University of Tennessee at Chattanooga Assistant Professor of Anthropology Emma McDonell’s central question this past summer: Who controls the food on people’s tables?
Artificial intelligence in nursing
Laurel Rhyne remembers the very first time she heard about generative artificial intelligence. It was December 18, 2022. She was listening to a National Public Radio story in her car while crossing the Market Street Bridge. “The focus was all on plagiarism and what it was going to do for higher ed,” explained Rhyne, an associate lecturer in the UTC College of Nursing. “What I saw was so much more. “Our whole world is going to change.”
UTC, Erlanger celebrate first Acute Care Physical Therapy Residency graduate
UTC and Erlanger marked a milestone with the graduation of the first resident from their jointly developed Acute Care Physical Therapy Residency during a ceremony at Erlanger Baroness Hospital. The event recognized the completion of the yearlong program by Dr. Cheryl Self, a licensed physical therapist at Erlanger who received her Doctor of Physical Therapy (DPT) degree from UTC in 2020.
If these walls could talk: Brock Hall
The United States’ involvement in World War II elevated science to a national priority, and this was reflected in the curricula of higher education institutions across the country in the postwar years. The University of Chattanooga was no exception, and Brock Hall, dedicated in November 1949 as a science building housing the Biology, Chemistry, Engineering Drawing, Geography, and Geology Departments, is a physical reminder of that era.
Master’s student April (A.P.) Horn turns undergraduate research into a future in teaching
With the start of the spring semester, December 2025 UTC graduate April Horn is now enrolled in Graduate School thanks to the Robert Noyce Teacher Scholarship, a competitive National Science Foundation-funded fellowship that provides STEM graduates with a fully funded pathway to earn a master’s degree in secondary education from UTC in just 14 months.
Nguyen with the win: UTC student earns national championship in T.E.A.M. University Challenge
Vu Nguyen isn’t one to seek the spotlight. But when the final scores were tallied in a national financial planning competition, the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga sophomore found his name at the very top. Nguyen’s investment portfolio finished first among more than 600 students from 14 universities in the 2025 T.E.A.M. University Challenge, hosted by The E-Valuator Asset Management.
UTC earns national recognition for community engagement
The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga has been nationally recognized for its long-standing commitment to community engagement, earning the 2026 Carnegie Community Engagement Classification—awarded by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching in collaboration with the American Council on Education.
Winter Welcome Week rings in the new semester
New and returning students at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga are heading back to campus for the spring semester with opportunities to connect during the 2026 Winter Welcome Week. The week of festivities will begin Monday, Jan. 12—when students start classes—and continue through Friday, Jan. 16.
UTC officially launches College of Nursing
The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga has officially launched the College of Nursing, elevating one of the University’s longest-standing and most impactful academic programs to college status. With nearly 1,000 students enrolled across undergraduate and doctoral programs, the College of Nursing becomes UTC’s fifth academic college.
Sisters saving lives
Sisters Amber Honea and Alexis Murray have found their place helping others. The UTC alums are working as nurses for their respective hospitals in Chattanooga. Honea, who received a BSN from UTC in 2014 and an MSN in 2021, is an acute care nurse practitioner with the pulmonology and critical care department at Erlanger Hospital. Murray, who earned a BSN in 2019, is currently enrolled in the DNP program and works at CommonSpirit Memorial Hospital Chattanooga as an ICU floating nurse.