James H. Williams, who graduated in 1827, was U.S. minister to Turkey from 1858 to 1861 and Confederate emissary to Britain in 1861.

Maurice F. Weisner, who attended UTK in 1956, is a retired admiral who commanded the Pacific fleet during the Vietnam War. He was vice chief of naval operations from 1972 to 1973 and commander in chief of Unified Pacific Command from 1976 to 1979.

David Duvall Thomas, who attended UT Knoxville in engineering in the 1930s, oversaw the U.S. air traffic control centers and retired in 1970 as deputy administrator of the Federal Aviation Administration. He was in charge of the federal air tracking system in the 1950s and in the 1960s helped increase airport security in response to [...]

George Caldwell Taylor (1908) was U.S. attorney for the eastern district of Tennessee and U.S. district judge. The UT College of Law is named for him.

Andrew K. Stern (2001) died in Iraq in 2004, possibly the first UT graduate to give his life in Operation Iraqi Freedom. He was a first lieutenant in the U.S. Marine Corps. He was buried with honors at Arlington National Cemetery.

Austin C. Shofner (1937) was a general in the U.S. Marine Corps. He was captured by the Japanese during World War II on the island of Corregidor but gained his freedom when he led a prison escape.

Milton Shaw (1944) was a mechanical and nuclear engineer who helped develop the reactor plant system for the world’s first nuclear submarine, the USS Nautilus, launched in 1954, as well as other nuclear-powered ships.

Kenneth Rush (1930) was U.S. ambassador to West Germany and France. He also served as deputy secretary of defense from 1972 to 1973 and deputy secretary of state from 1973 to 1974.

George W. Ochs (1880) was mayor of Chattanooga and general manager of the Chattanooga Times. He was also editor and publisher of the Philadelphia Public Ledger.

Ridley McLean attended UT in Knoxville from 1888 to 1890. He was a rear admiral in the U.S. Navy and wrote the Bluejacket’s Manual, which is still used to teach naval recruits the basics of seamanship.