Benefactors to UT Martin’s Campaign for Tennessee are leading by example in every way. Not only are these alumni and friends serving in campaign leadership roles, they have made extraordinary seven-figure gifts that will impact UT Martin faculty, students and university-wide initiatives for generations to come.

Philanthropy begins in the heart – with a sense of gratitude and a willingness to “give back.” These three couples have given time, talent and treasure to UT Martin, and each has a story rooted in the Tennessee volunteer spirit.

J. Houston and Debbie Gordon

J. Houston Gordon (‘68) serves as honorary chair for UT Martin in The Campaign for Tennessee. He and his wife, Debbie, have supported the university, including endowing several UT Martin University Scholars and making gifts to the UT Knoxville Law School over the past 20 years. Houston is a third-generation UT Martin alumnus. Houston’s grandmother, Ava Darnall Gordon, came to the campus on horseback when it was Hall-Moody Institute. His father, H.D. Gordon, attended UT Martin Junior College before graduating from UT Knoxville. His three siblings graduated and then obtained post graduate degrees, one from UT Health Science Center in pharmacy, one from Clemson, and one from the UT College of Veterinary Medicine. Two nephews graduated from UT Martin. His niece is a sophomore at UT Martin. Houston hitchhiked from Covington, his hometown, to UT Martin during his first two years. He had a sign on his suitcase that read, UTMB Student Needs a Ride.

Houston attributes his desire to invest in the next generation to his parents who valued education and believed in giving back and helping others and to the positive impact of his college experience at UT Martin. Houston and Debbie are investing an additional $600,000 in the UT Martin Paul Meek Library and the American Democracy Project.

Their campaign commitment not only will provide access to information that encourages service-learning and civic engagement, but also will instill knowledge about the importance of preserving and participating in a democratic society. The Gordons are passionate about assisting and encouraging young people to become active in the everyday life of our country; economically, politically and socially.
“As a student of history, I feel there has been no time since our nation’s founding that the active acceptance of individual and collective responsibility by an educated citizenry is more important than now. The very underpinnings of our free society are at stake.”

This self-proclaimed “country lawyer” gained national prominence as a captain in the U.S. Army when he was appointed to represent Lt. William Calley during the appeals of Calley’s conviction arising out of the infamous “My Lai Massacre.” The resulting media attention in the early 1970s catapulted him into politics and a life of service. Although he has been elected as a member of the prestigious American College of Trial Lawyers and the American Board of Trial Advocates and listed in Best Lawyers in America in civil practice every year since 1984, has served as chairman of the Tennessee Democratic Party, and made a run for the U.S. Senate, Houston has never forgotten his roots or his alma mater.

He and Debbie are also actively involved in the historic preservation and renovation of downtown Covington, including his law offices housed in the historic Lindo Hotel building (1901), plus a four-star restaurant, Marlo’s Down Under, Debbie’s up-scale dress shop called Le Chic Boutique, and three luxury loft apartments with designer kitchens, all located in what was originally known as the Olive Block, home of the first Naifeh Grocery Store, the Walker Hardware Store and numerous professional and business offices beginning in the late 1800s.

Debbie, a pharmacist (UT Memphis ‘75), currently serves on the UTAA Women’s Council and the Alliance of Women Philanthropists. Houston has served on the UT Board of Trustees, UT College of Law Dean’s Alumni Advisory Council, the UT Development Council and the UT Martin Development Committee. In his spare time, he authored a novel, The Plains of Abraham, and is currently writing a nonfiction historical account of the My Lai incident and the Vietnam War.

Bill and Roberta Blankenship

Bill and Roberta Blankenship both attended the University of Tennessee at Martin Branch, where they first met. Bill earned his B.S. in agriculture in 1956, and Roberta graduated with a home economics degree in 1955. They returned to UT Martin for the first time in 50 years to attend their Golden Grad Reunion in August 2005. Shortly afterward, Bill became a member of the UT Martin Development Committee and now serves on The Campaign for Tennessee Steering Committee and the UT Development Council. Their great-nephew, Joel Howard, graduated from UT Martin in December 2005, and, at that time, they made the first of several undesignated six-figure gifts to UT Martin. “We have confidence in the leadership of the university and believe they can best determine the needs and priorities for the use of private dollars.”

As a result of those annual gifts, the Blankenship Undergraduate Research Endowment in the College of Engineering and Natural Sciences was established. Matched by support from the university, collaborative faculty/student research activities are nurtured and encouraged. Income from the endowment provides faculty incentives and student stipends for “real-world” learning opportunities in a close mentoring environment. Other private gifts from the Blankenships have purchased much-needed equipment in the chemistry department; specifically a nuclear magnetic resonance machine that enables students in the pre-health sciences to conduct experiments with state-of-the-art instrumentation, equipping them for graduate and professional school.

Bill was born and reared in Covington and was a lieutenant in the U.S. Navy. After obtaining his UT Martin degree, he was accepted in the Navy Officer Candidate School and, on receiving his commission, was assigned to the Commander In Chief Pacific Fleet Staff. He started his business career with Buckeye, a division of Procter & Gamble. P&G sold the cellulose business in the early 1990s to an investment group which formed Buckeye Technologies, and Bill was vice president of cotton manufacturing. Roberta, originally from Memphis, was editor of the yearbook and a campus beauty at UT Martin. Both played tennis as students and were coached by former UT Martin women’s athletic director, Bettye Giles. Giles, UT Martin Chancellor Tom Rakes, Len Solomons, UT Martin vice chancellor for university advancement, and Charley Deal, UT Martin assistant vice chancellor for alumni relations, recently attended an alumni reception hosted by Bill and Roberta in their Sandestin, Fla., home. Following the successful event, the Blankenships presented the university with a $2 million bequest for The Campaign for Tennessee.

When asked why they have committed such extraordinary support to the Martin campus, Bill said, “It’s just the right thing to do! It took us a while to get involved again with our alma mater, but we are passionate about UT Martin and what it means to the economic growth and development of the region. UT Martin is truly preparing the next generation of leadership.”

Ray and Wilma Smith

Ray and Wilma Smith have long recognized the importance of education and the impact UT Martin makes on West Tennessee and beyond. They have two children, Jan Kizer and Brent Smith, as well as a number of grandchildren and great-grandchildren, many of whom are UT Martin alumni. Ray currently serves as UT Martin co-chair of The Campaign for Tennessee and was also the West Tennessee co-chair of the Tennessee Tomorrow Campaign, UT’s first-ever national fund-raising effort. He is a past chair of the UT Martin Development Committee, a former member of the UT Development Council, and received the UT Martin Chancellor’s Award for University Service during Homecoming 2005.

In 2004, the Smiths made a generous contribution to the Agricultural Teaching Complex. In recognition of their leadership of the project, UT Martin named the UT Martin Ray and Wilma Smith Livestock Merchandising Facility in their honor. Most recently, they made a remarkable seven-figure commitment to fund professorships in each of the five academic colleges at UT Martin. “We believe in investing in people, and the faculty at UT Martin are among the finest anywhere. The university must be competitive in recruiting and keeping top-notch professors. Our support is intended to provide recognition for excellence and incentives to attract and retain the very best in their fields.”

“We want UT Martin to be competitive. We want to attract the best teachers in their fields. We want to retain and train faculty. Then, when you’ve got teachers who need to study in Europe or Japan, for instance, you’re in good shape for that to happen.”

Ray Smith is married to the former Wilma Crider. Making their home in Huntingdon, Smith owns and operates Ray Smith Chevrolet-Buick-Pontiac, Inc., in Camden, Tenn., with his son and grandson. He also holds interests in radio stations, farms, real estate and insurance firms. He serves as chair of Mountain Life Insurance, is a past member of First Bank board of directors, a past member of the Tennessee Bankers Association board of directors and past president of the Tennessee Automobile Dealers Association. He has been a Phillips 66 jobber since 1966 and served as a member of the National Board of the American Heart Association and as the Tennessee Heart Association state fund-raising chair. Smith is chair of the Industrial Development Board of Huntingdon, moderator of Southwestern District Baptist Association, and president of the West Tennessee Public Utilities District, serving as a board member for 39 years.

Ray is a past member of the board of directors of the Woodman of the World Life Insurance Company. He has served under three governors on the Tennessee Utilities Management Review Board and as a Baptist Hospital advisory board member. He is a member of Huntingdon Missionary Baptist Church, serving as a deacon, Sunday School superintendent and Sunday School teacher for more than 50 years. In 2003, Ray was named Huntingdon Outstanding Citizen. He has served as Lions Club president, chair of the Bank of Huntingdon, and was mayor of Camden for 12 years. Ray and Wilma have invested their lives in service to others, and with this transformational campaign commitment, they are investing in our best natural resource – human capital and human potential.

“UT Martin is more important than the average person might think and very important to West Tennessee,” Ray said. “It’s given all of us a better way of life.”