Theotis Robinson Jr. is University of Tennessee vice president for equity and diversity. He joined the University staff in 1989 and was appointed to his current position in 2000.
His responsibilities include oversight of AA/EEO requirements for the UT System, development of the Title VI plan for the University, diversity policy and program development post-Geier, and a consultative role with the UT campuses on issues of diversity and issues relating to minority contractors and vendors.
Robinson was vice president of economic development for the 1982 Knoxville World’s Fair. He served on Knoxville City Council from 1970 to 1977—the first African American elected to that office in more than a half century.
Robinson applied to attend undergraduate school at UT in July 1960 but was denied admission because of his race. Robinson, then 18-years-old, and his parents met with UT President Andy Holt to appeal the denial. Under the threat of a lawsuit, the UT Board of Trustees changed the policy regarding admission of “Negroes” on Nov. 18, 1960, and Robinson was admitted. He, together with two other black students, enrolled at UT on Jan. 4, 1961.
He was a charter inductee into the University of Tennessee African American Hall of Fame in 1994. He is a member of the UT Commission for Blacks and a former political opinion columnist whose columns were published in the Knoxville News Sentinel. Knoxville’s Metro Pulse newspaper also named him one of the 100 most influential Knoxvillians of the 20th century.
He is a graduate of Leadership Knoxville and a former board member of Planned Parenthood of East Tennessee, Tennessee Valley Center for Minority Economic Development, Leadership Knoxville, Beck Cultural Exchange Center, Knoxville Area Urban League, and the National Black Caucus of Local Elected Officials.
He and his wife, Jonida, live in Knoxville. He is the father of five children, four surviving, and nine grandchildren.
Theotis Robinson Jr.
trobins4@tennessee.edu
Contact: Rebecca Gibson
rebeccag@tennessee.edu
865-974-0518
Visit the University of Tennessee Office of Equity and Diversity
