With more than 370 stories published in the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga newsroom during the 2024 calendar year, it’s easy to say that a lot of good things happened for UTC students, faculty and staff this year.
Picking out the top highlights—not so easy.
Here are some of our favorites listed in chronological order of website publication.
UTC unveils autonomous vehicle for smarter, safer urban mobility
The Center for Urban Informatics and Progress’s first autonomous vehicle.
Researchers at UTC are driving faster—and more safely—into the future of mobility with the recent arrival of the University’s first autonomous vehicle.
The vehicle—technically a research and development autonomous vehicle platform—designed and manufactured by Hexagon | AutonomouStuff, was purchased by the UTC Center for Urban Informatics and Progress (CUIP) and deployed along the MLK Smart Corridor and throughout parts of downtown Chattanooga. As the vehicle travels a loop from East ML King Boulevard to the Edney Innovation Center and the UTC campus, it gathers real-time data about the interactions between other cars, cyclists, pedestrians and travelers.
Heroes of UTC snow days: “When the call went out for help, people responded”
Graham Davis celebrates Snow Day 2024 on Chamberlain Field.
On Jan. 15, a rare, thin blanket of snow fell on the UTC campus. While the University only received a light dusting, some areas in the Chattanooga region received up to six inches of snow, leaving campus closed until Jan. 18.
The winter weather provided a few fun snow days for students, but many staff members worked behind the scenes to keep campus running and students safe.
“People had to be doing physical things in 10-degree weather, five-degree weather, which is crazy,” UTC Director of Environmental Health and Safety Bob Jackson said, “but when the call went out for help, people responded.”
Fletcher Hall renovation and expansion
Artist rendering courtesy of DH&W and Perkins&Will Architects
On April 26, UT System President Randy Boyd shared highlights of the fiscal year 2024-2025 state budget passed by the Tennessee General Assembly, including the transformational funding for the renovation and expansion of Fletcher Hall—home to the Gary W. Rollins College of Business.
The monumental investment by the State of Tennessee and Gary and Kathleen Rollins will allow for Fletcher Hall—built in 1940 and home to the Rollins College of Business—to be renovated and connected with a new 81,000-square-foot building to help expand the services and capacity of the growing business program.
Pomp and circumstance: Celebrating the sights and sounds of UTC commencement
Following her remarks to UTC students of the Gary W. Rollins College of Business and the College of Health, Education and Professional Studies at the May 4 afternoon undergraduate commencement, Student Government Association President Chamyra Teasley took a selfie with the graduates.
Processionals, gonfalons and the “Imperial March.” The revelry of past UTC commencements was back.
For the first time since 2019, commencement at UTC was held without the restrictions of COVID-19 and McKenzie Arena renovations. Three ceremonies took place May 3-4 with more than 1,300 undergraduates and nearly 300 graduate students presented for degrees.
All three ceremonies began with the march of the gonfalons—ceremonial banners originating from Western European culture and the Roman Empire—representing the academic colleges that make up the University.
White House report recognizes UTC’s role in cyber workforce training
Dr. Mengjun Xie is a UC Foundation professor of computer science and director of the InfoSec Center.
In a report issued by the White House on June 25, UTC was recognized for its contributions to the U.S. National Cybersecurity Strategy launched in March 2023.
The “Report on the Initial Stages of the National Cyber Workforce and Education Strategy Implementation” was a status update on a federally-driven, nationwide approach to position “the United States and its allies and partners to build a digital ecosystem that is more defensible, more resilient, and better aligned with our values.”
The report cited UTC for achieving National Center of Academic Excellence in Cybersecurity designation with its “Collaborative Research: CyberCorps Scholarship for Service: Strengthening the National Cybersecurity Workforce With Integrated Learning of AI/ML and Cybersecurity.”
UTC has historic fundraising year of $60 million raised
UTC raised $60,056,026 from 6,762 donors during the fiscal year 2024, the single largest fundraising year in UTC’s history. This fundraising total represented a 325% increase from the previous fiscal year in dollars raised to support students, faculty and staff.
In addition to the generous support of Gary and Kathleen Rollins with a $30 million gift to support the expansion of Fletcher Hall and the home to the Gary W. Rollins College of Business, UTC’s School of Nursing received its largest gift in history. Announced in October 2023, an $8 million gift from the Kennedy Foundation, Inc. is set to name the Dorothy and Jim Kennedy Health Sciences Building, which broke ground in fall 2024 and will be the new home for the School of Nursing.
UTC’s Olivia Reeves brings home the Olympic gold
Silence fell over the room in the University Center as Olivia Reeves walked up to the platform, broken by a roar of applause as she successfully lifted 145 kg (308.6 pounds) in the clean and jerk—securing her Olympic gold medal in women’s weightlifting.
On Aug. 9, Reeves—a senior sociology student at UTC who graduated this December—became the first U.S. weightlifter to win gold at the Olympics in 24 years. She also set an Olympic record with a snatch of 117 kg (257.9 pounds).
Reeves was the first currently-enrolled UTC student to participate in the Olympics. Nearly 4,400 miles away from the Paris Expo Porte de Versailles weightlifting competition, approximately 100 members of the UTC family gathered in the UC Undergraduate Admissions tour center for a watch party cheering her on.
State of the University 2024: UTC celebrates record enrollment, bold future plans
Chancellor Steven R. Angle delivers his annual State of the University address Sept. 16 in the Wolford Family Athletic Center.
Standing before a packed house in the newly opened Wolford Family Athletic Center, Chancellor Steven R. Angle delivered the annual State of the University address on Sept. 16, celebrating UTC’s achievements and charting an ambitious course for the future.
With a theme focused on “What does it mean to be a Moc?” Angle’s address called on the UTC community to rise to the challenge of making this the best decade in the history of the University.
“Why go to college? Why go to UTC?” Angle asked before sharing an insightful note from a Chattanooga Times Free Press reader about the more profound value of the college experience beyond financial gain. The focus, the reader wrote, is on learning, caring, giving back and making a positive impact.
“These life-shaping traits define the college experience—the ‘Mocs’ experience,” Angle said. “We are not merely putting information in the heads of our students. Our mission is to help students become contributing, engaged citizens of our society. Our students graduate understanding the world and how they can make a positive difference.”
“Bucky’s dream come true:” UTC opens Wolford Family Athletic Center
A ribbon-cutting ceremony in conjunction with the annual State of the University address took place on Sept. 16, highlighting the start of Founder’s Week—a week-long celebration of the University’s 138th anniversary.
The $36-million project included a 37,500-square-foot addition and 23,000 square feet of renovations to McKenzie Arena—and its athletics space features a state-of-the-art sports medicine area, a hydrotherapy section and office space for a mental health professional available to all UTC student-athletes. The new facility houses locker rooms, meeting rooms and offices for the football program.
The center also features 6,000 square feet of dedicated event space for campus use.
“The Wolford Family Athletic Center serves as a front porch that supports the recruitment, retention and performance of our student-athletes at the level that they deserve,” Angle said. “It’s also a place where we can connect with our community events like this.”
UTC’s Megan McKnight honored by White House for leadership in opioid overdose prevention
Attendees at the White House Challenge to Save Lives from Overdose Event, on the steps of the Eisenhower Executive Office Building. Photo by Fred Dubon.
When the Biden-Harris Administration issued the White House Challenge to Save Lives from Overdose earlier in 2024, Megan McKnight, director of the Center for Wellbeing, was quick to act.
The challenge, a nationwide call to expand training and access to lifesaving opioid overdose reversal medications, motivated McKnight to take action—signing the University on to be a part of the program.
“In doing that,” she recalled, “I had to account for the work that we were already doing on campus and make a pledge that we were planning to do more.”
Her efforts did not go unnoticed.
On Oct. 8, McKnight was invited to a Washington, D.C., summit hosted by the White House Domestic Policy Council and the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy. The White House Challenge to Save Lives from Overdose event honored McKnight and nearly 250 other stakeholders for expanding access to lifesaving opioid overdose reversal medication and reducing preventable drug overdose deaths.
UTC’s Dorothy and Jim Kennedy Health Sciences Building breaks ground
From left: Rep. Patsy Hazlewood, Elizabeth Kennedy Spratlin, Molly Kennedy, Jim Kennedy III, Dr. Chris Smith, Chancellor Steven R. Angle, UT System President Randy Boyd, Sen. Bo Watson, Rep. Yusuf Hakeem, U.S. Rep. Chuck Fleischmann, and UTC Student Nurses Association President Olivia Walls.
The future home of the UTC School of Nursing—the Dorothy and Jim Kennedy Health Sciences Building—broke ground on Nov. 4.
Located at the corner of Palmetto and East 3rd streets, the new facility will allow for a 152% enrollment increase in the School of Nursing, which currently accepts approximately 50% of applicants and turns down eligible students due to space and class size limitations.
The groundbreaking was attended by faculty, staff, students, alums, building donors and numerous dignitaries—including UT System President Randy Boyd; U.S. Rep. Chuck Fleischmann; Tennessee Sen. Bo Watson, chair of the Hamilton County Legislative Delegation and the Senate Finance, Ways and Means Committee; Rep. Patsy Hazlewood, chair of the House Finance, Ways and Means Committee; and Rep. Yusuf Hakeem.
$3.5 million federal grant awarded to fully establish UTC Quantum Center
Dr. Tian Li, UTC assistant professor of physics and chief technology officer for the Quantum Center, left, and Vice Chancellor for Research Reinhold Mann.
Advancing quantum science is a national priority of the federal government, and a proposal to establish the UTC Quantum Center was awarded $3.5 million from the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST).
The funding from NIST, an agency of the U.S. Department of Commerce, will be awarded over a four-year period in support of four distinct focus areas: infrastructure, education and outreach, use of case-driven research and development, and business development to ensure the Center’s sustainability.
“In 2022, UTC started an initiative to establish a program of excellence in Quantum Information Science and Engineering, or QISE, with a strong focus on education and workforce development, and to establish use cases for QISE in Urban Systems and Energy Systems. This includes innovation in cybersecurity, AI (artificial intelligence), mobility and transportation, safe and resilient energy supply and related applications,” UTC Vice Chancellor for Research Reinhold Mann said.
“Since then, UTC has become a member of the Chattanooga Quantum Collaborative, has established an access node on campus to the first commercial quantum network in the United States—created by EPB—and with this funding will be able to accelerate the evolution of the quantum initiative into a Quantum Center.
“The focus on quantum information science and engineering is a new direction for UTC. The Quantum Center represents important opportunities for our students, the community and UTC research collaborations with other institutions.”
Raccoon Mountain Caverns gifted to UTC
Students in Robert Lake Wilson Professor of Geology Amy Brock-Hon’s “A Moc’s First Year” course toured Raccoon Mountain Caverns in September.
Donated to UTC, Raccoon Mountain Caverns is the University’s newest classroom and research laboratory. Located approximately 15 minutes southwest of campus, it is a complex cave system known for its extensive underground formations and diverse ecosystem.
Part of a karst system that includes a landscape characterized by caves, sinkholes and underground streams, Raccoon Mountain Caverns has over 5.5 miles of explored passageways. Its formation dates back millions of years and is caused by the dissolution of soluble rocks like limestone.
From the research standpoint, Raccoon Mountain Caverns marks a monumental leap forward for UTC—particularly for the faculty and students within the Department of Biology, Geology and Environmental Science.
Dr. Steven Perlaky, a Chattanooga area emergency medicine physician, had owned Raccoon Mountain Caverns since 1995 before donating it to UTC.
“I had thought long and hard about the best future for the cave, and I believe that to be in UTC’s hands,” Perlaky said. “The reality is that the University, with contacts and students, will spur far more research interest … hopefully we’ll find some secrets—maybe in the DNA of some species, or maybe we’ll even discover new species.”
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