The College of Arts and Sciences held its inaugural alumni and philanthropy awards ceremony last week in conjunction with the spring meeting of the Dean’s Advisory Board.
Theresa Lee, dean of the college, presented ten awards:
- The Dean’s Distinguished Alumnus/Alumna Award— Lowry and Jane Kline. Lowry Kline, retired CEO of Coca-Cola Enterprises, received his bachelor’s degree in political science and English in 1962 and his law degree in 1965. Jane Kline, a retired classical musician, and a philanthropist and community leader, received her bachelor’s and master’s degrees in music in 1963 and 1965, respectively.
- Professional Achievement Award—John Chandler. Chandler is senior litigator and partner in King & Spalding’s Atlanta office and has received the Anti-Defamation League’s Lifetime Achievement Award. He received his bachelor’s degree in political science in 1966 and later went on to complete law school at Vanderbilt in 1972.
- Scholarly and Creative Achievement Award (Scholarly)—Gerald Musante. Musante, who received his doctorate in psychology in 1971, has dedicated his career to the treatment of obesity. Since founding Structure House, a residential weight loss center in 1977 in Durham, North Carolina, Musante and his staff have helped more than 30,000 people overcome weight issues.
- Scholarly and Creative Achievement Award (Creative)—David Keith. A 1985 graduate in speech and theatre, Keith is a filmmaker and actor who has appeared in movies including An Officer and a Gentleman, The Lords of Discipline, Firestarter, and White of the Eye, and TV shows including NCIS, Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, Law & Order: Criminal Intent, CSI: Miami, High Incident, Hawaii Five-0, and Lone Star.
- Volunteer Service Award—W. Michael Dennis. Dennis, who received his doctorate in botany in 1976, has been a very active member of the Dean’s Advisory Board as well as a volunteer in the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology and Botany for nearly forty years and has personally led forty consecutive annual Wildflower Pilgrimages.
- Volunteer Service Award—Wade Guyton, Meredyth Sparks and Joshua Smith. This team of internationally recognized artists created the Artist-in-Residence Limited Box Series of prints, a fundraising project to endow the artist in residence position in painting and drawing in the School of Art. Wade Guyton is 1995 College Scholars graduate, Meredyth Sparks is a 1994 art graduate, and Joshua Smith is a1998 art graduate.
- Philanthropist Award—Stuart and Kate Riggsby. The Riggsbys are both UT retirees. Stuart Riggsby served as dean of the College of Arts and Sciences and associate department head and professor in the Department of Microbiology. Katherine Riggsby was a system programmer. The Riggsbys made the first substantive contribution to the institutional challenge matching grant for a National Endowment for the Humanities grant that led to the creation of UT’s Marco Institute. Besides their ongoing support of Marco, they have also contributed to the Tennessee Humanities Center, the School of Music, and the Clarence Brown Theatre, as well as many other academic departments in the college.
- Philanthropist Award—Mannie and Fern Steinfeld. The Steinfelds have been generous donors to UT for more than twenty-five years. They were among the first major donors to the Judaic Studies program—now known as the Fern and Manny Steinfeld Program in Judaic Studies—by establishing an endowed chair in 1993 and continuing to provide annual gifts that support student travel to the Middle East, campus programming, and faculty development. They have also supported the College of Architecture and Design, the College of Engineering, and the College of Education, Health, and Human Sciences; and UT Athletics.
- Divisional Achievement Awards (Humanities)—Chad Goldman. Goldman, who received his bachelor’s degree in Spanish in 1993, is chief creative officer for OmniForce LLC, headquartered in Los Angeles, with offices in four countries. The company and its subsidiaries, RaceForce LLC and CauseForce LLC, provide strategic marketing, sponsorship acquisition and production support, publicity, planning, logistics, training, and charitable components for athletic events.
- CAS Divisional Achievement Awards (Visual and Performing Arts)—Kristin Lewis. Lewis, who received her master’s degree in music in 2002 is an internationally known operatic soprano. She formed the Kristin Lewis Foundation, which provides scholarship funding for a promising vocal student to study for a week in Vienna, Austria.
Anyone affiliated with the college was eligible to submit nominations for each award. The awards were selected by members of the college award selection committee, which consisted of one faculty representative from each division plus interdisciplinary programs and the senior director of development. The committee submitted its recommendations to the dean for final approval.
These awards will be presented annually in association with the spring meeting of the Dean’s Advisory Board.
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CONTACT:
Lynn Champion (865-974-2992, champion@utk.edu)