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Honoring Dr. and Mrs. Boling

Former UT president Dr. Ed Boling and his wife, Carolyn P. Boling, were honored during ceremonies September 8, 1988, renaming the Child Development Center in their honor.

Approved by the UT Board of Trustees, the building is now known as the Carolyn P. and Edward J. Boling Center for Developmental Disabilities (BCDD).

Dr. Boling, who retired June 30, 1988 as the 17th president of UT, presided over dedication ceremonies for the building during the first year of his presidency in 1970. Mrs. Boling's concern for children extends back to her days as a student at UT Knoxville, where she majored in child development.

Citing the reasons for honoring Dr. and Mrs. Boling, Dr. Joe Johnson, UT executive vice president and former chancellor of UT Memphis, traced Dr. Boling's contributions to UT Memphis and UT. He said, "This campus today has more new square footage than it had in total square footage in 1970. That doesn't happen by accident. I sometimes get preachy about Ed Boling. Some people have said that Ed Boling was only interested in budgets. As others will tell you, if you don't have dollars, you don't have space. You don't have faculty and you don't have students-you don't have anything except a dream and Ed had the dream."

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Dr. Boling credits Dr. Jordan

Expressing his appreciation and acknowledging the efforts of Dr. Bob Jordan in the establishment of the center, Dr. Boling said, "I never expected buildings to be named for me. I just tried to get the money to build them. If anybody ought to have their name on this building, it's Bob Jordan. He did more to put this building together than anybody. Bob got things started before there was anything going at the state level."

Dr. Boling about the University of Tennessee

Praising the Memphis community's support of UT Memphis, Dr. Boling said, "In the 1970s, (with your support) we built more space than any other university in the United States in the health science area. As a result of that, Memphis probably has one of the newest health science facilities in the country.

Dr. Boling expressed his excitement about the University’s success, "We're extremely proud of the University of Tennessee. We're extremely proud of the people who work for it-faculty and staff. But more than anything we're thrilled when we can look back and see the number of people in the various communities of the State of Tennessee who believe in the university. They know it's theirs. It belongs to them and they know what it's doing and can do for the state."

Chancellor James Hunt hailed Dr. Boling's insight, preparation and provision of space, and said, "Carolyn and Ed, this entire community, this medical center, this university, appreciates you, respects you and loves you. This is our way of saying thanks."

About 125 guests attended the ceremonies.

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