A lot of great things happened at UTC during the 2025 calendar year. We celebrated student and faculty research, welcomed new faces (including Chancellor Lori Bruce), broke ground on new buildings and commemorated big wins. With so much happening across campus, the UTC newsroom published 427 stories over the course of the year. Here are our top 20 personal favorites in chronological order of website publication.
Dr. Mina Sartipi named interim vice chancellor for research at UTC
Dr. Mina Sartipi has been appointed interim vice chancellor for research, effective January 2026. Sartipi currently serves as the executive director of the UTC Research Institute and as the founding director of the Center for Urban Informatics and Progress (CUIP). She is a Guerry Professor and UC Foundation Professor in UTC’s Department of Computer Science and Engineering and holds a joint faculty appointment with Oak Ridge National Laboratory.
UTC Vice Chancellor for Research Reinhold Mann announces retirement
University of Tennessee at Chattanooga Vice Chancellor for Research Reinhold Mann has announced his retirement, effective at the end of December. Since joining UTC in 2015, Mann has helped shape a new era for the University’s research enterprise, building faculty capacity, deepening community partnerships, and advancing major strategic initiatives that have elevated UTC’s role in regional innovation and discovery.
UTC researchers and Hamilton County educators turn NSF project into hydrogen energy publication
Two University of Tennessee at Chattanooga chemical engineering professors—Dr. Rahul Bhosale and Dr. Bradley Harris—and a pair of Hamilton County educators have co-authored a research paper published in the International Journal of Hydrogen Energy, one of the field’s leading academic journals.
Golden girls of nursing: UTC legends reflect on a legacy
Prior to NightinGala 2025, Dr. Cherry Guinn, Professor Emeritus Martha Butterfield and Professor Emeritus Barbara Norwood sat down with the UTC video team to reminisce about the founding of the University’s School of Nursing.
UTC students learn the language of cybersecurity at Unum
Three recent graduates of the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga’s accelerated BAS-IT CyS program spent the past year inside Unum, seeing how cybersecurity functions at one of the city’s largest employers and a Fortune 500 insurance company.
Firsts and finish lines: UTC celebrates fall 2025 commencement
The Graduate School commencement took place Friday, Dec. 12, recognizing students who earned advanced degrees across UTC’s academic programs.
Leading and learning: Stacie Grisham completes her doctoral journey
Like many staff members at UTC, being a full-time employee isn’t Stacie Grisham’s only role on campus. For the past five years, she has also carried a second title—student.
Charles in charge: Storyteller turns his UTC student experience into a career
When Charles Kemp walks across the McKenzie Arena stage at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga undergraduate commencement ceremony on Saturday, Dec. 13, he’ll be thinking about how far he’s come—both as a student and as a storyteller.
Hard work, late nights and an unshakable dream: Julio Gonzalez’s road to commencement
Julio Gonzalez will cross the McKenzie Arena stage on Saturday, Dec. 13, earning a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering from the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga College of Engineering and Computer Science. At 32 years old, it’s a walk that has been years in the making—driven by sheer determination.