KNOXVILLE – University of Tennessee-s Neyland Scholars will be recognized April 21 during the East Tennessee Hall of Fame luncheon and the Orange and White football game.
The scholars are chosen for outstanding academic achievement in honor of Gen. Robert R. Neyland, former UT head football coach and athletic director.
Game kick-off is at 4:00 p.m. in Neyland Stadium.
Neyland, whose 1951 Vols won the national football championship, had 173 wins, 31 losses and 12 ties. His teams at one point went 62-1 in regular season games, won 36 straight, and held 42 teams scoreless.
After Neyland-s death in 1962, colleagues, which included Gen. Douglas MacArthur, motion picture producer-director Clarence Brown, sportscaster Lindsey Nelson, and Paul -Bear- Bryant, launched a nationwide campaign to raise funds in support of this scholarship for academically superior students.
The Neyland Scholarship Fund is now worth $1.9 million and has a market value of $3.4 million. The four-year award goes annually to outstanding first-year students entering UT. Sixteen students, four from each class, hold the $5,000 awards each year.
Robert R. Neyland Jr. will represent the Neyland family at the luncheon and game.
The 2000-2001 scholars and their majors, all from Tennessee unless noted otherwise, are:
Kristi Bohannon, English, Newbern; Jennifer Brantley, mechanical engineering, Ocean Springs, Mississippi; Christina Campbell, nuclear engineering, Covington; Joseph Christian, College Scholars, Knoxville; Susan Clark, accounting, Paris; Elizabeth Nicole Cook, College Scholars, Niota; Candace Garner, political science and psychology, Knoxville; Stephen Hargraves, accounting, Springfield.
Julia Jackson, pre-medicine, Kingsport; Abbey Jones, biochemistry, Gatlinburg; Bart Lynch, nuclear engineering, Murfreesboro; Adam Masterson, University Scholars, Knoxville; Dustin Parr, computer science, Cottage Grove; Jeffrey Shehane, biological sciences, Springfield; Emma Taylor, Russian and Italian, Pigeon Forge.