NOTABLE ALUMNI
Many UTK alumni have distinguished themselves in their careers, their communities, and in their service to others. Through their accomplishments and contributions these alumni have reflected honor on the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. We recognize and celebrate these notable alumni here.
The alumni recognized on this web site have met some or all of the following criteria:
- Attended the University of Tennessee, Knoxville
- Attained the highest level of professional accomplishments or made outstanding contributions to their chosen profession
- Demonstrated high standards of integrity and character
- Invested voluntary service on a local, state, national, or international level
- Earned special honors or recognition
- Provided leadership or service to the University of Tennessee, Knoxville
The following names represent some of our most noteworthy alumni who have distinguished themselves through their careers, contributions, and service to the University of Tennessee, Knoxville:
NOTABLES @TORCHBEARER
We've placed our Notable Alumni into one or more categories, depending upon the primary arena(s) of their accomplishments. There is frequent overlap between categories, and some categories may encompass subcategories —for example, "Astronauts" are included within the "Government & Military" Category.
You may browse a complete (and constantly growing) list of our Notables on our companion site, Torchbearer. Categories include:
Science, Technology & Healthcare
We also maintain an archive of Notable Alumni who are deceased.
Victor Ashe (1974) was appointed in 2004 to be U.S. ambassador to Poland. He is a former mayor of Knoxville (1988-2003) and member of the Tennessee General Assembly. He was president of the National Conference of Mayors in 1994.
Howard Baker Jr. (1949) was U.S. ambassador to Japan from 2001 through 2004. Baker served as both minority and majority leader during his 18 years in the U.S. Senate. He was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1984. He was White House chief of staff from 1987 to 1988 under President Ronald Reagan. Throughout his career, Baker has remained an active supporter of the University of Tennessee. UT's Howard H. Baker Jr. Center for Public Policy recognizes his service to the university, state, and nation. Baker represented the state of Tennessee while serving in the U.S. Senate.
Samuel E. Beall, III (1973) is the founder of Ruby Tuesday restaurants and chairman and chief executive officer of Ruby Tuesday Inc. He is former president, CEO, and chairman of the board of Morrison Inc.
Clarence Leon Brown (1910) directed or produced 53 films, nine of which won Academy Awards. Brown and his wife, Marian, donated $12 million to the university’s theater department. The Clarence Brown Theater at UT in Knoxville is named in his honor.
James McGill Buchanan (1941) won the Nobel Prize in 1986 for his theory of public choice in politics and economics. He is advisory general director of the Center for Study of Public Choice and professor emeritus at George Mason University. He is the author of numerous books and is a fellow of the American Economic Association.
Deanna Kay Carter (1989) won the Country Music Association Song of the Year award in 1997 for “Strawberry Wine.” She has had three number one country singles.
Tamika Catchings (2001) of the Women’s National Basketball Association’s Indiana Fever, was the 2002 WNBA rookie of the year. She was a four-time All-America as a Lady Vol. She won a gold medal in the 2004 and 2008 Olympics.
John Compton (1983) is chief executive officer for North America with PepsiCo. He is former president and CEO of Quaker Tropicana Gatorade.
John Cullum (1953) is a Tony award winning actor. He won the top theater award for his roles in Shenandoah and On the Twentieth Century. He was the star of the television series Northern Exposure.
Arthur B. Culvahouse Jr. (1970) is chairman of O’Melveny & Myers, an international law firm of more than 900 lawyers. From 1987 to 1989, he was chief White House counsel to President Ronald Reagan. He is a member of the Board of Trustees of the Brookings Institution and general counsel to the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts.
Mark Dean (1979) developed the technology that effectively launched the personal computer. His PC-AT (personal computer–advanced technology) is the interface that allows users to plug modems, printers, and scanners into computers. He is an IBM fellow and vice president of systems in IBM Research. He is a member of the National Academy of Engineering and received the Black Engineer of the Year Award.
Nancy-Ann Min DeParle (1978) is counselor to the President and Director of the White House Office of Health Reform. She is the former administrator of the Federal Health Care Financing Administration. She was the university’s first female Rhodes Scholar and the first female president of the Student Government Association at Knoxville. She was Tennessee commissioner of human services from 1987 to 1989.
Marion Dorset graduated from UT in 1893. He discovered the cause of hog cholera and developed a serum for it. The eradication of hog cholera is his best known accomplishment, but he also developed a rapid diagnostic test for pullorum, a disease of chickens, that has saved poultry farmers millions of dollars. The purple ink used by government graders on meat to indicate that the meat is healthy and wholesome is a Dorset invention. He is a member of the Tennessee Agricultural Hall of Fame.
Charles Ergen (1974) started EchoStar Communications Corporation in 1980. EchoStar launched DISH Network in 1996. He has been named to Forbes magazine’s Top Ten CEOs list.
Phillip Fulmer (1972) was head coach of the Tennessee Volunteers football team from 1992 until 2008. He was national coach of the year in 1998, when the Vols won the national championship. He had the second most wins of any Tennessee football coach and had 100 more wins than losses over his career (152-52); he also led the Volunteers to two SEC championships.
Ernie Grunfeld, who attended UT in Knoxville from 1973 to 1979, is president of basketball operations of the Washington Wizards. He won a gold medal as a member of the 1976 U.S. Olympic men’s basketball team. He played in the NBA and was formerly the general manager of the New York Knicks and the Milwaukee Bucks.
Henry Hartsfield Jr. (Space Institute 1971), was a NASA astronaut. He made three space flights and was mission commander aboard Discovery in 1984 and Challenger in 1985. He is vice president of Raytheon Aerospace Engineering Services.
James A. Haslam II (1952) is chairman of the board of Pilot Travel Centers LLC and chairman of the board and president of Pilot Corp., both headquartered in Knoxville, Tennessee. In 2006, he and his wife, Natalie (’52), made a $32.5 million gift to the university.
Todd Helton played baseball for Tennessee from 1992 to 1995 and was a two-time All-American. He is first baseman with the Colorado Rockies.
Chamique Holdsclaw (1999) played for the Washington Mystics of the WNBA. At UT she twice received the Naismith National Player of the Year Award and was a three-time All-America selection. She also was an Olympic gold medal winner.
Charles O. “Chad” Holliday (1970) is chairman and retired CEO of DuPont. In September 2002, he was appointed by President George W. Bush to serve on the National Infrastructure Advisory Council. He was also elected chairman of the Business Council in 2002. In 2004, he was elected to the National Academy of Engineering.
Allan Houston (1993) is UT men’s basketball all-time career scoring leader. He played professionally for the New York Knicks.
Min Kao (1975, 1977) is CEO and director of Garmin Ltd., the world’s largest manufacturer of GPS devices. He co-founded the company in 1989.
Joseph Wood Krutch (1915) was an author as well as drama critic and associate editor of The Nation. His The Measure of Man won the National Book Award for nonfiction in 1955.
Francis E. “Hank” Lauricella attended UT in Knoxville from 1949 to 1951. He was an All-America football player and runner-up for the Heisman trophy. He is a member of the National Football Foundation’s College Football Hall of Fame. He served 32 years in the Louisiana legislature.
Kara Lawson (2003) plays for the Sacramento Monarchs of the WNBA and is an Olympic gold medalist. During the off-season she is a commentator for ESPN.
John T. Majors (1957) was a football All-America in 1956 and runner-up for the Heisman trophy. He was head football coach of the Volunteers from 1977 to 1992 and also coached at the University of Pittsburgh, where his team won the 1976 NCAA national championship. He is a member of the Tennessee Sports Hall of Fame and the National Football Foundation’s College Football Hall of Fame.
Peyton Manning (1998) is quarterback of the NFL Indianapolis Colts. He was an All-America at Tennessee and won the Sullivan Award for the top amateur athlete in the nation. He was runner-up for the Heisman trophy. In 2006 Manning led the Indianapolis Colts to victory in Super Bowl XLI and was voted Super Bowl MVP.
Cormac McCarthy is a novelist who attended UT in Knoxville in 1951-52 and 1957-60. He won the National Book Award in 1992 for All the Pretty Horses and the Pulitzer Prize in 2007 for The Road.
Lindsey Nelson (1941) was announcer for UT football, sports director and announcer for NBC, and announcer for the New York Mets and the San Francisco Giants. He is a member of the Baseball Hall of Fame. UT’s baseball stadium in Knoxville is named for him.
Candace Parker (2008) plays for the WNBA’s Los Angeles Sparks and is considered one of the best NCAA women’s basketball players of all time. She was a number one draft pick and recently won an Olympic gold medal. In 2008 Parker was named the WNBA Rookie of the Year as well as the Most Valuable Player of the Year; she was the first WNBA player to win both awards in the same season.
Michael C. Polt (1977) is a former U.S. ambassador to Serbia-Montenegro.
Dave Ramsey (1982) is the host of the nationally syndicated Dave Ramsey Show and author of Financial Peace.
Kathryn Dee Robinson (1971) of Dayton, Tennessee, is a former U.S. ambassador to Ghana. She began her diplomatic career in 1975 with an assignment in India and also served in China, Indonesia, and Korea.
Edward Terry Sanford, who graduated in 1883, was a U.S. Supreme Court Justice from 1923 to 1930.
James R. “Jim” Sasser attended UT from 1954 to 1955. He was a U.S. senator from Tennessee, serving from 1977 to 1995. He also was ambassador to China.
Ronald L. Schlicher (1981) became U.S. ambassador to Cyprus in 2005. Schlicher is a veteran of the U.S. Foreign Service and formerly was coordinator for Iraq in the Bureau of Near Eastern Affairs.
Margaret Scobey (1971, 1973) is currently serving as U.S. ambassador to Egypt (as of January 2008). She previously served in Syria, Saudi Arabia, Israel, and Kuwait.
William B. Stokely III (1963) was president and CEO of Stokely-Van Camp Inc. and chairman and president of the Stokely Company.
Pat Summitt (1975) has won eight national championships as head coach of the basketball Lady Vols. She is in the Basketball Hall of Fame and the Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame. Summit is the all time winningest coach in the NCAA with more than 1,000 victories. She won a silver medal in the 1976 Olympics.
Ann Tanner Taylor (1958) is a newscaster for National Public Radio.
John Ward (1953) is the retired “Voice of the Vols,” who formerly broadcast Volunteer men’s basketball and football. He broadcast UT football for 31 seasons and basketball for 34 until retiring in 1999. He is a member of the Tennessee Sports Hall of Fame.
Joe Weller (1968) retired in 2006 as chairman and CEO of Nestle USA Inc.
Reggie White (1990) was a football All-America in 1983. He played professionally for the Philadelphia Eagles (1985-92), Green Bay Packers (1993-98) and Carolina Panthers. He is a member of the National Football Foundation’s College Football Hall of Fame and the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
Christopher Whittle (1969) is the founder and CEO of Edison Schools.
John Noble Wilford (1955) has won two Pulitzer Prizes for national reporting. He is science correspondent for the New York Times and founder of the paper’s weekly science section.
If there is someone you believe deserves recognition, please send an e-mail to notables@utk.edu. Please provide any information that may be helpful for consideration. A committee will periodically review submissions and make updates to this list of notable alumni.
