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.

William G. McAdoo Jr. attended UT in Knoxville from 1879 to 1882. He was U.S. secretary of the treasury from 1913 to 1918 and senator from California from 1933 to 1939. He was a founder of the Federal Reserve Board.

Bruce Holloway attended UT in Knoxville from 1929 to 1931. He was commander in chief of the U.S. Air Forces in Europe from 1965 to 1966 and commander in chief of the Strategic Air Command from 1968 to 1972.

Jesse Samuel Cottrell (1901) was U.S. minister to Bolivia and Washington correspondent and editor for the Knoxville News Sentinel and the Knoxville Journal.

Philander P. Claxton Sr. graduated from UT in 1882. He was U.S. commissioner of education from 1911 to 1921. In 1909, Claxton accepted membership on the national Hook Worm Commission, a body of leading scientists and educators formed to expend John D. Rockefeller’s gift of $1,000,000 for the purpose of eradicating Hook Worm disease. [...]