About the Denbo Center

The Denbo Center for Humanities & the Arts was founded as the University of Tennessee Humanities Center in 2009 and welcomed its first cohort of resident fellows in 2012, under the leadership of Thomas Heffernan, a scholar of antiquity and early Christian history. Amy J. Elias became the second director in 2017. The Center was renamed the Denbo Center for Humanities & the Arts in 2024 as the result a generous gift from Don and Jacque Denbo. 

Mr. Denbo is an alumnus of the University of Tennessee. A Pulaski, Tenn., native, Mr. Denbo majored in psychology and chemistry at Tennessee and received the Maryville Daily Times Trophy as the senior football player with the highest GPA. A three-year starter at guard for the Volunteers, he helped Tennessee to an SEC title in 1969 and a Sugar Bowl victory in 1970. Having received a classical education, he was already proficient in reading, writing, chemistry, German and French, could read Hebrew and Aramaic, and had taken upper-level courses in Latin and calculus. Denbo served as a Counselor for Crisis, a campus organization that helps students that are in trouble, and was named to the SEC Academic Honor Roll in 1969 and 1970. After graduating from UT in 1971 with a degree in psychology and a minor in history, Denbo went on to earn a PhD in economics from the London School of Economics. He is a founding member of Commercial Insurance Associates, one of the nation’s largest insurance brokers.

Today, the Denbo Center sponsors advanced study of the arts and humanities, collaborates with regional, national, and international partners on innovative public-interest projects, and advocates for the value of the humanities and arts to all spheres of life. A showcase for faculty innovation and achievement, the Denbo Center facilitates faculty and student research through fellowships, research mentoring programs, and project support and offers imaginative programming for the public, including lectures and symposia, book groups, and exhibitions and performances. The Denbo Center is a constituent of the UT College of Arts and Sciences and is funded by that entity, by the Office of Research, Innovation, and Economic Development, and by the Office of the Provost. It is a member of the Consortium of Humanities Centers and Institutes and works with the National Humanities Alliance and the Alliance for the Arts in Research Universities (a2ru).  

It is a delight to welcome you to the Denbo Center for Humanities & the Arts! As a research center at the University of Tennessee, we continue the tradition of excellence in arts and humanities research established in 1794 at our university’s founding. Our multi-pronged programming includes financial and mentoring support for faculty and graduate students as well as publications, lectures, symposia, conferences, exhibitions, and artist residencies. We support the University’s land-grant mission through a wide range of public programming that serves communities across Tennessee. In this work, we collaborate closely with our sister campuses within the University of Tennessee System and partner with humanities centers and institutes throughout the United States. As always, we are grateful for your financial support that enables us to expand opportunities for students and faculty across Tennessee while sustaining our commitment to the imagination and the creative life, to academic excellence, and to innovative research. We welcome collaboration! I invite you to engage with us through our programs and our new annual theme, “Authenticity,” as we continue to explore the past, engage the present, and imagine the future. 

Sincerely, 

Amy J. Elias, Director