Endowment Honors College Scholars Founding Director
In 1973, Professor Harry Jacobson took the reins as founding director of College Scholars, the first undergraduate student honors program at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. For more than four decades, highly motivated and academically talented students with clear goals for their undergraduate education have taken advantage of the opportunity to design a unique curriculum to meet their educational goals.
Today, Professor Jacobson’s legacy continues through the Professor Harry C. Jacobson College Scholars Endowment, recently established by Jacobson’s widow, Marilyn Q. Jacobson, and his four children. Once fully funded, it will provide scholarships for undergraduate students accepted into the College Scholars program.
“Dad always talked about the students who were College Scholars as if they were his own children,” says Stephen C. Jacobson. “He was extremely proud of their accomplishments and would tell anyone listening what they had done.”
As director of the program for nearly two decades, Professor Jacobson served as a mentor to generations of College Scholars.
“Alumni have been uniform in their praise of Dr. Jacobson, who both set the intellectual standards for the program and inspired Scholars to high levels of achievement,” says Jeffrey Kovac, current director of the program. “He was also there to guide students through difficult situations.”
Professor Jacobson’s children remember how proud their father was of the College Scholars and hope the endowment provides financial flexibility to help students take an inspired project to the next level.
“Dad always had a zest for learning,” says Aubrie J. Nagy. “He never stopped learning, inquiring, questioning, growing. He loved working with the College Scholars because he felt he could help foster learning of exceptional students within the greater framework of the university. He felt that the projects helped the students with their personal and intellectual growth. Every student was important to him, and he was important to them as mentor and advisor.”
In addition to being a mentor, Professor Jacobson was a friend and invited students over for dinner with his family.
“Lively conversation was the rule of the potlucks,” Nagy says. “One former College Scholar I got to know when he was in graduate school at Yale truly valued dad’s respect for him and his intellect. He felt he had a fierce advocate in dad and was part of a very special group at the university.”
Harry and Marilyn Jacobson made education a priority while raising their four children. They grew up learning with the College Scholars, attending plays at the Clarence Brown Theatre, and attending memorable physics department picnics. When it came to honoring their father’s legacy, giving back to UT was a natural fit.
In addition to scholarships, the endowment includes recognizing one graduating senior with the Professor Harry C. Jacobson Memorial Award for Academic Excellence.
“The student chosen for this award is the most innovative and academically inclined student of the graduating class of Scholars,” Kovac says. “This is a fitting tribute to a man who was both an outstanding teacher and a talented theoretical physicist.”