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Paul Meek served as the second executive officer of the University of Tennessee at Martin from
1934 to 1967. Dr. Meek was born on February 9, 1897 as William Paul Meek to Felix McCrager
Meek and Charlotte Temperance Atkinson of Weakley County, Tennessee. His early childhood
was spent on the family farm two miles south of Martin. He received his early education at local
schools graduating from both the Eastern Academy and the McFerrin School. In 1914, he
graduated from the McFerrin School with intentions of attending the Vanderbilt University. A
bad crop prevented him from leaving the family farm that Fall. He changed his mind the
following year, deciding to travel to Knoxville to attend the University of Tennessee as an
agriculture student. He would spend the next four years in Knoxville with a brief tour in the
United States Army in 1918.
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In 1919, Dr. Meek received his Bachelor of Science degree in agriculture. The next year he
became a teacher and football coach at a public school in Harlan, Kentucky. By 1923, he was the
principle of the school and in 1929 was promoted to the superintendency of the Harlan City
School District. He returned to Knoxville in 1933 to attain his Master of Science degree in
education. After receiving the degree in 1934, he was offered the position as executive officer of
the University of Tennessee Junior College in Martin. He took up the challenge replacing his
friend and former classmate Calvin Porter Claxton. Dr. Meek would serve as the chief
administrator of the college for the next 33 years.
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The situation on his arrival was very unstable. The devastating effects of the Depression caused
enrollment to drop dramatically, causing classes to be canceled and the reduction of faculty and
staff. It was under his leadership that enrollment doubled and the college began to stabilize
financially just prior to World War II. The Second World War duplicated the difficulties of the
Depression as enrollment plummeted once again. It was through Dr. Meek's efforts that a naval
air cadet flying program was initiated in 1942 to keep the college's doors open.
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The immediate post war years found the college expanding at an astounding rate. In 1951, the
Junior College was officially proclaimed a four year college. Through the urging of Dr. Meek,
the college doubled its degree programs and encouraged the construction of numerous class
buildings and dormitories. In 1959, he was awarded an honorary doctorate in law by Lambuth
College. His efforts were recognized again in 1962 when he was bestowed the title of Vice
President of the University of Tennessee and Chancellor of the Martin Branch. Just prior to his
retirement in 1967, the college had become a degree-granting university and its title changed to
"The University of Tennessee at Martin".
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In retirement, Dr. Meek witnessed the creation of the Paul and Martha Meek Scholarship Fund,
the establishment of a "Paul Meek Day", and the naming of a library in his honor. On November
2, 1972, Paul Meek died at the age of 75. His body is interred at Martin's East Side Cemetery.
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