New Engineering Building to Be Named After Bill and Carol Latimer, UT Martin Chancellor Emeritus Bob Smith

MARTIN – The University of Tennessee Board of Trustees approved a request from UT Martin to name its new engineering building the Latimer-Smith Engineering and Science Building.

The building was made possible by a $6.5 million gift from Bill and Carol Latimer of Union City, which provided the 10% match required by the state for construction. The building also honors Smith, who serves as special advisor to the UT president for talent and leadership development and is chancellor emeritus at UT Martin.

Smith was named the 10th chancellor of the University of Tennessee at Martin by the University of Tennessee Board of Trustees in March 2017 and conferred the title of chancellor emeritus after serving as the university’s interim chancellor from 2015-2017. The Bill and Carol Latimer announced their donation in 2016 when Smith was interim chancellor at UT Martin.

The Latimer-Smith Building, which will open for classes in spring 2023, will house the departments of chemistry and physics, computer science, engineering, mathematics and statistics, and the pre-professional health sciences program. The building features classrooms, laboratories, offices, and a small observatory and can be viewed at www.utm.edu/webcams.

The $65 million, 120,000-square-foot, three-story building is located on Hurt Street adjacent to the business and sociology buildings.