Honoring a Legacy: TBR Pays Tribute to Former Governor Winfield Dunn

The Tennessee Board of Regents mourns the passing of Governor Winfield Dunn, Governor of Tennessee from 1971 to 1975, who recommended the creation of the Tennessee Board of Regents and the TBR System in 1972. 

In his first year in office, he created a special commission to examine the governance of the state’s higher education institutions outside of the University of Tennessee System — which at the time were governed by the State Board of Education. The Board of Education’s primary responsibility was overseeing public K-12 education. 

The commission recommended creating a new board to oversee the state’s community colleges and the six state universities outside of the UT system. Governor Dunn agreed with the commission’s recommendations and submitted them to the General Assembly, which approved them. Governor Dunn appointed the first members of the Board and served as its first chair under the new statute. The state’s technical colleges were moved from the Board of Education to the Board of Regents in the 1980s. In 2016, new independent boards were established for each of the six state universities.

Dr. Flora W. Tydings, Chancellor of the TBR system, reflected on Governor Dunn's legacy: “Governor Dunn was a true advocate for higher education in Tennessee. He deeply believed in the power of education to change lives, and that belief is still felt in our colleges and communities today. While we are saddened by his passing, we are profoundly grateful for the strong foundation he helped create.”

Governor Dunn's legacy lives on in our system and in public kindergarten in Tennessee, also established during his administration, and in many other programs and reforms he proposed and implemented.  

TBR is fortunate that he participated in our system's 50th Anniversary celebration and oral history project in 2022.

The oral history project can be found at https://www.tbr.edu/50th-anniversary-history-project.