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.

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C O N T A C T :

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

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

Read more on the College of Engineering website.

The degree was approved by the Board of Trustees at its meeting today. Holliday will receive an honorary doctorate in engineering at the December 15 commencement ceremony, where he will be the featured speaker.

Holliday graduated in 1970 with a bachelor’s degree in industrial engineering and has been a longtime supporter of his college and the university.

“He has benefited UT by giving his time, his advice, his advocacy, and his gifts,” said Wayne Davis, dean of the College of Engineering, in nominating Holliday for the honorary degree. “He has contributed to society by leading DuPont—one of the Fortune 500′s largest international companies—in sustainable growth, and by giving thoughtful guidance to political, community, and educational endeavors at local, national, and international levels.”

Holliday parlayed a college summer job at DuPont’s Old Hickory plant in Nashville into a thirty-eight-year career at DuPont, the largest chemical company in the United States. He served as CEO for ten years. While leading DuPont, Holliday made sustainable growth—increasing company value while decreasing the environmental footprint—a core mission.

In 2004, Holliday was elected to the National Academy of Engineering, and he also was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 2010. He currently serves as chairman of the National Academy of Engineering.

Holliday co-chairs the United Nations Secretary-General’s High-Level Group on Sustainable Energy for All, a group that includes distinguished global leaders in business, finance, government, and civil society.

He also chairs the American Energy Innovation Council, whose mission is to re-establish America’s energy technology leadership in developing clean energy technologies. Members include Bill Gates as well as Jeff Immelt of General Electric.

While chairman of the World Business Council for Sustainable Development, Holliday co-authored the book Walking the Talk, a detailed business case for sustainable development and corporate responsibility.

Holiday received the 1999 Nathan Dougherty Award, the highest honor given by the UT College of Engineering. He received the first Volunteer of the Year Distinguished Alumnus Award from UT in 2008. He also served as co-chair of the College of Engineering’s campaign committee for the Campaign for Tennessee and on the board of directors for the UT Development Council.

He serves on the board of directors for many companies and organizations, including Deere & Co., Royal Dutch Shell, CH2M Hill, the Climate Works Foundation, the World Wildlife Fund, the National Geographic Education Foundation, and the United Nations Global Compact.

Holliday is past chair of Catalyst, a leading nonprofit organization dedicated to expanding opportunities for women in business. He is also past chair of the US Council on Competitiveness, a nonpartisan governmental organization working to ensure US prosperity. He is a founding member of the International Business Council.

A native of Nashville, Holliday and his wife, Ann Blair Holliday, have two sons, Chad and Scot.