Mr. Wayne T. Davis ’70 – Alcoa, TN
Wayne T. Davis is emeritus Chancellor and emeritus Dean of the Tickle College of Engineering at the University of Tennessee Knoxville (UTK) and retired in 2019. He served as assistant/associate dean of the Graduate School (1985-1991) and associate dean for research and technology in the college from 2003 to 2008. He is also an emeritus professor of civil and environmental engineering. He earned his AB in physics from Pfeiffer University (1969), an MS in physics from Clemson (1971), and an MS in environmental engineering and PhD in civil engineering from UTK (1973 and 1975, respectively).
He has conducted research and teaching in the area of air quality management and pollution control for more than 45 years at UTK, and is the author/coauthor/editor of numerous research publications including the Air Pollution Control Engineering Manual (published by John Wiley Publishers), the graduate textbook Air Pollution: Its Origin and Control (published by Elsevier), and Air Quality 6th ed. (published by CRC Press/Taylor & Francis).
He has been involved in numerous projects funded by the U.S. EPA, DOE, ORNL, NSF, DOT, and various state agencies and industrial companies, particularly as related to the monitoring and control of sulfur dioxide, ozone/precursors, and particulate matter. Dr. Davis is a recipient of the Lyman Ripperton Outstanding Professor Award presented by the International Air and Waste Management Association (AWMA), where he is a fellow member; he also received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Institute of Professional and Environmental Practice (Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania) in 2007.
He is also a Board Certified Environmental Engineering Member (BCEEM)-emeritus of the American Academy of Environmental Engineers and Scientists. Dr. Davis served as chair of the Knox County (Tennessee) Air Pollution Control Board for more than 22 years and served on the State of Tennessee’s Air Pollution Control Board for nine years. In retirement, he continues to be actively engaged. He served as a member and then chair of the U.S. Air Force’s Air University Board of Visitors from 2022 to 2025. He also serves on the Board of Trustees of Clayton Bradley Academy, a private K-12 academy in Maryville, TN.