Thank you for your generosity.
FISCAL YEAR 2023–24 IMPACT REPORT
Because of generous donors like you, UT is accomplishing extraordinary things—from creating new facilities and programs to providing additional scholarships and professorships. We are graduating more students, conducting more research, and developing more partnerships than ever before—all with the goal of creating a better experience for our students and better outcomes for our state.
69,226
donors
$332
million received
10,000+
privately supported scholarships
Current Vols are shaping their future because of you.
Our students are changing campus for the better, lighting the way forward, and emerging as leaders in their field to meet the challenges of our state and the world.
Students
Fox Finds Welcome
After starting out as an unsure first-year student from a small Tennessee town, Connor Fox (Class of 2026) has become a highly involved campus leader, from his accounting studies to the Heath Integrated Business and Engineering Program to UT Ambassador to Student Alumni Associates.
The game-changer that helped him find his place? Donor-supported programming.
Read Morestudents
Launching Career Pipelines
For Devan Lane, students like Ellie Warchus-Simms (’24) demonstrate meaningful impact and motivate her to advance College of Communication and Information career outreach initiatives through her leadership of the alumni-endowed Office of Career Development.
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students
Life-Changing Power of Orange
Azaria Boyd (’24) spent senior year with the UT Behavior and Learning Lab, which supports research in ADHD. With the lab, she helped run an after-school program in partnership with the Shora Foundation, a nonprofit serving East Knoxville through youth and entrepreneurship programming.
Read MoreYou are helping make UT a destination for academic excellence.
UT’s faculty and students produce research and solutions to answer the challenges of an evolving world. You are helping them bridge the gap between today and tomorrow through new facilities and modern degree programs that will equip them to be leaders in their fields and industries of the future.
Colleges & Campus Facilities
Education Reimagined
The transformed Natalie L. Haslam College of Music elevates music students in the rapidly changing music economy, one deeply rooted in Tennessee. It became the only public college of music in Tennessee and the Southeastern Conference. In June of 2024, the college was named in honor of alumna Natalie L. Haslam and became the fourth named college in UT’s history.
Read MoreColleges & Campus Facilities
Making Space
Increased capacity through new and updated facilities means more students can access UT degrees; more responsive, innovative degree programs with fully enabled learning environments; a supportive space equipped for researchers providing solutions that improve lives; and retention of top faculty talent.
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Colleges & Campus Facilities
Refocusing on Humanities
UT celebrated the naming of the Denbo Center for Humanities in April. A generous gift from former Vol football player Don Denbo (’71) highlights and fuels the encompassing power of arts and humanities to address all fields of study.
Read MoreUT is leading research that changes Tennesseans’ lives.
At its best, a land-grant, research university solves the problems and provides the answers to the challenges of its state. From professorships to faculty awards, you are the driving force that makes lives better in this state and outside its borders.
Faculty
Breakthrough at the Quantum Level
Steve Johnston was appointed as the inaugural Bains Professor this year with funding provided by the estate gift of Elizabeth and James Bains, who both earned their PhDs from UT in the 1970s. The Bains’ gift, which came as a surprise to the university in a previous fiscal year, will now make it possible for Johnston to explore new lines of research into quantum materials.
Read MoreFaculty
Powering Tennessee for the Future
Thanks to a generous a $1 million investment from the Tennessee Valley Authority, Charles Sims, director of the Center for Energy, Transportation, and Environmental Policy at the Baker School of Public Policy and Public Affairs, has been named the inaugural TVA Distinguished Professor of Energy and Environmental Public Policy.
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Faculty
Forensics to Solve the Unsolvable
Faculty at the Forensic Anthropology Center are initiating two new research programs with new funding from the National Institute of Justice. One project will help law enforcement locate clandestine graves, and the second will help inform how relic DNA in the soil affects forensic investigations. This research is made possible through the support of additional funds.
Read MoreYou are building the best athletics operation in the country.
At its core, this pursuit prioritizes the student-athlete, a Vol who can achieve comprehensive excellence in any arena and who will go on to light the way in their field—turf-covered or not. Developing a championship mindset takes time, but the momentum at UT is undeniable, and it’s succeeding because every Vol, including you, is giving their all to make it a reality.
Athletics
Third in the Learfield Directors’ Cup
Tennessee finished third nationally in the Learfield Directors’ Cup, the best finish in school history and just the third Top 10 ranking since the award began in 1993.
Read MoreAthletics
National Champions
Tennessee baseball captured its first national championship in 2024. It marked the 24th team national title in Tennessee Athletics history and the first since women’s indoor track and field in 2009. Tennessee also made history as it became the second #1 overall seed to win a national title since 1999.
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Athletics
Student-Athletes Reach New Heights
The spring 2024 semester was another record-breaking term for Tennessee Athletics, as the student-athlete population achieved a cumulative 3.37 GPA, the second-highest GPA for a spring semester in UT history, with 221 students recognized on respective dean’s lists.
Read MoreYou are helping Volunteers shape our communities, near and far.
The Volunteer community has a deep-rooted dedication to improving life and lives across the state and around the world through student learning opportunities that impact local communities, alumni leading the way in their fields, and faculty who drive innovation and solutions that address global challenges.
Communities
Vols Lead Interdisciplinary Operation
At the UT Creamery, open as of fall 2023, students create and market ice cream flavors like VOLnilla Bean and Go Big Orange. This experiential learning opportunity immerses students in research and development, branding, and supply and demand.
Read MoreCommunities
State Impact
As a key driver in Tennessee’s economy, UT was tapped by the Council on Competitiveness to serve as a featured cohost for the national organization’s inaugural Competitiveness Conversations Across America summit, where Chancellor Donde Plowman represented the university as a panelist to express UT’s commitment as a land-grant institution to the betterment of the state and its people.
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Communities
Hospital Playroom
In a heartwarming initiative, UT students reimagined playrooms at East Tennessee Children’s Hospital as healing spaces. Their designs, developed as part of their Design for Health course, aimed to create comforting environments for patients while promoting growth and development.
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