Tennessee Chairs of Excellence


The Tennessee Chairs of Excellence program was established during a period of educational reform in 1984, under Governor Lamar Alexander's "Better Schools" Program. While most of that program focused on improvements to K-12 education, some money went to higher education: increases to general funding, the Chairs of Excellence program, and the Centers of Excellence program. The purpose of the Chairs of Excellence program was to attract and retain nationally recognized scholars to four-year academic institutions within the state. In theory, this would attract private funding to the state, improve research initiatives, improve the quality of higher education for undergraduate and graduate students, and raise the state's national and international educational standing, hence increasing the schools' global competitiveness. All four-year state colleges and universities qualify to participate in this program, including the UT Space Institute. Since 1984, 100 Chairs of Excellence have been established across the state's institutions. There was a brief suspension in the creation of new chairs, but that was short-lived, though only two chairs have been established since 2000, with the most recent being at Middle Tennessee State University in 2013. The Chairs of Excellence are currently under the Tennessee Higher Education Commission., and the Tennessee Department of the Treasury's Investment Division manages the assets of the Chairs of Excellence Trust. Each chair had a designated purpose upon its respective inception, each furthering the educational mission of the state, though many of those objectives have evolved in practice.

Austin Peay State University

There are four Chairs of Excellence at Austin Peay State University. In order of establishment, they are the following:
  • Roy Acuff Chair of Excellence in Creative Arts
  • APSU Foundation Chair of Excellence in Free Enterprise
  • Harper-Bourne Chair of Excellence in Business
  • Lenora C. Reuther Chair of Excellence in Nursing

    East Tennessee State University

There are eight Chairs of Excellence at East Tennessee State University. In order of establishment, they are the following:
  • Cecile Cox Quillen Chair of Excellence in Education
  • AFG Industries Chair of Excellence in Business and Technology
  • Allen and Ruth Harris Chair of Excellence in Business
  • Carroll H. Long Chair of Excellence for Surgical Research
  • Paul Dishner Chair of Excellence in Medicine
  • James H. Quillen Chair of Excellence in Education
  • Wayne G. Basler Chair of Excellence for the Integration of the Arts, Rhetoric, and Science
  • LeeAnne Brown and ETSU Physicians & Associates Chair of Clinical Excellence

    Middle Tennessee State University

There are ten Chairs of Excellence at Middle Tennessee State University. In order of establishment, they are the following:
  • John Seigenthaler Chair of Excellence in First Amendment Studies
  • Jennings A. Jones Chair of Excellence in Free Enterprise
  • Carl Adams Chair of Excellence in Health Care Services
  • National Health Care Chair of Excellence in Nursing
  • Robert E. and Georgianna West Russell Chair of Excellence in Manufacturing
  • Katherine Davis Murfree Chair of Excellence in Dyslexic Studies
  • Mary E. Miller Chair of Excellence in Equine Health
  • John C. Miller Chair of Excellence in Equine Reproductive Physiology
  • Jennings and Rebecca Jones Chair of Excellence in Urban and Regional Planning
  • Joey A. Jacobs Chair of Excellence in Accountancy

    Tennessee State University

There are two Chairs of Excellence at Tennessee State University. In order of establishment, they are the following:
There are two Chairs of Excellence at Tennessee Technological University. In order of establishment, they are the following:
  • Jesse E. Owen Chair of Excellence in Emerging Technologies, System Management, IT Human Resources, and Strategic Management
  • William E. Mayberry Chair of Excellence in Business Administration

    University of Memphis

There are 24 Chairs of Excellence at the University of Memphis. In order of establishment, they are the following:
  • W. Harry Feinstone Chair of Excellence in Molecular Biology
  • Herbert Herff Chair of Excellence in Law
  • Sales and Marketing Executives Inc. Chair of Excellence in Sales
  • Thompson-Hill Chair of Excellence in Accountancy
  • Morris S. Fogelman Chair of Excellence in Real Estate
  • James T. Thompson Chair of Excellence in Accounting Education
  • Lillian and Morrie Moss Chair of Excellence in Philosophy
  • Bornblum Chair of Excellence in Judaic Studies
  • Wunderlich Chair of Excellence in Finance
  • Herbert Herff Chair of Excellence Biomedical Engineering
  • Lillian and Morrie Moss Chair of Excellence in Computer Science
  • William N. Morris Chair of Excellence in International Economics
  • Robert Wang Chair of Excellence in International Business
  • Chair of Excellence in Free Enterprise Management
  • Herbert Herff Chair of Excellence Biomedical Engineering
  • Dorothy Kayser Hohenberg Chair of Excellence
  • William A. and Ruth F. Loewenberg Chair of Excellence in Nursing
  • Federal Express Chair of Excellence in Management Information Systems
  • Lillian and Morrie Moss Chair of Excellence in Psychology
  • Lillian and Morrie Moss Chair of Excellence in Urban Education
  • Jabie Sanford Hardin III Chair of Excellence in Combinatorics
  • Helen and Jabie Hardin Chair of Excellence in Economics/Managerial Journalism
  • Sparks Family Chair of Excellence in Global Research Leadership
  • Plough Chair of Excellence in Audiology and Speech-Language Pathology

    University of Tennessee at Chattanooga

There are ten Chairs of Excellence at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga that are part of the Tennessee Chairs of Excellence program. In order of establishment, they are the following:
  • Burkett Miller Chair of Excellence in Management and Technology
  • SunTrust Bank Chair of Excellence in Humanities
  • Unum Provident Chair of Excellence in Applied Mathematics
  • George R. West, Jr. Chair of Excellence in Communication and Public Affairs
  • Chair of Excellence in Judaic Studies
  • J. Burton Frierson Chair of Excellence in Business Leadership
  • Walter M. Cline, Jr. Chair of Excellence in Physical Therapy
  • Clarence E. Harris Chair of Excellence in Business and Entrepreneurship
  • Lyndhurst Foundation Chair of Excellence in Arts Education
  • O. D. McKee Chair of Excellence in Learning
More recently, the University established the W. Max Finley Chair for Excellence in Business, Free Enterprise and Capitalism in the Gary W. Rollins College of Business in 2015, but that is not part of the official state-sponsored Chairs of Excellence program.

University of Tennessee Health Science Center

There are 19 Chairs of Excellence at the University of Tennessee Health Science Center. In order of establishment, they are the following:
  • Harriet S. Van Vleet Chair of Excellence in Microbiology and Immunology
  • Harriet S. Van Vleet Chair of Excellence in Pharmacology
  • Harriet S. Van Vleet Chair of Excellence in Biochemistry
  • Harriet S. Van Vleet Chair of Excellence in Virology
  • E. Erick Muirhead Chair of Excellence in Pathology
  • Crippled Children's Hospital Foundation Chair of Excellence in Biomedical Engineering
  • Le Bonheur Chair of Excellence in Pediatrics
  • University of Tennessee Medical Group Chair of Excellence in Obstetrics and Gynecology
  • Plough Foundation Chair of Excellence in Pediatrics
  • First Tennessee Chair of Excellence in Clinical Pharmacy and Pediatrics
  • J. R. Hyde Chair of Excellence in Rehabilitation Engineering
  • Thomas A. Gerwin Chair of Excellence in Physiology
  • William and Dorothy Dunavant Chair of Excellence in Pediatrics
  • Federal Express Chair of Excellence in Pediatrics
  • Semmes Murphey Chair of Excellence in Neurology
  • Maury W. Bronstein Chair of Excellence in Cardiovascular Physiology
  • Goodman Chair of Excellence in Medicine
  • Le Bonheur Chair of Excellence in Pediatrics
  • Mark S. Soloway Chair of Excellence in Urology

    University of Tennessee at Knoxville

There are 18 Chairs of Excellence at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. In order of establishment, they are the following:
  • Hodges Chair of Excellence in English
  • Ivan Racheff Chair of Excellence in Materials Science & Engineering
  • Ivan Racheff Chair of Excellence in Plant Molecular Genetics
  • Robert Condra Chair of Computer Integrated Engineering and Manufacturing
  • Robert Condra Chair of Excellence in Power Electronics Applications
  • Pilot Oil Corporation Chair of Excellence in Leadership
  • Bernadotte E. Schmitt Chair of Excellence in History
  • J. Fred Holly Chair of Excellence in Economics
  • Julia G. and Alfred G. Hill Chair of Excellence in Science, Technology, and Medical Writing
  • Edward J. and Carolyn P. Boling Chair of Excellence in Space Propulsion
  • Forrest and Patsy Shumway Chair of Excellence in Romance Languages
  • Henry Goodrich Chair of Excellence in Waste Management & Environmental Engineering
  • Clayton Homes Chair of Excellence in Finance
  • Harry and Vivienne Bruce Chair of Excellence in Business
  • Bernard Blasingame Chair of Excellence in Agricultural Policy
  • Willis Lincoln Chair of Excellence in Physics
  • Nancy Gore Hunger Chair of Excellence in Environmental Studies
  • H. H. Arnold Chair of Excellence in Computational Mechanics

    University of Tennessee at Martin

There are three Chairs of Excellence at the University of Tennessee at Martin. In order of establishment, they are the following:
  • The Tom E. Hendrix Chair of Excellence in Free Enterprise was established in March 1985 to promote regional entrepreneurial activity, aid in providing economic development opportunities for University and K-12 students, and to improve the quality and quantity of scholarly output in economics. This chair sponsors conferences, community economic initiatives, and a variety of student experiential learning opportunities.
  • The Horace and Sara Dunagan Chair of Excellence in Banking was established in 1988 to facilitate interaction between the University, its students, and local community banks. The Chair initially developed and continues to host the annual Mid-South Agricultural Finance Conference, which held its 26th conference in August 2024. This chair leads a team of students to compete annually in the National Community Bank Case Study Competition, which it has won three times.
  • The Gilbert Parker Chair of Excellence in Food and Fiber was established in 1988 to provide leadership to outreach events, coordinate the Master of Science degree in Agriculture and Natural Resource Systems Management, and increase the university's scholarly output. This chair co-sponsors the Mid-South Agricultural Finance Conference.