Kickoff is set for 3:30 p.m. EDT for the Volunteers’ game against the Bulldogs of the University of Georgia. Gates open at 1:30 p.m. CBS Sports will televise the game.

The university reminds fans of new security rules that prohibit backpacks of any kind or size from entering Neyland Stadium. All items, including purses, are subject to search at the gates. Purses or other bags larger than twelve inches by twelve inches by twelve inches cannot be brought into the stadium.

The UT Police Department encourages all fans to come to the stadium carrying as little as possible with them to expedite their entry into the stadium.

These items also are prohibited:

• alcoholic beverages, cans, bottles, or coolers
• radios without headphones
• open umbrellas
• video cameras
• stadium seats with arms
• weapons of any kind, including pocket knives

No items can be left or stored at stadium gates. Fans can bring the following items inside the stadium, provided they meet the size requirement:

• cushions and seats without arms
• small diaper bags that accompany infants
• small cameras, pagers, cell phones, and binoculars

UT also reminds fans to report any suspicious activity to law enforcement. All fans are asked to call 865-974-3111 or 911. From their cell phones, fans can send an anonymous report of suspicious activity by texting the letters “UTPD” followed by the location and details pertaining to an incident to Tip411 (847411).

Fans are encouraged to follow @UTGameday on Twitter for the latest updates on traffic, weather, gate information, and game day events such as the Vol Walk and band march.

Season tickets and select individual game tickets are available at uttix.com.

Game Day Activities

The annual Tim Kerin Memorial Food Drive will be held outside Neyland Stadium to benefit Knoxville’s Second Harvest Food Bank. Financial donations can be made at various locations around the stadium prior to the game. Kerin, the long-time head trainer at Tennessee, died in 1992. The food drive has been held in his honor ever since.

The traditional Vol Walk will start at 1:15 p.m. on Volunteer Boulevard near Circle Park, as the members of the football team proceed down Volunteer Boulevard and then continue down Peyton Manning Pass to the stadium.

The Pride of the Southland Marching Band will begin marching at 1:50 p.m. from their new home at the Natalie L. Haslam Music Center on Volunteer Boulevard and will then follow the same path as the Vol Walk.

The UT Institute of Agriculture will hold its annual Ag Day event on Saturday, beginning at 11:30 a.m. in the newly renovated Brehm Animal Science Arena. Activities include live music, informational displays, a visit from Smokey, and an insect petting zoo. For more information, visit their website. 

Fans also can attend the College of Arts and Sciences Pregame Showcase. Held two hours before each home game kickoff in the University Center Ballroom, the showcase is a free thirty-minute presentation by a UT faculty member. This week, at 1:30 p.m., Theresa Lee, dean of the college and professor of psychology, will present a talk titled “Tick Tock: Sleep Across the Lifespan and the Role of the Internal Clock.”

Parking and Traffic

Due to campus construction, fans are encouraged to arrive early. For complete information on game day parking, stadium regulations and activities, visit the athletic department website. The latest information on campus construction can be found at the Cone Zone.

Only fans with permits can park on campus. UT encourages others to use shuttle buses from the Old City, the Knoxville Civic Coliseum and the Market Square area of downtown Knoxville, and Farragut High School in west Knoxville. Many area hotels also offer shuttle service to the game.

Under state law, no smoking is allowed anywhere inside the stadium. Fans cannot leave the stadium and be readmitted.

Commercial solicitation in front of Neyland Stadium from Middle Way Drive to Gate 10 is prohibited starting four hours before kickoff and continuing until the game is over.

—

C O N T A C T :

Charles Primm (865-974-5180, charles.primm@tennessee.edu)

The AICPA Special Recognition Award is given when projects or initiatives warrant special recognition.

The AAA Outstanding Service Award recognizes service that goes beyond education and research. It may be given at any time by the decision of the board of directors.

Behn is head of the Department of Accounting and Information Management in the College of Business Administration and a faculty fellow in the college’s Center for Business and Economic Research.

He received the accolades because of his involvement in the Pathways Commission, an AICPA/AAA partnership that studied and recommended improvements in accounting education. From 2010 to 2012, Behn chaired the commission, which included fifty other accounting professionals and academics. His tenure ended with seven recommendations that are to be implemented over the next three years.

As the Pathways Commission begins its implementation phase, Behn will continue lending his leadership to the project as one of the AAA’s two representatives on the commission. The full report can be found on the Commission’s website.

Behn accepted the awards on behalf of the entire commission.

“Two years ago, we began the task of crafting a bold vision to embrace the future of accounting education,” he said. “Our list of recommendations only represents the beginning of this process. The much more challenging task of implementation lies ahead, which includes securing the future of the accounting discipline as a learned profession.”

Behn joined the UT faculty in 1994 after completing his doctorate at Arizona State University. His research is widely published, and he has served as a co-editor or associate editor for several prestigious accounting journals. He is a past vice president of AAA, past president of AAA’s International Accounting Section and the Federation of Schools of Accountancy, and past chair of the AICPA’s Pre-certification Education Executive Committee.

Behn also is an award winner in the classroom, having received a number of teaching honors, including the AAA’s Innovation in Accounting Education Award, UT’s Alumni Outstanding Teaching Award, and the Tennessee Society of Certified Public Accountants Outstanding Educator of the Year.

–

CONTACT:

Lola Alapo (865-974-3993, lola.alapo@tennessee.edu)

Cindy Raines (865-974-4359, craines1@utk.edu)

The two-year award from DOT Research and Innovative Technology Administration is one of 10 granted to regional university transportation centers. The money will advance U.S. technology and expertise in the many modes and disciplines that comprise transportation through research, education and technology transfer.

STC members include UT as the lead institution along with the University of Kentucky, the University of South Florida, the University of Central Florida, the University of Alabama, the University of Alabama Birmingham, the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill, North Carolina A&T State University, and Clemson University.

The consortium’s research will focus on the Secretary of Transportation’s strategic goal of improving public health and safety by reducing transportation-related fatalities and injuries.

“The consortium’s theme is comprehensive transportation safety,” said Steve Richards, consortium director. “This grant allows us to improve the safety of all transportation modes in the Southeast through a program of research, education, and technology transfer.”

“Safety must be a fundamental objective of our national and regional transportation systems,” said Dave Clarke, center director. “However, statistics reveal that our region’s surface transportation systems, individually and collectively, face unsurpassed safety challenges. We continue to work to achieve comprehensive transportation safety related to moving people and goods through our region.”

Research findings will be communicated to officials and policymakers for consideration through research symposia, workshops, and publications. The funding also will support graduate students at all participating universities to develop the next generation of safety leaders as well as address critical issues related to the shrinking transportation work force.

“As a member of the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee for twenty-six years in the House of Representatives, I know the importance of this research,” said US Representative John Duncan, Jr. “It will affect every American in the years to come as we take on the huge challenge of strengthening and modernizing our nation’s transportation infrastructure.”

Additional support came from Tennessee’s Department of Transportation, a long-standing STC partner. In this competition, TDOT Commissioner John Schroer pledged $500,000 to help match the federal funding.

Established in 1972, the UT Center for Transportation Research promotes and facilitates transportation research, education and public service activities at UT. The center’s research and advocacy led to child passenger restraint laws, which Tennessee was the first state in the nation to adopt. This work led to many additional state traffic safety laws, such as the adult occupant protection law. To learn more, visit ctr.utk.edu.

To learn more about the Southeastern Transportation Center, visit stc.utk.edu.

The goals of the Research and Innovative Technology Administration are to provide a critical transportation knowledge base outside the US DOT and to address vital workforce needs for the next generation of transportation leaders. For more information, visit www.rita.dot.gov.

—

CONTACT:

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

Lissa Gay (865-974-8760, lissa@utk.edu)

Tricia Hepner, associate professor of anthropology and co-director of the college’s new Disasters, Displacement, and Human Rights program, will present “Anthropology as a Tool for Improving the Human Condition.”

Now in its twenty-fourth season, the Pregame Showcase—sponsored by the College of Arts and Sciences—gives fans the chance to hear from esteemed UT faculty prior to each gridiron matchup. This week’s showcase will be held at 10:21 a.m. in the Carolyn P. Brown University Center Ballroom (Room 213).

Free and open to the public, the showcase will feature a thirty-minute presentation and a fifteen-minute question-and-answer session followed by a brief reception. Door prizes will be awarded.

Through the new DDHR program, faculty and students are developing collaborative methods to analyze crises, from coal ash spills and refugee flows to mass grave excavations and postwar reconstruction. Hepner will talk about some of the work she’s done, as well as some of the work done by her colleagues and students.

“Anthropology is a very diverse discipline, encompassing human biology and culture in the past and present,” Hepner said. “DDHR unites cultural anthropology, archaeology, and biological anthropology to generate new insights into pressing global problems.”

In addition to teaching and co-directing the DDHR program, Hepner is vice chair of the college’s Africana Studies program. She authored the book Soldiers, Martyrs, Traitors and Exiles: Political Conflict in Eritrea and the Diaspora, co-edited two books and wrote several journal articles and book chapters.

Here’s the lineup for the rest of the season:

October 5—”Tick Tock: Sleep Across the Lifespan and the Role of the Internal Clock.” Theresa Lee, dean of the College of Arts and Sciences and a biopsychologist who has researched the importance of sleep and the internal clock, will talk about research that explains how sleep patterns vary across a lifetime and what is “normal.”

October 19—”Haunted Bangkok: Angry Spirits, Buddhist Power, and Popular Media in Thailand.” Rachelle Scott, associate professor of religious studies, will talk about the role of ghosts and other supernatural beings in Theravada Buddhism and how these stories continue to impart ethical lessons to Buddhists across Asia and around the world.

November 9—”Making the Cuts: Austerity Policies and Their Social Implications.” Jon Shefner, head of the Department of Sociology, will look at the effects of spending cuts, tax hikes, and other measures governments use to reduce their budget deficits during adverse economic conditions.

November 23—”Simulations of Solutions: Solving Problems Through Scientific Computing.” Steven Wise, associate professor of mathematics, will discuss the evolution of scientific computing and look at the challenges that lie ahead, including how we might—and might not—be able to solve some of our biggest problems with the help of computers.

—

CONTACT:

Lynn Champion (865-974-2992, champion@utk.edu)

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

Mike Wirth, dean of the College of Communication and Information (right), presents Wendell Potter (left) with the Accomplished Alumni award.

Wendell Potter, a veteran journalist, public relations executive, author, and advocate for health care and insurance reform, received an Accomplished Alumni award yesterday.

The 1973 journalism graduate was honored by UT with the award. The Accomplished Alumni program recognizes notable alumni.

Potter is a senior analyst at the Center for Public Integrity, an organization that produces investigative journalism on issues of public concern. He also is a senior fellow on health care for the Center for Media and Democracy, and serves as a consumer liaison representative for the National Association of Insurance Commissioners.

Potter began his career as a reporter at the Memphis (Tenn.) Press-Scimitar, and eventually was promoted to the Scripps-Howard News Bureau in Washington, DC, where he covered the White House, Congress and the Supreme Court. Transitioning into public relations, Potter served as press secretary to a Tennessee gubernatorial candidate, headed advertising and public relations for an East Tennessee health care system, and was a partner in an Atlanta public relations firm.

He later headed the communications department for Humana Inc., and was then recruited to Cigna Corp., where he served in a variety of positions over fifteen years, culminating in leading its corporate communications team and serving as chief corporate spokesperson.

Potter then left corporate communications to advocate for meaningful health care reform, testifying before a congressional committee in 2009 on rising health care costs and writing a book on lobbying efforts by the health insurance industry to influence public opinion and public policy.

“I am thrilled to be back on campus and remember my time here and the mentors that had a profound impact on my life,” Potter said. “I am the person I am today because of my training, experiences, and mentors I had while attending the University of Tennessee.”

The award was presented by Communication and Information Dean Mike Wirth prior to Potter’s public talk on the value of higher education.

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

To view other Accomplished Alumni, visit the VolsConnect website.

CONTACT:

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

Haylee Marshall (865-974-5801, hmarshall@utfi.org)

The award is part of the DOE’s 2013 Nuclear Energy University Programs initiative which is awarding $42 million to thirty-eight American universities and colleges for nuclear energy research and development projects focused on innovative solutions.

A proposal by Steven Skutnik, assistant professor in nuclear engineering, was awarded $755,000 to develop new capabilities for a fuel cycle simulator called CYCLUS by building on an Oak Ridge National Laboratory software package for nuclear fuel modeling called ORIGEN.

The resulting tool, called a flexible reactor analysis module, will allow scientists to assess the relative benefits of different choices for managing spent nuclear fuel such as directly disposing of it, storing it for extended periods of time, or reprocessing it to recover materials for reuse as fuel in a reactor.

Many countries choose to chemically reprocess their used nuclear fuel, which can extract more energy out of fuel and reduce the total long-lived waste. However, the United States has a long-standing policy in which used nuclear fuel is designated for direct disposal. Recently, a plan to dispose of spent fuel at Yucca Mountain in Nevada has been scrapped, leaving the nation without a long-term home for the radioactive material.

Thus, the DOE is investigating several alternative fuel cycle strategies. Skutnik’s project will help assess how different fuel cycle choices influence factors such as the demand for raw resources, nuclear waste management, and nuclear facility designs.

“We will look at more kinds of fuel cycles by mapping out what the fuel will look like,” said Skutnik. “So, we can look at the effect of irradiating fuel for longer times—which is like squeezing just a little more juice out of an orange—or new reactor types or even speculative fuel cycles, such as those based on reactors which use long-lived waste products from current reactors as fuel for future reactors. Using these tools opens up a lot more doors in terms of both sensitivity and the kinds of scenarios we can look at.”

The goal is to help the public and policymakers understand the impacts and trade-offs of various nuclear fuel cycle options.

“If we’re going to consider significant changes to policies which impact the nuclear fuel cycle, it’s helpful to have tools to tell us what we can expect the impacts are going to be,” said Skutnik.

Collaborating institutions are ORNL and National Nuclear Laboratory in the United Kingdom.

The NEUPs support multifaceted projects to develop breakthroughs for the US nuclear energy industry. Universities lead the three-year projects, working in collaboration with the nuclear industry, national laboratories, and international partners.

For more information on the specific awards, visit www.neup.gov.

—

C O N T A C T :

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

Kim Cowart (865-974-0686, kcowart@utk.edu)

Matthew Mench, head of the Department of Mechanical, Aerospace, and Biomedical Engineering, (right) presents Peter Hoffman (left) with the Accomplished Alumni award.

Peter Hoffman, a protector of intellectual property at the world’s largest aerospace company, received an Accomplished Alumni award yesterday.

The 1984 graduate in the mechanical engineering master’s program was honored by the award, which recognizes notable alumni for their success and distinction within their field.

Hoffman is vice president of intellectual property management for The Boeing Company. He is responsible for strategies that protect and generate the highest possible value from Boeing’s intellectual property. Hoffman manages the company’s patent portfolio through licensing of its technical data, images, consumer products, trademarks, and patents.

Hoffman joined Boeing in 1984. Before moving into his current position he served as director of global research and development strategy, where he was responsible for developing technology collaboration relationships with companies, universities, and national laboratories. He has also played a leadership role in the expansion of Boeing’s global technology activities and the establishment of research centers and numerous technology relationships worldwide. Prior to coming to Boeing, Hoffman held positions in international business development and spent fourteen years conducting research in the area of advanced materials and structures.

“I’m honored to be recognized with this award and much of the credit for what I have been able to accomplish professionally goes to solid educational foundation I received at the University of Tennessee,” Hoffman said.

The award was presented by Matthew Mench, head of the Department of Mechanical, Aerospace, and Biomedical Engineering, during an aerospace engineering senior design class.

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

To view other Accomplished Alumni, visit the Office of Alumni website.

—-

C O N T A C T:

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

Haylee Marshall (865-974-5801, hmarshall@utfi.org)

A MacArthur Fellow, Hirsch has published eight books of poems. His most recent, The Living Fire: New and Selected Poems, compiles thirty-five years of work. His awards include the National Book Critics Circle Award, a Guggenheim Fellowship, an Ingram Merrill Foundation Award, a National Endowment for the Arts Fellowship, and the American Academy of Arts and Letters Award for Literature.

His talk about fellowships, open to UT faculty, will take place from 3:30 to 5:30 p.m. in the John D. Tickle Engineering Building, Room 405. His poetry reading, which is open to the public, will be at 7:00 p.m., in Hodges Library Lindsay Young Auditorium. Afterward he will be signing copies of his books, which will be sold at the site.

Here’s a look at the rest of the series:

• Tuesday, October 15—Amy Murrell Taylor, associate professor of history, University of Kentucky. Her talk is entitled “On the Frontlines of Freedom: Life Inside the US Civil War’s ‘Contraband’ Camps.” An historian of the US South with a special interest in the Civil War era, gender, and family, Taylor is the author of The Divided Family in Civil War America and co-editor of Major Problems in the Civil War and Reconstruction. Her essays have appeared in popular publications including The Civil War Monitor magazine and The Civil War: Official Park Service Handbook.
  4:00 p.m., University Center Shiloh Room (Room 235)
• Monday, March 10—Patricia Buckley Ebrey, professor of history, University of Washington. Her talk is entitled “Emperor Huizong: Daoist, Poet, Painter, Captive.” She will offer a fresh look at the Chinese emperor who came to the Song Throne in the first month of 1100, a few months after his seventeenth birthday, and reigned almost twenty-six years. Rather than dwell on the turmoil caused by his reign, she will look at the ruler as a skilled poet, painter, calligrapher, musician, and art collector.
  Time and location to be announced.
• Thursday, April 24—Carole Pateman, distinguished professor emeritus of political science, University of California, Los Angeles.
  Details of her talk, as well as its time and location, to be announced.

For more information about the Humanities Lecture series, see uthumanitiesctr.utk.edu/this_years_visiting_scholars.html.

—

CONTACT:

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

The four-day event will feature panel discussions on a wide range of diversity and inclusion issues. Rickey Hall, vice chancellor for diversity, will deliver the keynote address, “Does Diversity Really Matter?,” at 5:45 p.m. Wednesday, October 2, in the Communications Building Auditorium (Room 321).

The week concludes with the annual CCI Diversity Festival, Thursday, October 3, from 5:00 to 7:00 p.m. in Circle Park. The festival will include a barbecue, music, dance, a photo booth, and performances by students from the college and Knoxville area entertainers. Click here for more information and a complete schedule.

“Diversity and Inclusion Week is an all-college event that allows us to come together to celebrate and discuss diverse ideas and concepts across a broad array of issues,” said CCI Dean Mike Wirth. “The sessions stress the importance of dialogue, open–mindedness, and inclusion as important tools for solving problems and building communities.”

Seven panels plus a workshop and an open forum will take place throughout the week in the CCI Auditorium and Scripps Convergence Lab (Room 402).

Discussion topics include:

• “Accepting Each Other,” featuring panels on families and diversity and profiling.
• “Working Together,” with sessions on diversity in public policy and the workplace, plus an open forum on diversity and inclusion.
• “The Mediasphere,” with discussions on diversity in both traditional media and the emerging world of social media.
• “The Power of Words,” with a workshop on hate speech and a panel on humor and diversity.

“Understanding how to work and interact with those who are different from us is a critical part of being successful in the workplace,” said Alice Wirth, chair of the college’s Diversity and Inclusion Week planning committee and a lecturer in the School of Communication Studies. “This week, along with everything else we are doing in this area, helps provide our students with the skills and knowledge they need to successfully enter and thrive in an increasingly diverse workplace.”

All sessions are free and open to the public and will be streamed online.

CONTACT:

Donna Silvey (865-974-6727, dsilvey@utk.edu)

Kickoff is set for 12:21 p.m. EDT for the Volunteers’ game against the Jaguars. Gates open at 10:15 a.m. The SEC Network will televise the game.

New security rules prohibit backpacks of any kind or size from entering Neyland Stadium. All items, including purses, are subject to search at the gates. Purses or other bags larger than twelve inches by twelve inches by twelve inches cannot be brought into the stadium.

The UT Police Department encourages all fans to come to the stadium carrying as little as possible with them to expedite their entry into the stadium and to their seat.

These items also are prohibited:

• alcoholic beverages, cans, bottles, or coolers
• radios without headphones
• open umbrellas
• video cameras
• stadium seats with arms
• weapons of any kind, including pocket knives

No items can be left or stored at stadium gates. Fans can bring the following items inside the stadium, provided they meet the size requirement:

• cushions and seats without arms
• small diaper bags that accompany infants
• small cameras, pagers, cell phones, and binoculars

UT also reminds fans to report any suspicious activity to law enforcement. All fans are asked to call 865-974-3111 or 911. From their cell phones, fans can send an anonymous report of suspicious activity by texting the letters “UTPD” followed by the location and details pertaining to an incident to Tip411 (847411).

Parking and Traffic

Due to campus construction, fans are encouraged to arrive early. Click here for complete information on game day parking, stadium regulations and activities. The latest information on campus construction can be found at conezone.utk.edu.

Only fans with permits can park on campus. UT encourages others to use shuttle buses from the Old City, the Knoxville Civic Coliseum and the Market Square area of downtown Knoxville, and Farragut High School in west Knoxville. Many area hotels also offer shuttle service to the game.

Under state law, no smoking is allowed anywhere inside the stadium. Fans cannot leave the stadium and be readmitted.

Commercial solicitation in front of Neyland Stadium from Middle Way Drive to Gate 10 is prohibited starting four hours before kickoff and continuing until the game is over.

Game Day Activities

The traditional Vol Walk will start at 10:00 a.m. on Volunteer Boulevard near Circle Park, as the members of the football team proceed down Volunteer Boulevard and then continue down Peyton Manning Pass to the stadium.

The Pride of the Southland Marching Band will begin marching at 10:35 a.m. from their new home at the Natalie L. Haslam Music Center on Volunteer Boulevard and will then follow the same path as the Vol Walk. High school marching bands from Greeneville and Murfreesboro, Tennessee, will join the UT band march this week.

From 8:45 a.m. to 11:45 a.m., the Volunteer Village commercial display area will be open on the lawn of the Humanities and Social Sciences Building.

Fans also can attend the College of Arts and Sciences Pregame Showcase. Held two hours before each home game kickoff in the University Center Ballroom, the showcase is a free thirty-minute presentation by a UT faculty member. This week, at 10:15 a.m., Tricia Redeker Hepner, associate professor of anthropology and co-director of the college’s new Disasters, Displacement, and Human Rights Program, will discuss “Anthropology as a Tool for Improving the Human Condition.”

Fans are encouraged to follow @UTGameday on Twitter for the latest updates on traffic, weather, gate information, and game day events such as the Vol Walk and band march.

Season tickets and select individual game tickets are available at uttix.com.

CONTACT:

Charles Primm (865-974-5180, charles.primm@tennessee.edu)

Hap McSween, Chancellor’s Professor of Earth and Planetary Sciences, will present “Exploring the Asteroid Vesta: NASA’s Dawn Mission.”

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

The 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.

“The Dawn spacecraft has completed its orbital investigation of asteroid Vesta and is now enroute to asteroid Ceres,” McSween said. “These are the two most massive asteroids, and their properties provide an interesting view of the diversity of planetary building blocks.”

Dawn’s asteroid-mapping mission aims to shed light on the evolution of the solar system by studying these huge space rocks. Vesta is the solar system’s brightest asteroid, and Ceres is the largest and is considered to be a dwarf planet.

McSween is the co-investigator for NASA’s Mars Odyssey spacecraft mission, the Mars Exploration Rovers and the Dawn spacecraft. He had an asteroid named for him by the International Astronomical Union, 5223 McSween.

McSween has been a UT faculty member for thirty-six years and has been name the Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences’ best teacher seven times. UT awarded him the Alexander Prize, which recognizes excellence in teaching and research, and the College of Arts and Sciences College Marshal, the highest college honor bestowed upon a faculty member. He is also this year’s Southeastern Conference Professor of the Year.

Future Science Forums will feature:

• October 4: Stacy Clark, research forester with the US Forest Service, discussing “American Chestnut Restoration: Can We Bring Back the Mighty Giant?”

• October 11: Chad Duty, group leader of Deposition Science and Technology Group at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, discussing “3D Printing: The Next Generation of Manufacturing”

• October 25: Kasey Krouse, urban forester for the city of Knoxville, presenting “Knoxville Urban Forestry—Year One”

• November 1: Gerry Dinkins, curator of malacology and natural history at the McClung Museum, discussing “Rediscovery of the Nearly Extinct Alabama Lampmussel in the Emory River”

• November 8: Devin White, senior research scientist of geocomputation at Oak Ridge National Laboratory and assistant professor of anthropology, discussing “Archaeological Discoveries from Space”

• November 15: Phil Colclough, director of animal collections and conservation at Knoxville Zoological Gardens, discussing “Eastern Hellbender Conservation and the New Role of Zoos”

• November 22: Nathan Schmidt, assistant professor of microbiology, discussing “Infection with the Malaria Parasite: Malaria Is Only Half the Problem”

The Science Forum is sponsored by the UT Office of Research and Quest, an initiative to raise awareness of UT’s research, scholarship, and creative activity. For more information, visit the Science Forum website.

—

C O N T A C T :

Amanda Womac (Amanda@HellbenderPress.org)

Mark Littmann (865-974-8156, littmann@utk.edu)

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

This year marks 175 years of engineering at UT.

The College of Engineering is marking the anniversary with a series of events including a gala and dedication of the John D. Tickle Engineering Building on October 4. It is also celebrating forty years of diversity programs. A complete event schedule can be found on the College of Engineering website.

UT’s fastest-growing college, the College of Engineering has experienced significant expansion in enrollment and faculty and also in its national prominence. Since 2007, undergraduate enrollment has increased by 40 percent and doctoral enrollment by more than 60 percent. The college is now producing 20 percent more graduates than it did just five years ago.

The faculty has grown, and the college’s research profile has as well. Research funding has grown by 74 percent in the past five years to $56.8 million. Since 2009, the college faculty has added ten new prestigious Governor’s Chairs, eight endowed fellowships and professorships, and one endowed chair.

The college’s national rankings have also been on an upward trajectory. Its undergraduate and graduate programs are ranked thirty-seventh overall among doctoral ranking public universities by U.S. News and World Report. Its nuclear engineering graduate program is ranked sixth in the nation among all public and private universities.

Engineering was initially located in the former Reese Hall in 1888. Ten years later, classes were moved to Estabrook Hall. Today, the college spans twelve buildings and stretches from the area north of Cumberland Avenue to Neyland Drive. In the last two years, it has added two state-of-the-art facilities—the John D. Tickle Engineering Building and the Min H. Kao Electrical Engineering and Computer Science Building—adding 260,000 square feet of instructional and research space.

“This celebration allows us to showcase the phenomenal progress that our college and university have made since their inception—but the best is yet to come,” said Dean Wayne Davis. “Our undergraduate and graduate student enrollment is expanding. Our facilities are expanding. We continue to move forward in providing a high-quality education to our ever-growing population of engineering students.”

Tennessee Governor Bill Haslam has placed a special emphasis on developing students in fields of science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) to meet job requirements. The Tennessee legislature recently approved the governor’s proposal to invest additional recurring state funding into the College of Engineering to increase the number of faculty, provide additional support staff, and ensure the college’s ability to provide an increasing number of engineering graduates within the state.

“We have made great strides and with the support of Governor Haslam, the state legislature, UT President DiPietro, and Chancellor Cheek,” said Dean Davis, “and our graduates will be a major driving force for the economic future of our state and nation.”

In addition to the 175th anniversary, the college is also recognizing forty years of diversity programs. The Minority Engineering Scholarship Program was established in 1973 to motivate highly qualified African American young people to select engineering careers. Since then, UT has consistently ranked among the Top 50 universities and colleges in the nation for graduation rates of African American engineering students.

“The Minority Engineering Scholarship Program gave me a chance to attend a quality university and prepared me for success in the emerging computer industry,” said Mark Dean, co-inventor of the personal computer, former vice president at IBM, and John Fisher Distinguished Professor in the Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science. “The program also allowed me to partner with other black UT students who had similar backgrounds and interests.”

For more information about the College of Engineering’s past, present, and future, visit the college’s website.

—

C O N T A C T :

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

Kim Cowart (865-974-0686, kcowart@utk.edu)

The event, from 2:00 to 6:30 p.m., will give prospective undergraduate and graduate students the opportunity to learn about the college’s programs in interior design, landscape architecture, and architecture. Each program is accredited and is the highest ranked program of its kind in Tennessee.

Participants are encouraged to register online by October 9.

The open house will offer potential students from high schools and universities from across the country opportunities to meet current students and faculty, and learn about the integrative hands-on experiences unique to the college’s programs.

Open house activities will be held in the award-winning UT Art and Architecture Building and will include presentations by faculty and discussions with student leaders and program chairs. Participants also have the opportunity to attend a lecture at 5:30 p.m. with internationally recognized architect Iñaqui Carnicero, who will be visiting from Madrid, Spain, as part of the college’s lecture series.

For more information about the College of Architecture and Design’s open house and programs, visit the website.

—

CONTACT:

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

The growth will continue through this year and is expected to accelerate in 2014 and beyond, according to the forecast in the fall 2013 Tennessee Business and Economic Outlook released today.

The study, prepared by the UT Center for Business and Economic Research (CBER), predicts the course of the state and national economies by examining many economic and fiscal factors and trends.

The US unemployment rate is expected to average 7.6 percent this year, down from 7.8 percent in 2012. It is expected to fall to 7.1 percent in 2014 and to 6.5 percent in 2015.

“While growth is subdued due to reduced federal government spending and a global slowdown, the expansion has shown a much-welcomed resilience,” said Matt Murray, CBER associate director and the report’s author. “The outlook for 2014 is encouraging, but the economy continues to confront a number of domestic and international challenges.”

The heightened crisis in Syria and the federal budget deadlock have dampened expectations. Additionally, the housing market has begun to rebound, although higher interest rates have tempered the growth in the residential sector. But the national economy should be able to adapt to these pressures and still see a 2.6 percent growth in its gross domestic product and a 1.7 percent increase in nonfarm employment growth in 2014, according to the report.

Consumer spending has weakened because of the elimination of the payroll tax holiday and the sequestration of federal government has limited spending, but they have not derailed the country’s economic expansion.

“Nonresidential fixed investment, residential fixed investment, and exports will be the primary drivers of economic growth next year, while federal and state government spending will be the primary drags on growth,” Murray said.

The economic growth is good news but many problems remain, including a decline in the labor force participation rate. Millions of people are still unemployed and millions more are underemployed. Additionally, there are many discouraged workers who have left the labor market due to bleak employment prospects, according to the report.

Tennessee Economy

Tennessee’s economy has generally tracked the national economy, outpacing the nation in some measures and lagging behind in others, according to the report.

“Tennessee continues to see much stronger growth in manufacturing employment than the nation,” Murray said. “On the downside, the state’s unemployment rate is now well above its national counterpart.”

Manufacturing employment in Tennessee is expected to increase 2 percent this year, compared to 0.6 percent for the nation.

The state’s unemployment rate, however, will average 8.2 percent for 2013, compared to 7.6 percent for the nation. Tennessee’s unemployment rate was 8 percent last year and is expected to drop to 7.6 percent in 2014 and 7 percent in 2015.

Other findings:

• Personal income in Tennessee is expected to grow 2.6 percent this year, slightly lower than the nation’s 2.7 percent rate of growth. It is expected to improve to 4.4 percent in 2014.
• Professional and business services, leisure and hospitality services, and manufacturing sectors will see marginally slower growth next year compared to this year.
• Within the nondurable goods sector, food, beverage, and tobacco; plastics and rubber; and miscellaneous goods will see growth this year.
• Eating and drinking establishments and food stores will experience strong growth this year.
• Taxable sales growth for 2013 is expected to be 3.2 percent, well behind the 4.7 percent growth rate of 2012. It will see modest improvement in 2014 to a projected 3.5 percent.
• Automobile dealer sales were especially hot in 2012, up 10.1 percent, as consumers continued to satisfy their demands for vehicle upgrades. A cooling of sales will take place this year, with a rebound to 4.4 percent growth in 2014.

State Revenue Performance

Tennessee’s total revenue collections grew by 2.6 percent in fiscal year 2013, which is lower than the regional average of 3.9 percent and the national average of 4.2 percent.

In fiscal year 2014, state total collections are projected to reach $12.3 billion, up 3.2 percent from this year. That is a higher growth rate than the regional and national averages, according to the report.

The Southeast region significantly outperformed the rest of the nation in corporate income tax collections for all four quarters of 2012, with an average growth rate of 11.4 percent compared to 1.6 percent for all other states. Tennessee did well in the same period with an increase of 15.9 percent in corporate income tax collections, the report states.

Read the entire report on the CBER website (pdf).

—

CONTACTS:

Matt Murray (865-974-6084 or 865-974-0931, mmurray1@utk.edu)

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

Abraham Verghese has been senior associate chair and professor of medicine at the Stanford University School of Medicine since 2007. He is also the author of a novel and two nonfiction books, including My Own Country: A Doctor’s Story (1995) about his experience with AIDS patients in Tennessee, which was selected by TIME magazine as one of the five “best Books of the Year.”

Verghese’s lecture, “The Search for Meaning in a Medical Life,” is free and open to the public. It will begin at 7:30 p.m. in Cox Auditorium in the Alumni Memorial Building. A book signing will follow the lecture, and Verghese’s books will be sold on site.

Born to Indian parents teaching in Ethiopia, Verghese grew up near Addis Ababa and began his medical training there. When the Ethiopian emperor was deposed, Verghese and his parents fled to the United States, where Verghese worked as an orderly before returning to complete his medical education at Madras Medical College in India.

After graduating, he returned to the United States, where he was a medical resident at East Tennessee State University in Johnson City from 1980 to 1983. He moved to the Northeast for a fellowship at Boston University School of Medicine, working at Boston City Hospital for two years as the AIDS epidemic was beginning.

Returning to ETSU as an assistant professor of medicine, he began treating AIDS among the area’s rural population.

“He cared for a seemingly unending line of young AIDS patients in an era when little could be done other than help them through their premature and painful deaths. Long before retrovirals, this was often the most a physician could do and it taught (him) the subtle difference between healing and curing,” says his website.

After chronicling his experiences, Verghese became interested in writing and attended the Iowa Writers Workshop at the University of Iowa, where he earned a Master of Fine Arts degree. His writing has appeared in publications including the New Yorker, Texas Monthly, the Atlantic, the New York Times, the New York Times Magazine, Granta, Forbes.com, and the Wall Street Journal.

Verghese also practiced medicine at Texas Tech Health Sciences Center in El Paso, Texas, and was the founding director of the Center for Medical Humanities & Ethics at the University of Texas Health Science Center, San Antonio.

He has been at Stanford since 2007.

The annual Anne Mayhew Distinguished Honors Lecture Series is presented by the Chancellor’s Honors Program. The lecture series recognizes noted economic historian Anne Mayhew, who served at UT as chair of the Department of Economics, dean of the Graduate School, and vice chancellor for academic affairs.

Co-sponsors for this lecture include the UT College of Arts and Sciences, UT Medical Center, Friends of the Knox County Public Library, UT College of Social Work, Jerry Askew, UT College of Nursing, and Knox County Public Library.

For more information about the Chancellor’s Honors Program, visit the website.

—

C O N T A C T :

Sylvia Turner (865-974-2479, sturne31@utk.edu)

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

The classroom enhancements are made possible through an in-kind software grant with a commercial value of $2.7 million from Siemens PLM Software. The product lifecycle management (PLM) software helps users make better products using complex modeling techniques. The in-kind grant includes Femap^TM software with NX^TM Nastran® software for finite element modeling.

Students in Civil and Environmental Engineering Assistant Professor Stephanie TerMaath’s three classes will use the software to investigate fundamental concepts in structural engineering, for example how applying different boundary conditions such as loads and supports to a part affects structural performance.

“This technology allows class to be very hands-on,” said TerMaath. “We can interactively investigate customizable problems very quickly instead of me just showing them pictures in a PowerPoint presentation. Use of this software provides a much improved learning environment by providing the flexibility to explore an unlimited number of configurations in real time based on student questions.”

The software will impact close to a hundred students through TerMaath’s classes and research, and is available through UT’s app to anyone at the university who wants to use it.

TerMaath, who used the technology as an engineer at Boeing, Lockheed Martin, and Applied Research Associates, said this grant gives students access to technology that companies around the world use every day to develop innovative solutions in a wide variety of industries, including automotive, aerospace, defense, machinery, medical, and electronics.

Being trained on this software also makes students highly marketable for advanced technology jobs.

“This software is very user-friendly and is widely used by industry,” said TerMaath. “Codes can be very frustrating to learn, and students end up spending more time figuring out which button to push instead of working on their analysis. This software eliminates that problem and allows us to focus on the engineering fundamentals.”

TerMaath also will use the PLM software for her own multidisciplinary research in computational structural mechanics which spans problems in civil, aerospace, mechanical and biomedical engineering.

Siemens’ academic program delivers PLM software technology to more than a million students from grade school to graduate school around the world each year.

“Siemens PLM Software is dedicated to equipping today’s students with the knowl­edge and skills necessary to serve in the next generation of engineers. UT serves a key role in filling the science, technology, engineering, and mathematics job skills gap and producing highly quali­fied future employees,” said Bill Boswell, senior director, partner strategy, Siemens PLM Software.

Siemens PLM Software is a leading global provider of product lifecycle management software and services with 7 million licensed seats and more than 71,000 customers worldwide. Femap and NX are trademarks or registered trademarks of Siemens Product Lifecycle Management Software Inc. or its subsidiaries in the United States and in other countries. Nastran is a registered trademark of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration.For more information, visit the Siemens website.

—

C O N T A C T :

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

Kim Cowart (865-974-0686, kcowart@utk.edu)

Rainier’s talk is titled “Cultures on the Edge: The Race Against Time to Help Empower Traditional Cultures.”

The presentation, from 2:00 to 3:30 p.m., is part of the museum’s fiftieth anniversary lecture series. It is free and open to the public.

Rainier’s life mission is to capture on film the remaining natural wilderness and indigenous cultures around the globe and to use images to create social change.

He will talk about his own photography, as well as his work helping indigenous communities document, revitalize, and maintain their quickly disappearing ancient cultures with the help of computers, cameras, and video.

Traveling the planet for more than thirty years, Rainier has documented communities struggling to save their ancient ways of living. He is a National Geographic Society Fellow and directs the All Roads Photography Program. He also co-directs the Enduring Voices Project under the auspices of the National Geographic Missions Program. His photography has been featured in Time, Life, Smithsonian Magazine, the New York Times, Outside, and publications of the National Geographic Society.

The McClung’s fiftieth anniversary lecture series brings in worldwide experts to speak on topics related to the museum’s collections and exhibitions.

Upcoming lectures feature:

•  Salima Ikram, Egyptologist and mummy expert, October 15
•  Marc Spencer, vertebrate paleontologist and dinosaur specialist, October 27

The museum is located at 1327 Circle Park Drive on the UT campus. It is open Monday through Saturday from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. and Sundays from 1:00 to 5:00 p.m. Free two-hour museum parking passes are available from the parking information building at the entrance to Circle Park Drive on the weekdays. Parking passes are not needed on the weekends.

The museum’s exhibits include archaeology, ancient Egypt, decorative arts, the Battle of Fort Sanders, geology, and fossils. Admission is free.

For more information about the McClung Museum and its collections and exhibits, visit the website.

—

CONTACTS:

Catherine Shteynberg (865-974-6921, cshteynb@utk.edu)

Christina Selk (865-974-2143, cselk@utk.edu)

Raschke in Spain

Raschke, a senior in journalism and electronic media, spent the spring semester of 2013 taking classes in Spanish culture and communications at the Universidad Pablo de Olavide and CEA Global Campus in Seville, Spain.

King, a senior in biochemistry and molecular biology, spent the fall semester of 2012 studying Mandarin at Peking University in Beijing, China.

Now peer advisors in the Programs Abroad Office, King and Raschke will be among the students on hand to share their study abroad experiences with would-be travelers at the Study Abroad Fair on Wednesday, September 25. The free event will be held from 10:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. in the University Center Ballroom.

At the fair, interested students can learn about semester-long, year-long, summer, and mini-term study abroad programs, as well as summer internships abroad.

King in China

Faculty members who lead summer and mini-term programs will be on hand to answer questions. Students can find out more about scholarships and how to use financial aid for a study abroad program.

Students also can visit with peer advisors in the Programs Abroad office resource room. They are available from 11:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Monday through Friday. Daily informational meetings are held at 2:00 p.m.

During her semester abroad, Raschke traveled around Spain, visiting Grenada and Barcelona, and also ventured over to Portugal, Brussels, London, and Ireland.

Living day to day in Seville was especially enlightening, however.

“Spain shaped me in a different way than I expected it to,” she said. “The people and culture there helped me open my mind to new and different people and cultures.”

While abroad, King used her spare time to travel around China, visiting Shanghai, Xi’an, Luoyang, and Kaifeng.

“I’ve learned to be more conscious of cultural differences, and learned to tolerate and learn from cultures different than my own,” she said. “I am more confident in myself and have developed a desire to continue traveling around the world.”

For more information, visit the Programs Abroad website. 

—

C O N T A C T :

Heather Grigsby (865-974-3177, hgrigsby@utk.edu)

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

The S.E.E. (Safety, Environment and Education) Center won third place and a $10,000 award in a competition sponsored by Challenge.gov and the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA).

“‘Alcohol and You’ is a piece of the University’s growing commitment to prevention and harm reduction in the area of alcohol,” S.E.E. Center Director Ashley Blamey said. “Although there are multiple products being marketed to institutions of higher education that provide alcohol education for incoming first year students, the S.E.E. Center saw a need for a brief, cost-effective program tailored to UT students.”

The S.E.E. Center worked with Designsensory to research and develop “Alcohol and You.”

The lesson, which students access via Blackboard, takes only fifteen to twenty minutes to complete. It incorporates UT-specific data collected from students through the annual UT health and wellness survey, as well as national data and statistics. It is based on current research and provides students with accurate, nonjudgmental information that encourages them to consider their own drinking decisions and those of their peers. With sections on alcohol facts, alcohol and health, alcohol and the law, alcohol and academics, and alcohol and social life, the lesson illustrates the connection between academic experience and health and wellness behaviors.

The first-place winner was Syracuse University, and the second-place winner was the University of Central Florida.

Challenge.gov is an online competition, administered by the US General Services Administration (GSA) in partnership with ChallengePost, which rewards people and agencies for coming up with ideas to combat the nation’s biggest problems. SAMHSA is an agency within the US Department of Health and Human Services that leads public health efforts to advance the behavioral health of the nation.

—

C O N T A C T :

Ashley Blamey (865-974-5725, ashleyblamey@utk.edu)

In December 1946, Pee Wee King and Redd Stewart wrote “Tennessee Waltz” on the back of a large matchbox while returning to Nashville from a show in Texas. King and Stewart, upon arrival in Nashville, transferred their song from the matchbox to a sheet of music. The original sheet music of a song is known as a “lead sheet.”

The tune, made famous by singer Patti Page, would become one of Tennessee’s official state songs, be recorded by more than 500 musical artists, and sell more than 10 million copies. It has been cited as the most popular song in the history of country music.

Alexander presented the lead sheet to Haslam today before playing “Tennessee Waltz” on the piano for her and a gathering of the music center’s supporters.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-gMJxfnzUro

“The right home for the songwriters’ original manuscript of the state song that has become the most popular song in the history of country music is the Natalie L. Haslam Music Center at our state university,” Alexander said. “According to music historian Robert K. Oermann, finding this historic document is ‘like finding the Magna Carta of country music.’”

From left to right, Honey Alexander, Jimmy G. Cheek, Natalie Haslam and Lamar Alexander during the presentation of the original sheet music.

Oermann is an entertainment journalist, who has written seven books on country music. He is a columnist for MusicRow, an industry trade publication.

“We are thrilled that this unique piece of Tennessee’s legacy will now become part of the university’s history, said Chancellor Jimmy G. Cheek. “We are grateful to Senator Alexander for this wonderful gift and know it will continue to inspire musicians who come to study and perform at the university.”

“It is so perfect because this is where country music was born in East Tennessee,” said Haslam. “To have this song that we all have loved for so long where it should be, and not locked in a closet somewhere, I’m thrilled to death. For people born in this area, it will make them so proud.”

In August the Alexanders, Ashley and Lew Conner, Denise and Steve Smith, and Colleen and Ted Welch purchased the lead sheet from Joyce Collins Ball. Ball and her sister, Darlene, were members of the Collins Sisters and Pee Wee King’s Golden West Cowboys entertainment troupe when the song was written.

King noted to his biographers that he and Redd Stewart had changed the bridge of their original “Tennessee Waltz” composition after a suggestion from their publisher. The manuscript given to UT bears the crossed-out words and penciled-in substitutions.

Alexander, a Maryville native, is former president of the University of Tennessee. He also is the only Tennessean to be popularly elected both governor and US senator. He served as governor from 1979 to 1987. He also previously served as US secretary of education. As senator, he is the ranking member of the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions.

Lew Conner is a Nashville attorney. Ted Welch is a Nashville businessman and real estate investor. Steve Smith is chairman of the board of Haury & Smith Contractors Inc.

The Natalie L. Haslam Music Center opened in August and is home to the School of Music’s more than 350 students. Watch the video below to learn more about the building.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=asU5jgCgzy8

To learn more about the UT School of Music, visit the website.

—

CONTACTS:

Lola Alapo (865-974-3993, lola.alapo@tennessee.edu)

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