Ten distinguished Army ROTC alumni were inducted into the UT Army ROTC Hall of Fame at its annual induction dinner on November 9.
The honorees in the class of 2018 were:
- Colonel Mark D. Boyatt, Retired (’71). A former deputy commandant at the US Army John F. Kennedy Special Warfare Center and commander, 3rd Special Forces Group (Airborne), he is now a senior consultant for the S.R. Martin Group, a Veterans Administration–certified service-disabled business.
- Brigadier General Geoffrey A. Freeman, Retired (’78). He is the director of technology for UT’s Haslam College of Business and serves as the UT Army ROTC Alumni Council president.
- Colonel Gregory P. Gass, Retired (’80). After a distinguished military career culminating as the deputy director of Army aviation in the Office of the Deputy Chief of Staff, he began his civilian career by leading the General Electric Aviation’s strategic US military customer program.
- Major Terry A. Griswold, Retired (’69). He was the first special operations instructor at the US Army’s Command and General Staff College at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas.
- Colonel Thomas M. Johnson, Retiredi (’60). He served as a planner with the J5, Joints Chief of Staff, Chairman OJCS Crisis Planning Group. As a well-known expert in European edged weaponry, he was selected by the Smithsonian Institute to appraise a donated edged-weapon collection.
- Colonel George M. Massey, Retired (’62). He served two tours in Vietnam and concluded his career as a professor of military science at Eastern Washington University. Upon retirement, he was active in establishing Junior ROTC units in Williamson County, Tennessee.
- Colonel Mark N. McDonald, Retired (’77). He had a distinguished 31-year career in the Dental Corps, where he successfully progressed through the ranks before retiring as colonel and serving as the commanding officer for three dental commands during the global war on terrorism.
- Colonel Robert D. Pickle, Retired (’59,’61). After graduating from UT’s College of Law in 1961, he used his education to serve as assistant judge advocate general for civil law at the Pentagon, then as the Illinois-Missouri regional and state coordinator for the United States Military Academy Admissions Field Force.
- Emmet P. (Buck) Vaughn (’59). He served a two-year career in the US Army that included service in the 82nd Airborne Division. Completing his military service, he became the CEO and board chairman at the Emmet Vaughn Lumber Company and later founded the Greater Knoxville Sports Hall of Fame. He was honored as an Outstanding Civic Leader of East Tennessee in 1996.
- Alan D. Wilson (’80). He served as an ordinance company commander before departing military service in 1985, after which he quickly rose to become the president, chairman, and CEO of McCormick & Company. He later served as the first president of the UT Knoxville Alumni Board of Directors.
“The Hall of Fame program honors both military and civilian contributions,” said Logan Hickman, dinner chairman. “Our 10 graduates are among the best and highlight UT’s rich military history. This second class of Hall of Fame inductees brings our total number of members to 22. This distinguished group of UT graduates only scratches the surface of a program that started in 1844.”
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Contact:
Mallorie Mendence (865-974-5801, mmendenc@utk.edu)