Campus News

Campus welcomes Chancellor elect Roger Brown

Becoming chancellor of UTC will be “one perfect job” for Dr. Roger Brown, who met faculty, staff, students, and friends of the University in a reception at the University Center. Brown, provost and vice chancellor for academic affairs at the University of North Carolina at Pembroke, was Dr. John Petersen’s choice to lead UTC. Brown’s appointment must be approved by the UT Board of Trustees.

Brown said he and his wife, Dr. Carolyn Thompson, will take on the role of good stewards of the University.

“UTC is an urban university beautifully integrated into the community. It is an institution uniquely aware of its sense of place, grounded and beloved in Chattanooga and the Chattanooga area,” Brown told the crowd.

Brown said he will use this opportunity to study, learn, and practice his leadership skills, and he expressed the commitment he and his wife will make upon assuming their roles.

“We will strive every day of our time at UTC to live up to your high expectations and to hand back the keys to the chancellor’s office having left the university even better than we found it,” Brown said.

Thompson, head of the UNC-Pembroke honors program, said for a few years, she plans to concentrate solely on the duties of a chancellor’s wife.

Brown, a native of Bristol, Tennessee, received his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in political science from The University of Tennessee Knoxville. He received his doctorate in political science from The Johns Hopkins University.

With UT board approval, Brown will take office by July 1. He will replace former Chancellor Bill Stacy, who left in August to become headmaster of Baylor School.

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UTC embraces plan for Finley Stadium

The Stadium Corporation board has turned over management of Max Finley Stadium to Chattanooga Lookouts and BellSouth Park owner Frank Burke. Finley Stadium's Davenport Field has been the home field for the UTC football and soccer teams since 1997.

Dr. Frederick Obear, Interim Chancellor of UTC, has told Ryan Crimmins, Chairman of the Stadium Corporation, that the University supports the reported elements of the offer from Burke to operate and manage the Finley Stadium Complex for at least the next two years.

“One principle that The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga has held constant—from the earliest conversations concerning a stadium facility in Chattanooga through the most recent and exciting developments—is the commitment to a shared facility for the University and the community,” said Obear. “In recent weeks as we here at UTC have considered the future of the Finley Stadium Davenport Field, we have sought to remain true to this vision. We also have sought a proposal that acknowledges to UTC a level of stewardship and involvement with the project; because we understand that the motivation of many donors to the stadium has been a love of the University and a desire to support its programs.”

Obear said that upon the recommendation of UTC Vice Chancellor for Business and Operations Richard Brown and in consultation with the University of Tennessee System administration, the University embraces and supports the reported elements of the presentation and offer from Burke.

“The proposal by Mr. Burke is a timely one and allows the University an opportunity to work collaboratively with him, the Stadium Corporation, and other entities within our partnership to animate the Stadium with entertainment events and other programming, while building and improving the University’s athletics programs,” said Obear.

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North Stadium demolished to create greenspace

A small group of alumni, students, administrators and friends of the University watched from the University Center recently as the wrecking ball took its first swing at North Stadium. Demolition of the landmark by Dore and Associates Contractors of Bay City, Michigan, will allow more greenspace, included in plans for a university mall in the central area of campus.

“The demolition is representative of progress on campus, a sign we are moving forward,” said University spokesman Chuck Cantrell. “At the same time, it is a bittersweet moment in UTC history. I was a student at the game in 1983 when the Mocs played Tennessee State at Chamberlain Field, the UTC football game with the highest attendance record ever. Nothing will ever surpass the intimacy of football at Chamberlain Field, in the heart of campus.”

With the opening of Finley Stadium, the Chamberlain Field stands have not been used since 1997.

"The stands really needed to be taken down for safety reasons," Cantrell said. The stands on the north side of Chamberlain Field were constructed in 1908, and additional stands and dorm rooms were completed in 1948. The South Stadium building, used for classrooms, will remain standing and eventually could become an alumni center.

Photo Gallery

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New inductees announced for Entrepreneurship Hall of Fame

Mayor Bob Corker, Edgar M. Jolley and Glenn H. Morris have been named the 2005 inductees to the UTC Entrepreneurship Hall of Fame.

In 1999, the College of Business at UTC created the Entrepreneurship Hall of Fame to honor the entrepreneurial heritage of Chattanooga with both contemporary and pioneering local entrepreneurs. The Hall serves as a lasting tribute to the inductees and as an inspiration to current students who may have aspirations of owning their own business.

When you visit campus, you may view photos and bios of those inducted into the Entrepreneurship Hall of Fame, located on the third floor of Fletcher Hall, outside the Office of the Dean, room 300.

Bob Corker

Bob Corker grew up in Chattanooga and graduated from UT in 1974. After working four years as a construction superintendent he saved $8,000 and started his own construction company that eventually did business in 18 states. In 1999, he acquired Chattanooga’s two largest and most historic real estate companies.

In 2001, Corker was elected Mayor of Chattanooga. During his term, Corker lead the creation of the 21st Century Waterfront, establishing a strong business recruitment effort, recruiting venture capital firms to the city and facilitating the development of the 1,200 acre Enterprise South Industrial Park.

Edgar M. Jolley

Edgar M. Jolley began his career in 1951 when he founded H. E. Collins Contracting Company with his father-in-law, Horace E. Collins. In 1969 he began EMJ Corporation, a company organized for the primary purpose of constructing shopping centers for a firm headed by Moses Lebovitz, Joel Solomon, and Charles Lebovitz, a company now known as CBL and Associates Properties.

EMJ has completed projects such as Covenant Transport Headquarters, U. S. Express Headquarters, the Natatorium at Baylor School, and the addition to the Hunter Museum of American Art.

Jolley retired from EMJ in 1994. He has served on the board of Big Brothers Big Sisters of Chattanooga. Jolley is a golf course rater for the Tennessee Golf Association, and a supporter of UTC athletics. He is a 1951 business graduate of the University of Chattanooga.

Glenn H. Morris, Sr.

In 1963 Glenn Morris realized that “you only go through this life once” and took the leap to begin packaging over-the-counter remedies under the name Progressive Drugs of America or PDA.

After learning of the need for a child-resistant bottle cap for prescription drugs, Morris worked to patent new designs on closures. Many of these designs are still used today. When no other company wanted to pay for his patents, Morris plunged into debt and began making and marketing the closures himself. He began M & M Plastics in 1973 and revolutionized the prescription vial market.

In 1985 he began M & M Industries, a plastic company that manufactures Morris' patented Life Latch® containers for packaging of hazardous chemicals.

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Students contribute to tsunami relief

UTC students collected more than $1,200 through the Blue String Campaign, part of a community effort to raise funds for the Sri Lanken organization Sarvodaya. Sarvodaya supports the physical, emotional, and psychological health of tsunami orphans.

The University Honors Program, UTC Women’s Action Council, and the UTC Housing staff have supported The Blue String Campaign. Allison Williams, a sophomore in the Honors Program, served as the campus Blue Ribbon Campaign coordinator.

“The benefit of supporting Sarvodaya, a local organization, is that it has roots firmly in that country that employs people in that country, and has a long-term stake in the future and well-being of their citizens,” said Ajit Chittambalam, a UTC senior from Sri Lanka and head of the UTC Committee for Tsunami Relief.

Campus donors to The Blue String Campaign received a blue string to wear around their wrists, a gesture loosely based on a Sri Lanken custom. Donors wear the strings to acknowledge that they will not forget the victims of the disaster.