TULLAHOMA, Tenn. — Dr. John E. Caruthers announced today that he will retire effective June 30, 2006 as UT associate vice president and chief operating officer of UT’s Space Institute at Tullahoma.
“UTSI is now well along the path to prosperity again,” said Caruthers. “It was my goal to see UTSI around the corner and headed in the right direction. I believe that is the case now, and it is time for me to make plans to move on to other things while I still have the health and vitality left to do them.”
Caruthers joined the UTSI faculty in September 1978 as an assistant professor of Engineering Science and Mechanics. He had previously worked with the Allison Division of General Motors in Indianapolis.
He became the first Jack D. Whitfield Professor of high speed flows in 1995 and two years later became the third UTSI faculty member to be selected as the B.H. Goethert Professor. Caruthers was named Dean of Academic Affairs in 2000 and promoted to chief operating officer in 2001.
“It has been a privilege to have had the career I’ve had at UTSI, said Caruthers. “To have held two chaired professorships and to be chosen as a Goethert Professor are among the most rewarding experiences of my career.”
Caruthers said he enjoyed and was privileged “to have worked alongside some of the most brilliant and creative scientific and mathematical minds in their respective fields.”
“Perhaps the greatest reward has been to observe the success of our former students over the years,” he noted.
Caruthers will remain at UTSI through the search for a replacement and transition to new leadership.
A native of Lanett, Ala., Caruthers earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees at Auburn University and his doctorate degree at Georgia Tech.
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Contact: Joel Muelhauser (931-393-7286)
Karen Collins (865-974-5186)
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