Chancellor Steven R. Angle, center, met with former UTC chancellors James Drinnon, left, and Fred Obear. Photo by Angela Foster.
For the first time in nearly 40 years, former University of Tennessee at Chattanooga Chancellor James Drinnon returned to the campus where he once physically resided.
Drinnon, who served as chancellor from 1973 through 1981, visited the University on May 2. He spent time with Chancellor Steven R. Angle and the chancellor who succeeded him, Fred Obear; had the opportunity to see—for the first time—his oil on canvas portrait that hangs alongside the other University leaders in the Roth Grand Reading Room in the UTC Library; received a tour of campus, both from ground level and the top floor of the library; and met for an oral history project with University Archivist Noah Lasley.
Circa 1970s photo of James Drinnon, courtesy of the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga Special Collections.
“It’s just amazing what’s been done since I left,” Drinnon said. “It’s a shock to tell you the truth; it’s much larger than it was when I was chancellor.
“I’m proud to know that I was a part of the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga at its beginnings.”
How much has the University changed since he was the UTC leader?
Drinnon was the last chancellor to live in the on-campus residence at 605 Oak St., now the home of the Development Office. That building was the next-door neighbor of the football field where Chamberlain Field sits.
He moved the chancellor’s residence to a Lookout Mountain site during his tenure at the University’s helm.
Now in his 80s, Drinnon was 34 years old when he came to UTC as interim chancellor in 1973. He was officially named chancellor in 1974.
Before coming to UTC, he was the vice president for administration for the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, where he had worked in various positions since 1965.
Drinnon sat down for nearly an hour with Lasley, who—as part of an oral history project—has been meeting with notable former University personnel for audio recording sessions since 2019.
Oil on canvas portrait of Chancellor James Drinnon, courtesy of the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga Special Collections.
“Dr. Drinnon was chancellor during an immense amount of change for UTC,” Lasley said. “There were 35 new degree programs offered during his tenure as chancellor, nine of which were at the master’s level, and UTC grew at a huge rate.”
The student population when Drinnon arrived in the early ’70s was about 4,500. By the time he left, it was about 7,500.
“The Chancellor’s Roundtable was an initiative that Dr. Drinnon started,” Lasley noted. “The Brock Scholar program started in 1979 under his administration. So there are things still part of the UTC that we know today that started during his time.”
Lasley and Drinnon also talked about numerous campus projects that took place during that era, including the building of the Fine Arts Center, Lupton Library, University Center and the first phase of construction on McKenzie Arena.
“As the university archivist, I see his name on a weekly—if not daily—basis just looking through materials,” Lasley said.
“You have these Echo articles and the historical record, but the point of an interview and oral history is it just adds another dimension and personal experience and insight into what was happening.”
