The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga is the recipient of a $2.4 million federal grant to bolster the pipeline of highly trained behavioral health professionals serving children, adolescents and young adults in underserved areas of Southeast Tennessee.
UTC’s Rick Dierenfeldt and Erica Holmes Trujillo honored with 2025 UT System President’s Awards
Two University of Tennessee at Chattanooga standouts, UC Foundation Associate Professor Rick Dierenfeldt and College of Arts and Sciences Student Success Center Director Erica Holmes Trujillo, have been named recipients of the 2025 UT System President’s Awards—the highest honor a faculty or staff member can receive from the UT System.
Opportunity in every challenge: Chancellor Lori Bruce brings vision and voice to UTC
As Dr. Lori Bruce takes the reins as chancellor of the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, she won’t need a map to find her way across the region. After all, she grew up just 90 minutes west of Chattanooga on a working farm in Lincoln County—an upbringing she credits with shaping her resourcefulness and lifelong passion for education.
With ‘Adaptive Tai Chi,’ UTC’s Zibin Guo shares 20 years of wisdom in motion
Dr. Zibin Guo has spent more than two decades exploring how ancient traditions can help address the challenges of modern life. That research is now the subject of his second book, “Adaptive Tai Chi: An Accessible Practice for Empowering Body and Mind,” which will be available in July.
Fish feast: UTC professor reels in national award
Dr. Rich Walker’s project, titled “The Cicadian Rhythm: Integrated Research And Education To Reveal The Cascading Effects Of A Rare But Massive Terrestrial Resource Pulse In Stream Ecosystem,” is now drawing national recognition. He is one of just 36 early-career faculty members nationwide to be named a 2025 recipient of the Ralph E. Powe Junior Faculty Enhancement Award from Oak Ridge Associated Universities (ORAU), a consortium of over 160 colleges and universities that collaborates with federal agencies to advance health and scientific knowledge.
Encore performance: For 42 years, Teresa McKinney helped UTC feel like home
When Teresa McKinney walks out of her office at the end of June, she will close the book on a 42-year chapter at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga that began when she was a student worker in the Department of Music.
Headstrong: One stubborn puppy, one determined student
For UTC mechanical engineering grad student Connor Mackey, what started as an engineering experiment quickly turned into a year-long test of creativity, grit and compassion. With no blueprint to follow, Mackey leaned into his problem-solving instincts—producing more than a dozen helmet prototypes for a tiny puppy.
Highly decorated UTC alum named Pickering Fellow
University of Tennessee at Chattanooga alum Emma Sprayberry has been selected for the Thomas R. Pickering Foreign Affairs Graduate Fellowship—a prestigious U.S. Department of State program that prepares individuals for careers in the U.S. Foreign Service. The May 2024 graduate is the first UTC student or alum to earn a Pickering Fellowship.
URaCE meet-and-greet sparks conversation and collaboration
For dozens of students spending time at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga this summer, a gathering hosted by the Office for Undergraduate Research and Creative Endeavor (URaCE) offered a chance to meet their peers and get a feel for the academic journeys ahead.
From classroom to certification, UTC’s Job-Embedded program opening doors for aspiring educators
Johanna Gabriela Castillo Pineda is a Spanish teacher at East Brainerd Elementary School and the 2025 recipient of the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga’s Job-Embedded Award—an honor given to a student in UTC’s Job-Embedded licensure program who exemplifies commitment, growth and the spirit of teaching.