Outstanding scientist and former department head and professor of chemistry Irvine Grote held many patents, including the original active ingredient found in the antacid Rolaids.
In 1907, when UTC’s name was “U.S. Grant University,” Eleanor Coonrod graduated and then went on to become the first woman admitted to membership in the Tennessee Bar Association, according to the association’s website.
When the Methodist Episcopal Church supported Chattanooga’s university in the early years, Col. Raymond C. Orr (’16) recalled that “No dancing was allowed on the campus. Gaiety and frivolous worldly pleasures were discouraged . . .. Smoking pipes, cigarettes, [and] cigars and chewing tobacco were frowned upon.”
At 4 a.m. on July 5, 2006, astronauts aboard Space Shuttle Discovery awoke to the song “Lift Every Voice and Sing,” arranged by Roland Carter, Holmberg Professor of Music at UTC. “My friends have always said my arrangement was ‘outer space,’ and I guess they were right!” Carter said at the time.
Who doesn’t like to save a little time shampooing and conditioning their hair? Alumna Diane Grob Schmidt led a team of scientists at Procter & Gamble to develop top-selling Pert Plus, the first shampoo and conditioner combination.
The first woman graduated from medical school on the Chattanooga campus in June 1901. The M.D. program closed completely in 1910, and all that remains of the medical school today is the cornerstone of the building, located in the student park at the rear of Brock Hall.
UT’s Shields–Watkins Field in Knoxville was the setting on Nov. 8, 1958, when Coach Scrappy Moore (right) led the Chattanooga Mocs to a 14-6 victory over the Vols. University of Chattanooga students celebrated by tearing down the goalposts. The celebration escalated, turning into a riot with several student arrests.
Retired Army Gen. B. B. Bell graduated from the University of Chattanooga in 1969 with a degree in business administration. As a four-star general, Bell commanded the U.S. Army in Europe, as well as NATO’s Land Component Headquarters in Heidelberg, Germany. He later served as the commander of U.S. Forces in Korea, as well as commander of all Allied Forces in Korea.
In fall 2001, a $25 million transformational gift from Jack and Alice Lupton allowed UTC to introduce the first research-based doctoral program in computational engineering and the SimCenter National Center for Computational Engineering.
Remember Beverley Leslie in Will & Grace? And who could forget Mr. Belding in Saved by the Bell and Ward Cleaver in Leave It to Beaver? Leslie Jordan, Dennis Haskins, and Hugh Beaumont, respectively, are all Chattanooga alumni. Jordan won an Emmy for his role on Will & Grace.
