Alumni and donors who have made an investment in UT have created a ripple effect, investing in the education of students like Jiro Greenberg-Oster (Class of 2026) for a better state and a better world.
Giving
Torchbearer Tyler Myers (Class of 2025) has spent his time at UT exploring the gut-brain connection. Inspired by a clinical trial that changed his life as a child, he’s turned his passion into purpose through research, service, and mentorship.
UT’s String Project, funded initially through the National String Project Consortium and a grant secured through the UT Office of Research, Innovation, and Economic Development from the Tennessee Arts Commission, has grown to about 80 children enrolled and is sustained through the generosity of donors Sally and Alan Sefton.
Bridget Freisthler, the Cooper-Herron Professor in Mental Health at the UT College of Social Work, is leading a multistate intervention in fatal overdoses.
Thanks to the support she receives from the Arthur E. Yates Graduate Fellowship, Caterina Obenauf can dive headfirst into the world of neuropsychology, improve advocacy in the mental health landscape for Knoxville, and create more mental health awareness at UT.
Receiving a scholarship has been life-changing for Sierra Stancil, enabling her to pursue a calling to help those that are disadvantaged and their pets.
As the Student Government Association president, a proponent of service and stewardship, as well as a dedicated and involved student, Dante Grayson fully embodies the Torchbearer in every way.
Leaders from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, and representatives of Regal and the Regal Foundation joined together to celebrate UT’s 2024-25 Regal Scholars during an event held March 4.
While Denise Tran and Jonathan Mai hold several degrees between them, not one diploma came from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville—yet several of the more than two dozen students they financially supported to attend college studied at UT, including their two sons and multiple recipients of the UT scholarship they established.
Thanks to donor generosity, the Judith Anderson Herbert Writing Center has added about 20 tutors since 2017 and offers a variety of discipline-specific writing services, from nursing to music, and tailored support for veteran, graduate, multilingual, and many other types of students.
