The Bruce Painter and Eva Woody Seaton Memorial Graduate Fellowship has been established at the University of Tennessee and will be awarded annually to a qualified student enrolled or admitted to the Graduate School.
The fellowship award selection will be based on demonstrated successful academic and professional performance. A committee appointed by the Dean of the Graduate School will review applicants and make recommendations to the dean.
Financial and family circumstances also will be considered.
Students who hold Seaton Graduate Fellowships will be given preference in the next year’s selection process.
The Seaton Fellowship honors the memory of Bruce Painter and Eva Woody Seaton, who were married in Knoxville on Oct. 14, 1922, and were lifetime residents. Mr. Seaton served in the Knoxville Fire Department for 32 years, retiring in 1967 as assistant chief. He passed away in 1975, and Mrs. Seaton died Aug. 10, 1992.
The Seatons’ sons, Robert Edward Seaton and Guy Lynn Seaton, are deceased. Their daughter, Dr. Jennie D. Seaton, graduated from the University of Tennessee in 1959, earned a master’s degree at the University of Minnesota in 1963, and received a doctorate at the University of Kentucky in 1975.
Dr. Seaton retired from Virginia Commonwealth University in 1994 and is a member of the board of trustees of Strayer University.
The Seatons’ daughter and other family members established the fellowship. Jennie, others cherishing the memory of Bruce and Eva Seaton are their daughters in law, grandchildren and great-grandchildren.
Other family members involved in the fellowship include Barbara Ferguson Seaton’s children Bruce Lawrence Seaton, Robert Edward Seaton Jr., Patti Seaton Rodriguez, and Lori Seaton Whitson;
Barbara and Robert Edward Seaton’s grandchildren Joseph, David, Timothy, Michelle, Mathew and Jennifer Seaton; Patti’s children, Johnathan Tindell and Christopher Donahue; and Lori’s children, Stephanie and Andrew.
Guy and Zora Shelton Seaton’s children are Guy Lynn Seaton Jr. and Lowell Edward Seaton. Their grandchildren, Micah and Autumn, are children of Guy Jr. and his wife, Nan. Edward and Jennie have no offspring. Most of the Seaton children have lived in or have been frequent visitors in East Tennessee.