Chancellor's Honors Banquet: 2006 Ceremony

The University of Tennessee's highest faculty and student honors are presented annually at the Chancellor's honors banquet. The 2006 banquet was held April 12.

The 2006-07 Macebearer

Nancy Goslee The Macebearer Award is symbolic of the faculty’s commitment of service to students, scholarship, and society.

The 2006-07 Macebearer is Dr. Nancy Goslee. She is the Lindsay Young Professor of English and Wood Alumni Distinguished Service Professor of English.

After graduating from Smith College and Yale University, Dr. Goslee joined the UT faculty as an instructor in 1970. Her research on the British Romantic writers of the early 19th century has received international recognition.

Imagine the number of graduate committees she’s served on in 36 years, and the hundreds of undergraduates with whom she has worked tirelessly. In addition, she is a loyal advocate for advancing the status of women on our campus, work that culminated in her leadership of the Commission for Women from 2001 to 2003. Add to all that her service on the Faculty Senate and on committees, boards and councils too numerous to name. Dr. Goslee has dedicated her life to realizing our highest ideals as educators and is an unparalleled example of the intellectual life well lived.

2006 Chancellor's Honors Banquet

The program of the 2006 Chancellor's Honors banquet with a complete list of honorees is available to download.

The 2006 Torchbearers

At the 2006 ceremony, seven students were also recognized with the university's highest student honor, the rank of Torchbearer. Torchbearers are seniors who have served the university with overall excellence through academic achievement, activities and contributions to the university and community.

Lauren Dae Binkley, speech communication major in the university honors program from Springfield, Tenn., is president of Student Alumni Associates, SGA historian, recruitment counselor for Panhellenic, member of Chancellor’s Associates, recording secretary for Alpha Chi Omega, and program director for Ignite! Freshman Leadership Program. Lauren is a member of Omicron Delta Kappa, Mortar Board, Order of Omega, Phi Eta Sigma, and Lambda Pi Eta. She holds the Vic Davis/ Earl Zwingle Scholarship, the Andrew D. Holt Scholarship, the Lambda Pi Eta Scholarship, and the Provost’s Scholarship. She serves on the Leadership Board of TeamVOLS, interned for Knox Area Rescue Ministries, and was a cleanup volunteer for Dance Marathon.

Eric Matthew Harkness, college scholar from Knoxville and a founding Baker scholar, recently helped develop a forum on the controversial Marion Greenwood mural as a member of the Issues Committee. He founded VAULT to ensure fair labor standards in production of UT athletic merchandise and is a founding member of the Ad Hoc Committee on Service-Learning Expansion. He holds the Charles Higdon Scholarship and the College Scholars award. Eric was SGA Senator of the Year for two years and deeply influenced SGA priorities. He is a Daily Beacon columnist and member of the Undergraduate Academic Council, the College Scholars Admissions Selection Committee, and Phi Beta Kappa. He was a research assistant for the Center for Business and Economic Research, a North Carrick RA, and a volunteer for Alternative Spring Breaks.

Charles Joseph Hubbard, political science major in the university honors program from Hendersonville, has been managing editor of the Volunteer yearbook and Central Program Council president. In 2005 he was named one of the first two student trustees of Knoxville Museum of Art. He was SGA secretary/treasurer and student representative to the Chancellor’s QEP Steering Committee and Friends of the Library Executive Committee. Joseph is director of communications for Mortar Board. He holds an American Cancer Society Survivor Scholarship and is a Bicentennial Scholar. Last year he won Dance Marathon Highest Fundraiser Award and accepted the extraordinary contributions to campus citation for the SGA Campus Beautification Committee.

Rahim Manji, college scholar in the university honors program from Knoxville, is a Baker Scholar and president of Mortar Board National Honor Society. He is president of the Honors Student Council and member of the National Society of Collegiate Scholars and Phi Alpha Delta pre-law honorary. He holds the Alvin Nielsen Award, the Col. S. H. Lockett Award, and is a Bicentennial Scholar. He served as Ambassador Scholar senior captain, as an honors peer mentor, and director of Campus Beautification. He is a member of Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, director of Youth Engaged Service, and a board member of Tennessee Coalition Against State Killing.

Britni Jantha Ratliff, chemistry major and math minor in the university honors program from Knoxville, is president of both Apartment Residence Tenant Association and the Student Affiliates of the American Chemical Society. She is a superlative scholar, having won top scholarships in the Chemistry Department including the C.A. Buehler award, the A.D. Melvin-Thenium award, and the C.W. Keenan Outstanding General Chemistry Student award. She also has won a Goldwater Scholarship and the Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship at the National Institute of Standards and Technology in Boulder, Col. Britni is a math tutor, a teaching assistant for inorganic chemistry, a peer mentor for honors students and a summer RA.

Robyn Nicole Washington, political science and public administration major from Memphis, is an RA in the Apartment Residence Hall where she helped develop the International Roommate Program. She has become an expert in residence hall governance as SGA Apartment Senator, treasurer of the National Residence Hall Honorary, resident assistant union rep, and board member of the International Roommate Issues Task Force. She was a summer RA for the Tennessee Governor’s School for the Sciences. She’s an Ambassador Scholar. Robyn volunteered for Habitat for Humanity and ME4UT. She ‘s worked for the Tennessee Department of Children’s Services and was a first recipient of one of UT’s African American Incentive Grants.

Megan Carol Welch, finance major in the university honors program from Oneida, Tenn., was SGA vice president this year and excelled as a Freshman Council advisor. Her service on major campus administrative bodies is remarkable: Dining Services, Traffic and Parking Authority Board, Parent’s Association Director Search, University Center Renovation Steering Committee, Information Technology Advisory Committee, the Libraries Dean’s Student Advisory Council, and Cultural Affairs Board. She is an Ambassador Scholar and secretary of Student Alumni Associates. Her honor society memberships include Mortar Board, Order of Omega, Beta Gamma Sigma business honorary, and Omicron Delta Kappa leadership society. She was an intern for the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation, and was programs and entertainment chair for Race for the Cure.