About the West Chair

The George R. West, Jr. Chair of Excellence in Communication and Public Affairs is one of Tennessee’s Chairs of Excellence, a program created by the Tennessee General Assembly in 1984 to strengthen teaching, research, and public service at the state’s universities. Each chair pairs a private endowment with matching state funds.

Dixie Yarns and the West family’s Chattanooga

Dixie Yarns and the West family's Chattanooga," could the first sentence become: "George R. West, Jr. led Dixie Yarns, the Chattanooga textile company that began in 1920, when a group of hosiery mill owners and business leaders founded the Dixie Mercerizing Company. Its business was mercerizing, a chemical treatment that gave cotton yarn a silk-like sheen and helped it hold dye, which made it valuable for ladies’ stockings. Among the early investors were John T. Lupton and his son Cartter, of the Chattanooga Coca-Cola bottling family.

Within two years the company was building a town. Lupton City rose on a tract north of the Tennessee River, and by 1923 it held a spinning mill, 72 company houses, a school, a church, a grocery, and eventually a post office with its own ZIP code.

A scholarship that outlived him

West’s name is still attached to money for students. The Dixie Group Foundation awards the George R. West, Jr. Scholarship each year to children of Dixie Group associates, currently $10,000, which is renewable for up to four years so long as the recipient stays in good academic standing.

The Endowment

The chair was funded in 1986 by a gift from the Westend Foundation of Chattanooga. It is held in trust by the State of Tennessee as part of the Chairs of Excellence program, and is today valued at more than $5 million.

The Charge

Students preparing for careers in communication, political science, business, education, and related fields benefit from a chair that emphasizes critical analysis and the clear presentation of public affairs in a truthful, effective, and responsible manner.