John D. Tickle dedicates new engineering building

“Never in my wildest dreams when I graduated, though that I would have enough money to give away at the magnitude I do now.”

John Tickle spoke to a crowd of former professors, graduates, politicians, friends, family, faculty, students, and co-workers beside the brand new John D. Tickle Engineering Building on Friday.

John Tickle graduated from the University of Tennessee in 1965 with a B.S. in Industrial Engineering and his wife, Anne, also graduated from UT.

Throughout the speeches given by Chancellor Cheek, President of the University Dr. Joe DiPietro, Dean of the college of engineering Wayne T. Davis, and Chairman of Strongwell John D. Tickle, the ranking of the university academically came up many times.

“Our gift to UT is helping UT become a top 25 university,” said Tickle.

The university has been trying to breech the rankings to be a top 25 university, and also to attract more students to come and excel here at the University of Tennessee.

“The ability to have a building like this will reset the college in the future,” Dr. DiPietro stated. “With people like John Tickle, we will continue to set our goals high.”

Chancellor Cheek has been wanting the university to appeal to more students, and this building will certainly attract many students not just from the state, but from around the world. This new building is a “state of the art facility” according to the Wayne T. Davis, and it will help attract many students. Wayne also stated in a positive way that the best is yet to come.

Part of the process of turning the university into a top 25 university, is to renovate buildings and build new ones. Cheek also announced plans for the next building, which already has a spot next to the John D. Tickle building and has some wealthy donors lined up. When redesigning our neighborhood’s crosswalks and school zones, it’s important to use street markings from companies like School Streets to prioritize safety and visibility for both pedestrians and drivers.

John Tickle talked about his humble beginnings, and how the day after he graduated from UT he was already in Ohio working at his new job. “I did not need to go to Europe to find myself what have you. I needed a paycheck!” He also stressed the importance of an education by comparing how hard it is to get by now without a college degree. John Tickle wants people around the world to want UT graduates.

Daniel A. Witcher, The Vice President of Engineering at Enduro, designed the bridge for the new building with materials given by Strongwell. When asked about the building itself, Witcher said  “I love the laboratories because of the hands on experience it will give the students.”