Her official biography says she “believes Knoxville’s strength comes from the diversity of its people” and the region’s natural resources.

Prior to joining the City of Knoxville, Rogero held leadership positions in organizations such as UT’s Community Partnership Center, Knoxville’s Promise—The Alliance for Youth, Dolly Parton’s nonprofit Dollywood Foundation, and the Coal Employment Project.

Rogero is a 1992 graduate of Leadership Knoxville and a 1994 graduate of Community Leadership. She holds a bachelor’s degree in political science from Furman University and a master’s degree in urban and regional planning from UT.

Born in Jacksonville, Florida, Rogero placed her college studies on hold in the 1970s to work with labor leader Cesar Chavez to help farm workers improve their living and working conditions.

In addition to the keynote speech, the program will include creative diversity presentations, music, and dancing. A limited number of tickets are still available. To check on ticket availability, contact Beth Cole at 865-974-1540 or bethcole@utk.edu.

—

C O N T A C T :

Charles Primm (865-974-5180, primmc@utk.edu)

She will be discussing the mission at the Science Forum on Friday.

The Science Forum is a weekly brown-bag lunch series that allows professors and area scientists to discuss their research and the general public to learn about science through a conversational presentation.

The weekly presentations begin at noon on Fridays in Room C-D of Thompson-Boling Arena. Attendees can bring lunch or purchase it at the arena. Each presentation is forty minutes long and is followed by a question-and-answer session. Science Forum presentations are free and open to the public.

Kah will talk about the mission’s goal to assess if any area of Mars is habitable or has been in the past. She will explain the makeup of the Curiosity rover, how it will assess habitability, and a few of its recent discoveries. She also will discuss why the mission chose Gale Crater for this excursion.

Kah’s job on the mission is co-investigator on several of the camera teams, working in collaboration with Malin Space Science Systems in San Diego, California.

A few days a week, she works to help choose objects for the rover to photograph and makes sure that the cameras are programmed correctly.

“The remaining time I act as a full-fledged part of the science team as a geologist and an expert in interpreting both textural information and chemistry of rocks: participating in discussions and planning sessions, and interpreting the images and other data that come down,” she said.

Future Science Forums will feature:

• February 22: Lt. Robby Nix, critical care paramedic for the Rural Metro Fire Department, presenting “Firefighter Paramedics and the Hot Potato Baby—It’s Not What You Think.”
• March 1: Juan-Carlos Idrobo, research scientist at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, discussing “Exploring the Universe One Atom at a Time.”
• March 8: Dr. Paul Campbell Erwin, professor and head of the Department of Public Health, presenting “John Snow and Cholera: The Foundation for Modern Disease Investigation.”
• March 15: Kevin Hoyt, director of UT Forest Resources AgResearch and Education Center, presenting “The Proposed UT AgResearch Gas and Oil Well Research Project.”
• April 5: William T. Bogart, president of Maryville College and professor of economics, discussing “Cargo Cult Economic Policy: Urban Development and Green Energy.”
• April 12: Stephanie K. Drumheller-Horton, instructor of earth and planetary sciences, presenting “Crocodylian Bite Marks in the Fossil Record.”
• April 19: Devon M. Burr, assistant professor of earth and planetary sciences, discussing “The Moon That Would Be A Planet: Saturn’s Giant Titan.”
• April 26: Joan Markel, curator of Civil War exhibits at the McClung Museum, presenting “Digging into Our Civil War Past.”

The Science Forum is sponsored by the UT Office of Research. For more information about the Science Forum, visit the Office of Research website.

—

C O N T A C T :

Amy Blakely (865-974-5034, amy.blakely@tennessee.edu)

Holly Gary (865-974-2225, hgary@utk.edu)

Emma MacMillan, an alumna with a degree in journalism and electronic media, has the big idea of using compelling writing to get the public interested in science.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DvJ5MLZCpaY

The Vol Court spring 2013 program will run through March 12. The workshops will be held at 5:15 p.m. on Tuesdays in Room 102 of the James A. Haslam Business Building.

The Anderson Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation, housed in the College of Business Administration, is hosting the program. Vol Court will offer students, UT employees, and the community the opportunity to learn from entrepreneurs and business experts about the essentials of getting a company off the ground.

Workshop presenters are from various organizations throughout Tennessee, and all have experience with entrepreneurial companies.

The March 12 session will include a pitch competition in which the top presenting individual or team will win $1,000 and the second-place team will win $500. Students attending Vol Court will have the opportunity to better prepare themselves for the upcoming campus-wide Undergraduate Business Plan Competition.

Session topics are:

• Feb. 5: How to Develop a Business Model
• Feb. 12: Marketing to Your Customers
• Feb. 19: Determining Your Legal Structure
• Feb. 26: How to Choose and Set Up the Business Structure
• March 5: Understanding Financial Statements
• March 12: Pitch Competition

Vol Court is sponsored by the UT Federal Credit Union, the UT Research Foundation, Morehous Legal Group, Tennessee Alumnus magazine, and Pershing Yoakley and Associates.

To learn more about the presenters, sponsors, and each session, visit www.facebook.com/VolCourt.

–

CONTACT:

Joy Fisher (865-974-0520, joy.fisher@tennessee.edu)

Lola Alapo (865-974-3993, lalapo@utk.edu)

Brian Rider, a graduate assistant at the UT Center for Physical Activity and Health, noted that people who try to do too much too soon typically get injured or discouraged.

“Whatever your fitness goal, start slow,” Rider said. “You want to develop new fitness habits for a lifetime, not just for January.”

Rider offers these tips for maintaining fitness goals in the new year and beyond:

• Establish short-term goals first. Achieving short-term goals helps provide the continued confidence to work toward those long-term goals.
• Don’t get discouraged. There will always be setbacks. Recognize obstacles and work to avoid them. If you’re not a morning person, schedule workouts for lunch or later in the day. Find exercises and activities you enjoy and focus on those.
• Put your goals in writing and make them specific and measurable. Goals are tougher to ignore when they’re in writing and placed where you see them daily.
• Don’t wait until Monday. Too often, when people miss a workout or fall off their diet, they decide to wait until the start of the next week to get back on the wagon. That just allows for more days to fall behind. Start back up immediately and keep momentum moving forward.
• Find a workout buddy. Often it’s easier to work out with a friend who can offer motivation—and accountability.
• Don’t assume you need to set aside an hour or join a gym. The 2008 national physical activity guidelines recommend 150 minutes of moderate physical activity a week. That can be accomplished in segments of as little as ten minutes of physical activity at a time throughout the course of the week. For those targeting weight loss as a goal, additional minutes are needed.

The UT Center for Physical Activity and Health is dedicated to helping individuals enhance their health, fitness, and quality of life. For more information about the center, visit the center’s website or e-mail cpah@utk.edu.

–

CONTACT:

Lola Alapo (865-974-3993, lalapo@utk.edu)

The submission deadline for the contest is August 1, 2013.

The competition is sponsored by the College of Arts and Sciences, the School of Music, and the Southern Chapter of the College Music Society.

“It takes a long time to write a piece of music and we want to give musicians as much lead time as possible,” said David Royse, associate professor of music education, who is coordinating the competition along with Brendan McConville, assistant professor of music theory, and Barbara Murphy, associate professor of music theory.

The competition is named after famous jazz trumpeter Doc Severinsen, the longtime band leader of the Tonight Show with Johnny Carson and a Grammy Award winner. Severinsen will help judge the contest.

All types of composers are encouraged to apply, from church musicians and music teachers to professional composers and students.

“There may be a young Mozart out there and we want to find him or her,” Royse said.

The music must be for solo trumpet and large ensemble, which could either be a symphony orchestra or wind ensemble.

The first-place prize is $10,000, second-place prize is $5,000, and third-place prize is $2,000.

The winners will debut their works during a world premiere performance with internationally renowned trumpeters Vince DiMartino and Allen Vizzutti on Friday, February 14, 2014, at 8:00 p.m. in Cox Auditorium of the Alumni Memorial Building.

The performance will be held during the Joint Regional Conference of the College Music Society Southern Chapter, the College Music Society Mid-Atlantic Chapter and the Association for Technology in Music Instruction, planned for February 13 to 15, 2014, at UT’s new Natalie L. Haslam Music Center.

Click here for more information including contest details, requirements and rules.

–

CONTACT:

Lola Alapo (865-974-3993, lalapo@utk.edu)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kxf1_ocibp8

“When you graduate from this university, you can compete on the world stage with anybody, from any time and any place,” said Holliday, who was the speaker of the fall commencement ceremony, held this morning at Thompson Boling Arena.

Holliday, chair of Bank of America and former CEO of DuPont, also received an honorary doctorate in engineering during the ceremony.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kxf1_ocibp8

More than 1,800 UT students received undergraduate and graduate degrees at ceremonies held Friday and today.

Holliday said the American research university is a unique invention and “the best in the world by a long piece.”

“We don’t have a copyright on it, we don’t have a patent on it but all those who have tried to copy it have not been successful,” said Holliday, who recently chaired a National Research Council committee focused on strengthening higher education’s role in global competitiveness. “In this world that you’re going into, take great confidence that you have what it takes to compete.”

He asked the group to have faith in America and its ability to restore its position as a global power.

“What we have seen in 2012 is a fundamental shift in the key mechanism for a modern society, a modern economy, and that’s energy,” Holliday said. “Due primarily to American creativity, which has found a way to tap natural gas and oil that’s been here all along, we see a route now to energy stability and independence within a couple of decades.”

He added: “I’m telling you that this country is going to lead the world again and you can put that in your notebook and just check me on that over the next couple of years.”

The alumnus urged graduates to protect their integrity and to seek careers with companies and organizations that demonstrate high ethical standards.

Holliday received his bachelor’s in industrial engineering from UT’s College of Engineering in 1970. Chancellor Cheek said UT is “incredibly proud to claim him as our own, a Tennessee Volunteer.”

“Chad Holliday is an accomplished Tennessean who is firmly committed to advancing business, industry and society as a whole,” Chancellor Jimmy G. Cheek said. “We are proud to award him an honorary degree from his alma mater and the flagship institution of our state.”

A Nashville native, Holliday parlayed a college summer job at DuPont’s Old Hickory plant in Nashville into a 38-year career at DuPont.

Holliday is a member of the National Academy of Engineering and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. He is currently chair of the National Academy of Engineering.

Holliday also chairs the American Energy Innovation Council, whose mission is to re-establish America’s energy technology leadership in developing clean energy technologies.

Holliday and his wife, Ann Blair Holliday, have two sons, Chad and Scot.

–

CONTACT:

Lola Alapo (865-974-3993, lalapo@utk.edu)

Karen Simsen (865-974-5186, karen.simsen@tennessee.edu)

Larsen Jay, the nonprofit’s founder and executive director, wants to take the charity nationally. Through skills he’s learned at UT, he’s poised to do just that. Jay graduates today from UT’s Executive Master of Business Administration for Strategic Leadership program.

Starting next year, the Knoxville-based charity will expand to one other city—Nashville, Indianapolis or Tampa—with plans to spread to twenty target cities around the country in coming years and eventually to expand internationally.

Jay has received requests from across the country and from people in Australia and England who are interested in his work.

“The goals are simple: Do another one and prove it can be successful again,” said Jay, a former television and film producer.

Since its inception in 2008, Random Acts of Flowers has delivered flowers to almost 20,000 people. The 100 percent recycling green charity receives donated used flowers from weddings, special events, churches, funeral homes, and retailers. The flowers are pulled apart and rebuilt into professional-looking arrangements.

“We’re trying to make one person’s day better with somebody else’s garbage,” Jay said. “We’re helping create an industry that’s a receptacle for the second-hand flower market. There really isn’t an industry that deals with what to do with used flowers. But it’s often the number one question brides and funeral homes have.”

Through UT’s intensive year-long executive MBA program, Jay gained “the ability to think on a much bigger level and an enormous toolbox of practical knowledge that’s going to help build this into a national charity,” he said. “I learned skills and made connections I didn’t have before.”

The organization’s business model, he said, is simple—an endless supply of free flowers, countless numbers of people who could use a smile, and a large team of volunteers.

“We fit into one little sliver of the market that no one else touches,” Jay said.

The idea for the charity was born out of one of the darkest periods of Jay’s life. In summer 2007, a ladder collapsed from underneath him while he was fixing the roof of his workshop in North Knoxville. He landed face down on the concrete, breaking his left arm, left and right wrists, right elbow, right femur, nose, and ten facial bones.

During his time in the intensive care unit, the trauma unit, and then a rehabilitation center, he received multiple deliveries of flowers every day from friends and family around the country. When he was able to leave his room via wheelchair, he noticed many of the patients on his hospital floor had “no flowers, no plants, no visitors, and no life” in their rooms, he said.

So he and family members loaded up his wheelchair with his excess flowers and delivered them room by room.

“The reactions from the people in the rooms were unbelievable,” Jay said.

A year later, he established Random Acts of Flowers. The organization has about 300 volunteers and a number of partner hospitals, nursing homes, and hospices. The liaisons there identify people who haven’t had visitors or who are having a rough time. Deliveries are made several times every week.

The organization is supported through financial donations, fundraising events, and grants from corporations and foundations. It delivers 600 to 800 bouquets a month.

“I know virtually nothing about flowers. I’m a TV and film producer,” Jay said. “But I know about happiness and the impact a moment of kindness and compassion can have on a person.”

To learn more about Random Acts of Flowers, visit www.randomactsofflowers.org.

To learn about UT’s Executive MBA program, visit the program’s website.

—

CONTACT:

Lola Alapo (865-974-3993, lalapo@utk.edu)

As the years passed, he realized the experience made him want to go into hospital administration—because he knows that’s a career where he can have a positive impact.

Today, Haag takes a major step toward that goal when he receives his MBA from UT.

“I know a little about hospitals,” said Haag, of Hendersonville, Tennessee. “I was at Vanderbilt Children’s Hospital for three months. I see hospitals as a place of healing.”

Haag’s tragedy occurred one Christmas Eve; he was eight years old and riding in the car with his father and two brothers. The crash killed his father and middle brother and severely injured Andrew and his oldest brother. Andrew suffered a broken lower back and major abdominal injuries, leaving him unable to walk without forearm crutches and leg braces.

Already big fans of University of Tennessee football, Haag and his brother, Eric, received phone calls after the accident from then-UT Head Football Coach Phillip Fulmer and quarterback Peyton Manning.

“I remember looking across the hall and seeing my brother’s excitement while talking on the phone,” remembers Haag. “Then my phone rang. It was Coach Fulmer and Peyton Manning. They were in Florida for the Citrus Bowl, and they called us! There are no words to describe what that means to a child at a time like that.”

Over the years, Fulmer remained in contact with the family, bringing both Haag and his brother under his wing as student equipment managers in the Vols football program. With the obvious tie to sports, Haag originally thought his path would be sports management or marketing.

“In my senior year as a marketing major, I decided that sports wasn’t the path I wanted to travel,” Haag said. “I kept thinking about my childhood experiences and realized that the hospital setting was where I could have the most impact. I wasn’t interested in the clinical side —I wanted administration—so I knew I needed to get my MBA.”

While earning his MBA, Haag has worked as a graduate assistant in the Center for Executive Education and as an administrative intern at UT Medical Center.

“Being in the hospital strengthened my commitment to the path I am on,” he says. “Whether wearing a white coat in the patient’s room or a business suit in the accounting office, caring for patients is the first priority.”

—

C O N T A C T :

Amy Blakely (865-974-5034, ablakely@utk.edu)

Boonstra graduates from UT’s Aerospace and Defense MBA program today.

Boonstra had earned his bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in Daytona Beach, Florida. He joined the military while in college.

On September 11, 2001, he was based in Kentucky as U.S. Army helicopter pilot with the prestigious 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment Airborne, also known as the Night Stalkers.

He was at home when the first plane commandeered by a terrorist hit the World Trade Center.

“I told my wife, ‘This is no accident,’ and I headed out the door for the base. I knew something very foreboding was happening.”

Boonstra was walking in the door at his office when the second plane hit the Twin Towers. The elite military team around him stood silent and focused.

“We all just looked at each other and silently started preparing–boxes being packed, gear put in order,” Boonstra said. “We knew. Even in the midst of the tragedy, I felt such pride that we were ready. We didn’t know how, why, or what, but we were ready.”

The unit was deployed almost immediately. “The 160th was smaller then,” Boonstra said. “It is the only unit I know of that has been constantly deployed since 9/11.”

Boonstra’s deployments included two tours of duty in Afghanistan and thirteen tours of duty in Iraq. He was part of the Jessica Lynch rescue, providing aviation support for the ground forces that went in to get her.

There were other rescue missions for Boonstra, but the details aren’t things he can talk about.

“Rescue operations always touch something in a soldier. Being able to bring someone home to enjoy the freedoms we are fighting for is a great honor,” he said.

Boonstra retired in 2009 and now lives Tucson, Arizona He is a program manager in advanced missile systems for the Raytheon Company, which specializes in defense, homeland security, and other government markets.

“As I get increasing levels of leadership, I thought it was important to understand the business side of my industry,” he said, explaining why he opted for UT’s ADMBA program.

Boonstra said the lessons he learned in his almost twenty-five years of military service have helped him in the business world and in the classroom.

“What makes a successful business is very much like what makes a good special ops unit,” he said. “You need a high-reliability organization with processes and procedures for getting things done. But you also need leaders who can make decisions based on gut and intuition.

“In business and in the military, that intuition is based on your experiences, years of learning, pattern recognition, and the ability to think on your feet. These traits are prominent in many of my classmates. The ADMBA faculty and class of 2012 are another exceptional team of which I am proud to be a part.”

—

C O N T A C T :

Amy Blakely (865-974-5034, ablakely@utk.edu)

The 1995 graduate of the College Scholars Program, who focused his last two years of study in the School of Art, was presented with an Accomplished Alumni award in New York on December 12. The Accomplished Alumni program recognizes notable alumni for their success and distinction within their field.

Guyton, who grew up in Lake City, Tennessee, lives and works in New York. The Whitney Museum of American Art is currently featuring a mid-career survey of Guyton’s work. The exhibition opened on October 4 and will continue until January 13, 2013.

“Wade is an unassuming person whose energy for making art is an inspiration to his colleagues, to his viewers, to our faculty, and to our students,” said Dottie Habel, director of the School of Art. “His work and his process contribute to the dialogue about contemporary art in important ways that have garnered attention here in the States as well as in the global arena.”

Entitled Wade Guyton: OS, which employs the common acronym for a computer’s operating system, the exhibition at the Whitney explores our changing relationships to images and artworks through the use of common digital technologies. The work purposefully misuses these technologies to create beautifully misprinted photos and blurred images that relate to our daily lives. The exhibition confronts viewers with a dramatic, non-chronological design of staggered rows of parallel walls resembling layered pages of a book. His work includes paintings, drawings, photography, and sculpture.

A recent New York Times article reviewing the exhibit called Guyton’s work a “cause for optimism,” saying, “Yes, interesting art is being made here and now.” To read the article, visit The New York Times.

Guyton has maintained strong ties with the School of Art at UT. He has recommended artists to participate in its highly competitive Artist-in-Residence (AIR) program and in exhibitions at the Ewing Gallery and the UT Downtown Gallery. Most recently, he and fellow alumni Meredyth Sparks (’94) and Josh Smith (’98), also respected artists based in New York, have launched an initiative to curate and produce a series of three limited edition art boxes of artwork by selected UT alumni and former AIRs to help the school’s fundraising effort to endow the AIR program, currently celebrating its thirty year anniversary.

“I would not be an artist if it were not for my UT experience,” Guyton said.

The award was presented by Habel and Theresa Lee, dean of the College of Arts and Sciences during a UT alumni reception.

Guyton joins a variety of outstanding alumni who have been featured through the Accomplished Alumni program, including CEOs of major corporations, Olympians, authors, lawyers, musicians, U.S. ambassadors and civic leaders.

To view other Accomplished Alumni, visit VolsConnect.

—

C O N T A C T :

Whitney Heins (865-974-5460, wheins@utk.edu)

Haylee Marshall (865-974-0810, hmarshall@utfi.org)

More than 250 alumni, faculty, staff, and friends of the college attended the event, which included a reception, silent auction, dinner, and awards presentation. All expenses for the event were funded through private support.

Almost $80,000 was raised for the College Fund for Business Administration through the combination of sponsorships and proceeds from the silent auction.

A list of the award recipients:

John Boll, a 2007 Executive MBA graduate, was recognized as the 2012 Entrepreneur of the Year. Boll’s company, G. A. Richards, manufactures products for the office furniture and general industrial markets. He is a member of the college’s Advisory Council to the Deans.

Brian Foley, who earned his bachelor’s degree in 1996 and his master’s degree in accounting in 1997, received the 2012 Outstanding Young Alum award, which recognizes accomplished alumni under the age of 40 who have contributed greatly to their chosen profession and their alma mater.

PepsiCo, the largest food and beverage company in North America and second largest in the world, was recognized as the 2012 Outstanding Corporate Partner for its financial contributions to the college and its dedication to fostering support for diversity in the workplace.

Mintha Roach, a 1974 alumna, received the college’s most prestigious recognition—the 2012 Distinguished Alum Award. She was recognized for her professional accomplishments as president and CEO of Knoxville Utilities Board and her service to her alma mater as former chair of Chancellor’s Associates, the UT Alumni Board, and the business school’s Advisory Council to the Deans.

Additionally, Jan R. Williams, dean and Stokely Foundation Leadership Chair, was awarded the Chancellor’s Medallion by Chancellor Jimmy G. Cheek for his 35-plus years of service to UT and the College of Business Administration.

—

CONTACT:

Meredith Hulette (865-974-7392, mhulette@utfi.org)

Read the full story at The Kansas City Star.

We are making a few administrative changes to continue our focus on becoming a Top 25 public research university and to prepare us for the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools re-accreditation review in 2015.

Albrecht

Mary Albrecht, associate vice chancellor, has been overseeing the Top 25 initiative and the SACS process since August 2010. Mary will begin working on SACS full-time as her full attention is needed to meet several of the university’s reporting and assessment deadlines. Site visits will occur in 2015.

Shivers

Melissa Shivers, assistant vice chancellor for student life, will begin leading our Top 25 effort for the university and report directly to me on the initiative. She will monitor our progress and keep people engaged and informed about our work to improve undergraduate and graduate education, research and engagement, faculty and staff priorities, and goals for enhancing infrastructure and resources.

We have made great progress in the last three years and we appreciate Mary’s diligence and commitment to our goals. We will continue to benefit from her knowledge and close attention to detail.

Melissa will be adding the Top 25 role to her Student Life responsibilities. Her new title will be assistant vice chancellor for student life and strategic initiatives. She is an enthusiastic leader with a great passion for our students and for helping the university reach its full potential.

UT’s Engineering Research Center, CURENT, has collaborated with Knox County Schools for a science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) outreach event called Family Engineering Night at Sequoyah Elementary School from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. on Thursday, Dec. 6.

The event is expected to draw more than 200 K-5 students and their families to take part in 10 hands-on engineering activity exhibits provided by CURENT. Activities include solar cars, bridge design and homemade prosthetic hands. Farragut High School’s Robotics Team also will be exhibiting student-designed robots.

Family Engineering Night was organized by Andrea Allen, K-12 science instructional coach for Knox County Schools; Principal Alisha Hinton and Science Lab Instructor Erin McCollum from Sequoyah School; and Research Assistant Professor Chien-fei Chen and Adam Hardebeck, communications specialist, from CURENT.

Events such as Family Engineering Night help fulfill CURENT’s educational outreach initiatives to spark student interest in STEM fields from an early age and assist in the creation of a new generation of engineers from more diverse backgrounds.

The Center for Ultra-wide-area Resilient Electric Energy Transmission Networks (CURENT), headquartered on the UT campus, is a collaboration between academia, industry, and national laboratories. The center has been jointly funded by the National Science Foundation and the US Department of Energy with $18.5 million for five years.

—

C O N T A C T :

Adam Hardebeck (865-974-9707, ahardebe@utk.edu)

UT architecture graduates also were recognized by professionals as the fifth best hires by firms residing within UT’s classified fourteen-state region, according to the annual report, “America’s Best Architecture and Design Schools.”

The professionals were eligible to select and grade students from programs anywhere in the nation. Among the schools UT outranked in the poll: Cornell, Louisiana State University, Oklahoma, Arkansas, and Notre Dame.

DesignIntelligence is noted as the most important and respected poll in the country for the design disciplines. Its rankings are equivalent to those of the US News & World Report or the Princeton Review grading systems, which do not evaluate design programs.

In 2011, it ranked the UT architecture program as a top 20 program in the nation.

The national school rankings are based on surveys from professionals, deans, and chairs from 351 academic programs. DesignIntelligence’s professional practice survey queried 392 field-related organizations, 282 of which are architectural or architectural/engineering firms.

The professional survey asked participants which schools had the best-prepared graduates, based on their hiring experience in the past five years.

“Central to our academic mission is preparing our students to be excellent in the profession,” said Scott Poole, dean of the UT College of Architecture and Design. “Our design-build projects, such as the New Norris House, the UT Solar House, and the Haiti Studio, have allowed our college to build an extensive record of collaboration across disciplines. These projects have raised standards for architecture and design in the region, promoted new strategies for sustainability, and extended the reputation of the university within the state of Tennessee and across the nation.”

The rankings reflect the college’s growing profile. Last year, DesignIntelligence also named Poole one of the “25 Most Admired Educators of 2012.”

Continued growth of the college’s programs will be seen in some major developments proposed over the next two academic years. These additions include new graduate degrees in urban design and development and a joint Master of Architecture/MBA program, as well as the appointment of world-class faculty scholars. The Barber-McMurry Visiting Professor—a nationally recognized practitioner—and the Governor’s Chair—an expert with research focuses in urban design and emerging clean energy practices—will begin teaching in 2013.

UT architecture students also have the added advantage of a lower tuition rate compared to the national average. UT’s architecture program is $9,692 for in-state students and $28,182 for out-of-state students. Nearly 75 percent of UT’s architecture and design students receive some sort of financial assistance or scholarships.

To learn more about the UT College of Architecture and Design’s programs, visit arch.utk.edu.

—

C O N T A C T :

Kiki Roeder (865-974-6713, kroeder@utk.edu)