KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — The University of Tennessee held a ribbon-cutting ceremony on Tuesday for the naming of the "Denbo Center for Humanities and the Arts."
The ceremony was to dedicate UT's Humanities Center as the Denbo Center, the university said. The Denbo Center, which is part of the College of Arts and Sciences, will support arts and humanities research and advocate for the essential role of the arts in the world today.
The center promotes public conversation and research surrounding the academic, social and cultural issues central to human development, according to UT. Don Denbo was a student at UT in the fall of 1967 and was proficient in many languages, the university said.
"Denbo set forth on his college career with one mission: to play football for the Volunteers," UT said.
Denbo was an offensive guard for the Vols, a Rhodes Scholarship finalist and was named to the SEC Academic Honor Roll. Denbo graduated in 1971 with a degree in psychology and a minor in history, followed by a PhD in economics from the London School of Economics.
The ribbon cutting was held on April 2 on Sutherland Avenue with many leaders, including Chancellor Donde Plowman, attending.