Big-name Tennesseans donate $3 million for University of Tennessee Baker School scholarships

A bipartisan group of six notable Tennesseans have pledged $500,000 apiece to fund four-year undergraduate scholarships at the University of Tennessee at Knoxville’s Howard H. Baker Jr. School of Public Policy and Public Affairs .

The $3 million gift will support six named scholarships for four years of study at the school and is designed to prepare future generations of leaders in government, public policy and public service.

The donors:

• Al Gore, 45th U.S. vice president, former U.S. senator and U.S. representative from Tennessee, and a Nobel Peace Prize recipient
• Lamar Alexander, former governor and U.S. senator from Tennessee, former U.S. secretary of education and former University of Tennessee System president
• Natalie Haslam, philanthropist
• James A. Haslam II, Pilot Company founder, philanthropist and Baker School board chair
• Heath Shuler, former U.S. congressman, and his wife, Nikol Shuler
• Bill Powers, Tennessee state senator and former staffer for U.S. Sen. Howard H. Baker, and his wife, Fran Powers

“Strengthening civic health and restoring faith in our institutions is a critical part of our programming, curriculum and outreach at the Baker School,” Marianne Wanamaker, dean of the Baker School, said in a news release. “The significant investment to create these endowed scholarships will ensure the state’s flagship land-grant university continues to produce leaders who are capable of navigating tomorrow’s challenges.”

The new Institute of American Civics is a part of the Baker School. The institute offers courses on civic engagement, constitution interpretation and the American legal system, along with programs engaging students with the local Knoxville government. The pledge from the six notable Tennesseans is for the students of the "first of its kind" school in Tennessee, which encompasses the institute as well.

Baker, the namesake of the school, served in the U.S. Senate for 18 years, rising to majority leader before serving as the White House chief of staff for President Ronald Reagan. He is most known, however, for his work as the vice-chair of the Watergate Committee, famously asking of President Richard Nixon, “What did the president know and when did he know it?”

He continued the state’s tradition of sending moderate U.S. senators to Washington, a tradition that has waned in recent years following the retirement of Sens. Bob Corker and Alexander.

This article originally appeared on Knoxville News Sentinel: Big-name Tennesseans donate $3 million for University of Tennessee Baker School scholarships