Monday kicked off with a Big Orange Breakfast with free doughnuts. Later, the Chick-fil-A mascot handed out iced tea to students for “I Heart UTea.” Other events included a Stress Relief Party, an ice cream social, and Thank UT Day, during which students filled out postcards to be sent to alumni who have helped make their education possible. Chancellor Jimmy G. Cheek joined in the festivities by serving more than 700 students a free pancake dinner in Hodges Library late Wednesday night.

I Heart UT Week continued with Carnicus, a campus tradition in which student organizations compete in a series of skits in hopes of winning the ACE Cup. Alpha Delta Pi and Alpha Omicron Pi were this year’s overall winners. I Heart UT Week finished strong with inflatables and giveaways at a FestiVOL preshow event followed by the eleventh annual Volapalooza, featuring rap artist Tyga, which drew more than 2,100 people to Thompson-Boling Arena.

Throughout the week, the UT food bank received more than 750 cans to start a pantry dedicated to students, faculty, and staff in need. A photo contest had students taking campus pictures that depicted why they “heart UT.”

The week also included special recognition and congratulations for seniors as they received exclusive “Vol for Life” car decals and their long-awaited class rings.

The first I Heart UT week was a huge success, and plans are already underway for 2014.

“I Heart UT Week is all about showing your love for Rocky Top. I see it becoming a tradition of celebration and appreciation for years to come,” said Grant Minchew, senior and SAA vice president emeritus.

For more information on I Heart UT Week, see volsconnect.com/utweek. To view a gallery of photos, visit I Heart UT Week’s Facebook page.

She is the third generation of women in her family to earn their degrees from UT.

Sams, of Kingston, Tennessee, will get her bachelor’s degree in recreation and sport management with a concentration in therapeutic recreation. She graduates from the College of Education, Health, and Human Sciences.

Sams’s grandmother, Betty M. “Bay” Walker, graduated in 1953 with a master’s degree in family relations and child development and went on to work at three colleges, retiring from McNeese State University.

Sams’s mother, Beth Walker Sams, earned her bachelor’s degree in fashion merchandising in 1983. She now works as the sheriff’s assistant in Roane County.

Beth Walker Sams said family had a huge influence on her decision to attend UT thirty years ago.

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The new fleet of T buses, which will serve as campus transportation, will be driving across the country in stages. The first group of ten will depart in the next couple of days from Riverside, California. The next groups will depart later in May and early June.

Following I-40, the buses will pass through Flagstaff, Arizona; Albuquerque, New Mexico; Amarillo, Texas; Oklahoma City, Oklahoma; and Little Rock, Arkansas, before crossing Tennessee by way of Memphis and Nashville on their way to Knoxville.

When I was younger I wanted to be…a fighter pilot and then an astronaut—that’s a big reason why I went to the US Naval Academy.

But I’m glad I became a business professor because…it has afforded me a much greater opportunity to satisfy my intellectual curiosity and my passion for teaching and having an impact on people to help them hone their talents (which I discovered later in life). And to do so in an environment that enabled me to be with my family as my wife and I raised our children.

As the Bruce Chair of Excellence, I am able to…do something I really love, which is to work with very talented people to form effective teams that generate knowledge used to help organizations improve, and to pass on that knowledge to the next generation of organizational leaders.

I learned the power of giving when…I first began teaching. I realized sharing knowledge about something which one is passionate about can be an extremely rewarding experience.

Logistics is like…the blood that flows through your body, bringing the required materials needed to sustain life to the cells in the most efficient and effective way possible. We have expanded to supply chain management, which includes logistics, but goes beyond that to also include purchasing—finding the best sources of food to sustain those cells, and manufacturing and service operations—the conversion operation in the stomach that converts the raw materials into something the body can use.

The supply chain program at UT…is one of the best programs in the world, bar none—including programs at institutions that have much more brand recognition, such as MIT and Stanford. First, we are deeply engaged in new research programs that will create cutting-edge knowledge on the interfaces between different organizational functions—between marketing and the supply chain, between different supply chain functions and partners, and between different regions of the globe. These insights are being used to drive knowledge into all of our programs. Specifically, in the last two years we have revised all of our programs—undergraduate, MBA, PhD—to reflect our belief in the need to facilitate a broad understanding of a range of supply chain elements while also maintaining a depth of knowledge. In addition, we have launched a new program, the Global Supply Chain Executive MBA, to highlight our belief in the need for rising executives to develop not only the broad and deep supply chain knowledge required to drive success in their organizations, but also to do so in a global context.

Most people don’t know that I am…a frustrated rock star who sings in a rock cover band. I also was head coach of a local high school lacrosse team. I love my job, but have to have other diversions to help me have a balance in my life.