List of University of Tennessee people

Updated on Dec 08, 2024

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The following is a list of people associated with the University of Tennessee system in all its campuses. The list does not include personnel associated with Oak Ridge National Laboratory.

Politics and law

Lamar Alexander, former Tennessee Governor, UT President and current US Senator

John Justin Armitage, diplomat

Victor Ashe, U.S. ambassador to Poland, former mayor of Knoxville, Tennessee

John DeWitt Clinton Atkins, member of House of Representatives

Richard W. Austin, member of House of Representatives

Howard Baker, Ambassador and former Senate Majority Leader

Howard Baker, Sr., member of House of Representatives

William M. Barker, Chief Justice to Tennessee Supreme Court

George White Baxter, Governor of Wyoming territory

Marion Speed Boyd, former U.S. district and Chief judge for Tennessee

John Lafayette Camp, politician and Civil War veteran

Brett Carter, U.S. House of Representatives Candidate

Saxby Chambliss, U.S. Senator

Walter Chandler, former mayor of Memphis, Tennessee

Philander Priestly Claxton, Jr., U.S. State Department official; president of the World Population Society, 1975-1985

Clement Comer Clay, former Governor of Alabama

Bob Corker, former mayor of Chattanooga; U.S. Senator

John Hervey Crozier, member of House of Representatives

Arthur B. Culvahouse, Jr., former White House Counsel

Lincoln Davis, member of House of Representatives

Jim DeMint, South Carolina U.S. Senator

M. Jerome Diamond, Vermont Attorney General, 1975-1981

Lurita Doan, current Administrator of the U.S. General Services Administration

Jimmy Duncan, member of House of Representatives

John Duncan, Sr., member of House of Representative

Winfield Dunn, former Governor of Tennessee

Charlene Fite, Republican member of the Arkansas House of Representatives from Crawford County, Arkansas

James B. Frazier, former Governor of Tennessee and U.S. Senator

Bart Gordon, member of House of Representatives

Al Gore, Jr., former Vice President of the United States, US Congressman, US Senator, Professor, and Environmentalist, recipient Honorary Doctorate, 2010

Albert Gore, Sr., member of House of Representatives and U.S. Senator

Ronnie Greer, U.S. District judge for eastern Tennessee

Bill Hendon, former member of U.S. House of Representatives

Van Hilleary, U. S. Congressman

John C. Houk, former member of U.S. House of Representatives

Thomas G. Hull, former member of U.S. House of Representatives

Amadou Scattred Janneh, former Secretary of State for Communication, Information and Technology, from The Gambia

Ray Jenkins, Senate counsel during the Army-McCarthy Hearings

William L. Jenkins, member of U.S. House of Representatives

Ed Jones, former member of U.S. House of Representatives

Jim Justice, Governor of West Virginia

Joel A. Katz, entertainment lawyer (UT College of Law)

Estes Kefauver, former U.S. Senator

Alvan Lafargue, M.D. 1910, Louisiana physician and mayor of Sulphur, 1926-1932

Arthur Larson, politician

Dan Lipinski, U.S. Congressman (D-IL) and former professor

William Gibbs McAdoo, former United States Secretary of the Treasury

John E. McCall, former member of U.S. House of Representatives

Jimmy Naifeh, Speaker of the House, Tennessee House of Representatives

John Randolph Neal, Jr., Scopes Trial attorney

Thomas Amos Rogers Nelson, former member of U.S. House of Representatives

George W. Ochs, former Mayor of Chattanooga

Michael C. Polt, U.S. Ambassador to Serbia

Percy Priest, former member of U.S. House of Representatives

Bob Ramsey (born 1947), Republican member of the Tennessee House of Representatives.

Glenn Reynolds, UT law professor and author of the Instapundit political weblog

Mercer Reynolds, former U.S. Ambassador to Switzerland

Madeline Rogero, first female mayor of Knoxville

Kenneth Rush, former U.S. Ambassador to Germany

Edward Terry Sanford, former U.S. Supreme Court Justice

Jim Sasser, former U.S. Senator

Ronald L. Schlicher, former U.S. Ambassador to Cyprus

Margaret Scobey, former U.S. Ambassador to Syria and Egypt

Heath Shuler, U.S. Representative from North Carolina, former NFL player

Paul Summers, former Attorney General of State of Tennessee

John S. Tanner, member of House of Representatives

Deborah Tate, United States Federal Communications Commission Commissioner

George Caldwell Taylor, former U.S. district judge

Lawrence Tyson, former U.S. Senator

Gary R. Wade, Tennessee Supreme Court appointee, as of 2006

Herbert S. Walters, former U.S. Senator

Zach Wamp, member of House of Representatives

Allen West, U.S. Representative from Florida

Washington C. Whitthorne, former U.S. Senator

Laura I. Wiley, former member of the North Carolina General Assembly and current member of the University of North Carolina Board of Governors.

Education

Edward L. Ayers, President of the University of Richmond

Guy Bailey, 15th President of Texas Tech University; President of the University of Alabama

Philander P. Claxton Sr., founder of the UT Department of Education and U.S. commissioner of education, 1911-1921

Bob Clement, President of Cumberland College and politician

Margaret Cuninggim, former Dean of Women at the University of Tennessee

David L. Eubanks, former President of Johnson Bible College

John Gaventa, political sociologist

John Rice Irwin, historian, founder of Museum of Appalachia

Graham Leonard, BA '47 International Relations; PhD in Education from Harvard University; worked for the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestinian Refugees, helping implement a national education system for Palestine; Visiting Scholar at Oxford University, 1968-1969

William Allen Montgomery (1829-1905), graduated in 1850; lawyer, planter, Confederate chaplain and Baptist minister; President of Carson–Newman University from 1888 to 1892.

John Thomas Mentzer (~1951-2010), marketing and supply chain scholar

F. Ann Millner, 11th President of Weber State University

Brian E. Noland, 9th President of East Tennessee State University, Chancellor of the West Virginia Higher Education Commission

Linwood H. Rose, 5th President of James Madison University

W. I. Thomas, sociologist

Bernie L. Wade, Chancellor, International Circle of Faith Colleges and Seminaries

Actors, directors, and entertainers

Clarence Brown, Academy Award-nominated film director

Dixie Carter, actress

Henry Cho, comedian

John Cullum, actor and singer

James Denton, actor, Desperate Housewives

David Keith, actor and director

Constance Shulman, voice-over, actress

Artists and musicians

Jeff Baxter, Nike designer

Deana Carter, country music singer and songwriter

Ashley Cleveland, gospel singer

James Denton, actor

The Dirty Guv'nahs, rock band

Thomas Fulton, opera conductor

Drew Holcomb, singer and songwriter

Ellie Holcomb, singer and songwriter

Wardell Milan, artist

John Howell Morrison, composer

Park Overall, actress

Dolly Parton, country music singer, recipient Honorary Doctorate, 2009

Cheryl Lynn Studer, opera soprano

Carl Sublett, painter

Pam Tillis, country music singer

Gilbert Harry Trythall, composer and pianist

Richard Aaker Trythall, composer and pianist

Sarah Webb, artist

Delores Ziegler, opera singer

Authors

Travis Beacham, screenwriter

Lowell Cunningham, comic book writer

Owen Davis, playwright

Bruce Foster, paper engineer, pop-up children's books creator

Alex Haley, novelist, biographer and essayist

May Justus, author of children's books

Marilyn Kallet, poet

Joseph Wood Krutch, novelist, critic and naturalist

Richard Marius, novelist, scholar and speechwriter

Cormac McCarthy, novelist

John C. McManus, Ph.D., military historian and professor of military history

Dave Ramsey, financial guru, author, and host of The Dave Ramsey Show

Vince Staten, humorist

Allen Wier, fiction writer and scholar

Business and economy

Charles Scott Abbott, one of the two originators of Trivial Pursuit

James Clayton, President and CEO of Clayton Homes

Michael T. Dugan, educator and accounting scholar

Charlie Ergen, CEO of Echostar

James Haslam Jr., founder and CEO of Pilot Corporation

Charles O. Holliday, Chairman of Bank of America and Former Chairman of DuPont

Min Kao, CEO and founder of Garmin

Charles McClung McGhee, late 19th-century Knoxville railroad magnate and financier

Abdisalam Omer, Governor of the Central Bank of Somalia

Jerry Sisk, Jr., gemologist and television executive, co-founded Jewelry Television in 1993

Donnie Smith, CEO of Tyson Foods

Chris Whittle, founder of Whittle Communications and Edison Schools

Military

Burwell B. Bell III, U.S. Army Commander

Robert Emmet Callan, major general in the U.S. Army and assistant chief of staff in the War Department, 1931-1935

Clifton B. Cates, aide to President Woodrow Wilson and later Commandant of the Marine Corps

Thomas A. Davis, Captain of Spanish–American War

Norman C. Gaddis, former Deputy Chief of Staff, Plans and Operations, Headquarters U.S. Air Force

Robert C. Hinson, former Deputy Commander-in-Chief of United States Strategic Command

Bruce K. Holloway, military commander of Allied Forces

Ridley McLean, 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

Major General Spurgeon Neel, pioneer in aeromedical evacuation

Austin C. Shofner, World War II U.S. General

Maurice F. Weisner, former Pacific Fleet Admiral

Athletics and sportscasters

Monica Abbott, NPF pitcher for the Washington Glory, Olympian (2008)

Pete Athas, former NFL player

Bill Bates, former NFL Pro Bowl safety

Buddy Bolding, head baseball coach at Longwood University in Farmville, Virginia

Chris Burke, retired Major League Baseball player

Kevin Burnett, former NFL player

Ray Bussard, Hall of Fame and Olympic swimming coach, 1968-1989

Tamika Catchings, WNBA player, two-time Olympian (2004, 2008)

Joey Clinkscales, professional football wide receiver, scout, and executive

Denny Crawford, professional football guard

Jonathan Crompton, NFL free agent quarterback

Antone Davis, former National Football League offensive lineman

Doug Dickey, College Football Hall of Fame head coach at the University of Tennessee (1964–1969) and the University of Florida (1970–1978); athletic director at Tennessee (1985–2002)

R.A. Dickey, professional baseball pitcher

Bobby Dodd, college football coach and athletic director at Georgia Tech

Dale Ellis, former NBA player

Beattie Feathers, former NFL player; collegiate football and baseball coach

Paul Finebaum, radio host and journalist

Cory Fleming, former NFL wide receiver

Richmond Flowers, former NFL player

Arian Foster, NFL running back

Phillip Fulmer, head coach of Tennessee Volunteers football team (1992–2008)

Harry Galbreath, former National Football League offensive lineman

Charlie Garner, NFL running back

Phil Garner, former Major League Baseball player and manager

Justin Gatlin, 2004 Summer Olympics 100m gold medalist

Willie Gault, former NFL wide receiver

Bobby Gordon, football player

Sam Graddy, 1984 Summer Olympics 100m silver medalist and 4x100m gold medalist

Ray Graves, former NFL player; University of Florida head football coach (1960–1969) and athletic director (1960–1979); College Football Hall of Fame (1990)

Ernie Grunfeld, former NBA player and current president of basketball operations, Washington Wizards

Travis Haney, college football writer for ESPN Insider

Alvin Harper, former NFL wide receiver

Albert Haynesworth, NFL defensive tackle

Todd Helton, former Major League Baseball first baseman for the Colorado Rockies

Chamique Holdsclaw, former WNBA player, Olympian (2000)

Rick Honeycutt, former Major League Baseball player and current pitching coach for the Los Angeles Dodgers

Allan Houston, NBA shooting guard

Luke Hudson, Major League Baseball pitcher for the Kansas City Royals

Austin Johnson, NFL player

Dale Jones, former NFL player and current assistant coach at Appalachian State

Steve Kiner, former NFL player, College Football Hall of Fame inductee

Bernard King, former NBA player

Kara Lawson, WNBA player, Olympian (2008), ESPN analyst

Jamal Lewis, NFL running back

Jeremy Linn, swimmer, won one gold and one silver medals at the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta, Georgia.

Christine Magnuson, swimmer, won two silver medals at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, China.

Johnny Majors, College Football Hall of Fame 1987, Heisman Trophy runner-up (1956); head football coach at Iowa State University (1968–1972), University of Pittsburgh (1973–1976) and the University of Tennessee (1977–1992)

Peyton Manning, NFL quarterback

Tee Martin, former NFL quarterback

Steve Matthews, former NFL quarterback

Jeronne Maymon (born 1991), basketball player for Hapoel Eilat B.C. of the Israeli Basketball Premier League

Bill Mayo, All-American

Jacques McClendon, NFL offensive lineman

Tim McGee, NFL receiver

Ross McGowan, professional golfer

Greg McMichael, former Major League Baseball player

Charles McRae, former National Football League offensive lineman

Aries Merritt, 2012 Summer Olympics 110m hurdles gold medalist

Anthony Miller, former NFL pro Bowl wide receiver

Mike Miller, NFL player

Chris Moneymaker, 2003 World Series of Poker Main Event winner

Tom Myslinski, former NFL center

Kevin Nash, professional wrestler and UT basketball player

Lindsey Nelson, sportscaster

Augie Ojeda, Major League Baseball player for the Arizona Diamondbacks

Candace Parker, WNBA player, Olympian (2008)

Woody Paige, sports analyst for The Denver Post and ESPN's Around the Horn

Bruce Pearl, former men's head basketball coach

Carl Pickens, former NFL Pro Bowl wide receiver

Peerless Price, former NFL Pro Bowl wide receiver

Semeka Randall, former WNBA player

Mychal Rivera, tight end; brother of Glee actress Naya Rivera

Pat Ryan, former NFL player

Ovince St. Preux, collegiate football defensive end and linebacker; professional mixed martial artist, formerly with Strikeforce and currently with the UFC

Robert Shaw, former NFL center

Michelle Snow, WNBA player

Donté Stallworth, NFL WR

Melvin Stewart, swimmer, won two gold medals and one bronze medal at the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona, Spain

Pat Summitt, former women's basketball head coach (1974–2012); member of Naismith Memorial and Women's Basketball Halls of Fame; Olympian (1976); head coach for the 1984 Olympic women's basketball team that won gold

Tyler Summitt, Pat's son and former head women's basketball coach at Louisiana Tech

Lenny Taylor, NFL player

Holly Warlick, former Lady Vols basketball player and current Lady Vols head coach

Chuck Webb, NFL player

Reggie White, former NFL defensive lineman

Ron Widby, former NFL Pro Bowl punter

Jordan Williams, NFL player

Rhyne Williams, professional tennis player

Al Wilson, NFL player

Gibril Wilson, NFL safety

Jason Witten, NFL Pro Bowl tight end

Gene Wojciechowski, college football reporter/senior writer, ESPN The Magazine

Bob Woodruff, head football coach at Baylor University (1947–1949); head football coach and athletic director at the University of Florida (1950–1959)

Chris Woodruff, associate head coach at the University of Tennessee, former professional tennis player

Journalists and newscasters

Huell Howser, California television personality

Ann Taylor, NPR newscaster

Chris Vining, Emmy Award-winning video editor

Charles Winters, journalist

Gene Wojciechowski, ESPN writer and commentator

Rhodes Scholars

Bernadotte E. Schmitt, Merton College, B.A 1908. M.A 1913. Distinguished professor, largely at Western Reserve University (1910-1925), and the University of Chicago (1925-1946). When Schmitt retired from Chicago, he held the Andrew MacLeish Distinguished Service Professorship of Modern History.He held a Guggenheim Fellowship in 1927, was elected President of the American Historical Association in 1960, and was named to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.Served briefly in World War I as a 2nd Lieutenant of Field Artillery, and during World War II, he acted as a special consultant on history in the Department of State's Division of Research and Publications and its Division of Historical Policy Research.

Matthew Glenn Smith, Hertford College, B.A. 1914. Served in WW l as Captain of Coast Artillery in France. Following discharge in 1918, went on to a prominent legal career in Texas.

Arthur Preston Whitaker, Awarded Rhodes Scholarship in 1917 but prevented from actualizing it by WW l. Graduated from Harvard University with an M.A in 1917 and a Ph.D. in 1924.Distinguished academic career as a professor at Amherst, Vanderbilt, New York University, Cornell, Princeton, and the University of Pennsylvania. At Penn he held the first chair in Latin American History in 1936. During WW ll, he served as a consultant to the State Department on Latin America.

William Everett Derryberry, St. John's College, B.A 1932 M.A 1940. At Oxford, he captained the St. John's tennis team, was a member of the university's international championship lacrosse team, and played doubles at Wimbledon. Went on to a distinguished 34-year academic career as president of Tennessee Technological University, where he oversaw the transformation of the school from a campus of a few acres and a few buildings with 700 students and 31 faculty members to a university comprising six colleges and schools on 235 acres of property with a student body of close to 7,000 and a faculty of more than 350.

Nancy-Ann Min DeParle, Balliol College, B.A. 1981 M.A 1986. Graduated from Harvard Law School in 1983 with a J.D Degree. Went on to serve in the cabinet of Tennessee Governor Ned McWherter, sit on several corporate boards, and most recently served as Deputy Chief of Staff for Policy under President Obama and Director of White House Office of Healthcare Reform.

Jennfier Santoro, DPhil. 1999

Lindsay E. Lee, MSc. 2014

Schwarzman Scholars

Miranda Gottlieb, 2018.

Nobel laureates

James Buchanan, winner of the 1986 Nobel Prize in Economic Science; received an M.S. degree from UT in 1941

Peter C. Doherty, faculty member in the UT Health Science Center in Memphis

Pulitzer Prize

John Netherland Heiskell, publisher and editor of the Arkansas Gazette from 1902 to 1972. Under his leadership, the Gazette won a Pulitzer Prize for meritorious public service. 1893 graduate of the University of Tennessee.

Owen Davis, 1889 graduate, won the Pulitzer Prize for his play Icebound in 1923.

Cormac McCarthy, novelist who attended University of Tennessee, Knoxville in 1951-1952 and 1957-1960. He won the Pulitzer Prize in 2007 for The Road.

Edward Osborne Wilson, attended University of Tennessee from 1950-1951, won two Pulitzer Prizes for nonfiction for his books On Human Nature (1979) and The Ants (1991).

John Noble Wilford, 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. 1955 graduate of the University of Tennessee.

Ron Kirksey, 1970 graduate of the University of Tennessee, won the Pulitzer prize for public service journalism in 1994 as part of a team at the Akron (Ohio) Beacon Journal.

John M. Hightower, attended the University of Tennessee 1927-1929. He won a Pulitzer while at the Associated Press for International Reporting in 1951.

Bernadotte E. Schmitt, earned a bachelor of arts at the University of Tennessee in 1902, earned a Pulitzer in History in 1931 for his book The Coming of the War, 1914 (1930).