Alumni

The guest book sits on a table at the entrance of Gus Manning’s room at Little Creek Sanitarium. Adorned with an orange cover, its pages are filled with names and dates printed in blue ink. From famous athletes and coaches to everyday people like secretaries and ticket takers, the content reveals the depth of Manning’s impact at the University of Tennessee. Manning worked nearly 50 years in the Tennessee athletics department after graduating from the university in 1950.

From folk to country and rock to opera, UT alumni span the music industry. Find out more about these Volunteers who write and perform songs, top the charts, and tour the world making music. We’ve even put together a Spotify playlist of some tunes for you to enjoy.

For many people, pursuing an art degree equates to the concept of a struggling artist. Alumni from the School of Art are breaking this stereotype with impressive careers in a…

Cycerli Ash (’10) was a Division I athlete who followed her dream of acting to the University of Tennessee. Now, she’s an actress on the rise who takes the time to give back to her alma mater.

If Marshall Ramsey were to draw a cartoon about his time at UT, he’d doodle a picture of himself sitting with his dad in Neyland Stadium watching his first UT football game in 1980. It was the moment he knew he wanted to be a Volunteer.

The spirit that University of Tennessee President Emeritus Joe Johnson (’60, ’68) found when he first walked into Ayres Hall on January 3, 1956, still pervades the Knoxville campus, and he hopes it will continue to guide the university into its future.

Volunteers have always worked to make the world a better place—it’s what we do. Read about a few of our alumni, faculty, staff, and friends who have helped to light the way for others.

Twenty years ago, Michael Bishop (MS ’83) stumbled on police records about the murder of UT freshman Paula Herring in Nashville in 1964. A man was convicted of the murder, but the more Bishop researched, the more he realized that something just wasn’t right.

Though Clarence Brown had two UT engineering degrees by 1910, he set his sights on Hollywood where he directed stars like Clark Gable, Greta Garbo, Joan Crawford, and Elizabeth Taylor before leaving his legacy on UT’s campus through the Clarence Brown Theatre.

Every university is judged by its alumni, and former UT students have found themselves all over the world, distinguishing themselves in the sciences, literature, and performing arts. UT graduates who…