KNOXVILLE — Ambassador Victor Ashe will share insights of his lengthy political career — from his early days in the Tennessee General Assembly, to his 16 years as Knoxville’s mayor, to his current post as U.S. ambassador to Poland — at an event on July 26 at the University Club.
Ambassador Victor Ashe The 11:30 a.m. luncheon will honor Ashe’s donation of his political papers to the University of Tennessee’s Howard H. Baker Jr. Center for Public Policy. The donation will become part of the Baker Center’s Modern Political Archives.
“We are very pleased that Ambassador Ashe will join us to share his experiences and thoughts. We are doubly pleased that we also will be celebrating the donation of his papers to the Baker Center, where they now form an important component of the Modern Political Archives that we are creating with our partners at UT Libraries,” Baker Center Executive Director Alan Lowe said.
A Knoxville native, Ashe was elected to the Tennessee House of Representatives in 1968 at the age of 23. He was elected to the Tennessee State Senate in 1975. From 1985-87, Ambassador Ashe served as executive director of the Americans Outdoors Commission. In 1987, he was elected mayor of Knoxville, a position he held for 16 years. On June 23, 2004, he was sworn in as our nation’s ambassador to Poland.
The Baker Center’s Modern Political Archives include the papers of U.S. Sens. Howard H. Baker Jr., Estes Kefauver, Fred Dalton Thompson and William Emerson Brock III; Govs. Donald Sundquist and Winfield Dunn; U.S. Congressmen John J. Duncan Sr., Howard H. Baker Sr. and Bob Clement; U.S. Congresswoman Irene Baker; and state Sen. Ben Atchley.
The luncheon is open to the public. Cost to attend is $15, payable by cash or check. Reservations are required by July 20. To make a reservation, call Patti Rebholz at (865) 974-0931 or e-mail prebholz@tennessee.edu
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Contacts:
Amy Blakely, (865) 974-5034, amy.blakely@tennessee.edu
Alan Lowe, (865) 974-8515, alowe4@tennessee.edu
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