Office of the Provost Newsletter

Welcome!

I hope you had a restful break. We are glad you are back and excited to start the spring semester.

John Zomchick
Provost and Senior Vice Chancellor

News and Notes

UT students, faculty and staff are invited to attend the Campus Master Plan Town Hall from 9 to 10 a.m. Wednesday, January 25, in the Student Union Pilot Company Ballroom. The town hall is an opportunity to ask questions about the development of the campus master plan. Representatives from international planning firm Ayers Saint Gross and Knoxville firm McCarty Holsaple McCarty will attend the meeting.

The Innovative Teaching and Learning Conference will be held virtually on Thursday, March 23, 2023. This year's keynote speaker is Peter Felten, professor of history, executive director of the Center for Engaged Learning, and assistant provost for teaching and learning at Elon University.

Congratulations!

In Case You Missed It (ICYMI): Achievements, recognitions, and more good news

Manuela Ceballos (Religious Studies), Dan Magilow (Modern Foreign Languages and Literature), and Mary McAlpin (Modern Foreign Languages and Literature) have all received prestigious NEH fellowships. UT is one of just two universities to receive three NEH fellowships in 2023, a reflection of the high quality of work being conducted in the humanities.

LaToya Eaves, assistant professor in the Department of Geography and Sustainability, has been named a 2023 Fellow of the American Association of Geographers (AAG). Eaves is one of 16 geographers in a variety of practice areas recognized for their contributions to geographic research, advancement of practice, and careers devoted to strengthening the field of geography, including teaching and mentoring.

The University of Tennessee Libraries is ranked 22nd overall, and 4th in the SEC, among the nation’s best public university libraries, according to recently released statistics and rankings. These rankings, published by the Association of Research Libraries, are an indication of UT’s commitment to providing the very best for students, faculty, and staff, as well as the larger community UT Libraries serves throughout the state and nation.

Karen Franck, associate professor and evaluation specialist with University of Tennessee Extension Department of Family and Consumer Sciences, and collaborators from 16 land-grant institutions were honored with the inaugural National Excellence in Extension Team Award by the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA), the Association of Public and Land-grant Universities (APLU), and Cooperative Extension.

Kristen Brown Johnson, assistant professor in UT Extension’s Family and Consumer Sciences, is the winner of the USAID’s 2022 Farmer-to-Farmer Volunteer of the Year Award for her work with the Farmer-to-Farmer Program in Cambodia. This program pairs American volunteers with counterparts in Cambodia to promote sustainable improvements in food security, and agricultural production, as well as food processing and marketing.

Governor’s Chair for Nuclear Materials Steve Zinkle has been awarded the 2022 Seaborg Medal from the American Nuclear Society. He was recognized for innovative research enabling an improved understanding of structural material performance limits in reactors, and for developing practical design strategies for new high-performance radiation-resistant materials.

Governor’s Chair for Advanced and Nanostructured Materials Rigoberto Advincula has been selected as a Fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry through their “Leaders in the Field’ program, which identifies individuals for their outstanding contributions and impact on the field of chemistry.

The recently completed Fall 2022 semester was a record-breaking term for Tennessee Athletics, as the student-athlete population posted a cumulative 3.32 grade-point average—the highest ever recorded. By marking the 20th consecutive semester in which the Vols and Lady Vols combined to post a GPA of 3.0 or higher, Tennessee Athletics has now maintained that level of academic achievement for a full 10 years.

On January 21, UT Libraries and campus partners hosted more than 100 high school students for Big Orange STEM Saturday. Held at John C. Hodges Library and coordinated by Thura Mack, the library's Coordinator of Community Learning Services & Diversity Programs, this event is designed to give students hands-on experience in STEM fields, including demonstrations, exhibitions, and presentations.

There is more good news on campus than can fit in one newsletter. If you have some good news you'd like to send us for a future monthly edition, we'd love to hear it. Send a 2-3 sentence summary and link to jroder@utk.edu.