UT will honor acting President Emerson Fly for his 41 years of service Tuesday in an event open to all. The event will be held in the University Center Ballroom and will last from 3 to 5 p.m.
Provost and Vice President Loren W. Crabtree has invited UT faculty, students, staff, alumni and friends of the university to attend the reception.
“In the past year, Eli has been a stable and calming presence on our campus and at UT units across the state,” Crabtree said. “I know of no one who could have more ably led the university through the challenges we have faced.”
Fly became acting president of UT on June 1, 2001. The UT Board of Trustees appointed him to acting president following the resignation of Wade Gilley.
Mark Miller, a professor in the school of journalism and past Faculty Senate president, said Fly stepped up to the challenges and kept the university moving forward.
“President Fly provided a steady hand and a calm voice to the university in a time of crises,” Miller said.
Addressing the difficult financial situation was Fly’s number one priority. In addition to communicating with state legislators, he used e-mail to rally support for UT’s budget.
“Eli Fly has convinced the Tennessee legislature that funding for higher education should be a top priority,” Miller said. “The e-mail provided assurances that the university is in good hands and mobilized students, alumni and faculty to work for the greater good. They were very effective.”
As acting UT president, Fly presides over three institutions: the University of Tennessee (Knoxville and Tullahoma campuses, Health Science Center at Memphis, institutes of agriculture and of public service), the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga and the University of Tennessee at Martin.
Before his tenure as acting president, Fly had been executive vice president of UT since Oct. 1, 1991. He earned a bachelor’s degree in accounting at UT in 1961 and became a certified public accountant in 1962. He was a junior accountant with Price Waterhouse and Company before joining the UT staff in 1961 as assistant auditor. He advanced to internal auditor in 1968 and was vice chancellor for finance for UT’s Chattanooga campus from 1973 to 1975. He was named vice president for business and finance in 1977.
Fly is past president of the Southern Association of College and University Business Officers. He was the higher education representative on the advisory committee of the Governmental Accounting Standards Board for five years and is a member of the National Association of College and University Business Officers (NACUBO) accounting principles committee. NACUBO recently awarded him its distinguished business officer award.
He was a charter member and president of the East Tennessee chapter of the Institute of Internal Auditors. He was a chair of the executive committee of the Council of Business Affairs for the National Association of State Universities and Land Grant Colleges. He has also served as advisory council chair for the Teachers Insurance and Annuity Association/College Retirement Equities Fund.
The Milan, Tenn., native is president of the new University of Tennessee Foundation and serves on the boards of UT-Battelle and University Health System Inc. He was past president and treasurer for Junior Achievement Inc. and has been active in the Knoxville chapter of the American Red Cross.
Fly was a Navy pilot and holds the rank of commander in the Naval Air Reserve. He and his wife, Catherine, are the parents of four grown children.
