Patten heirs give $1 million to UTC

A $1 million gift from the children and grandchildren of Z. Lupton Patten will create an endowed chair in business ethics at the Gary W. Rollings College of Business at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga.

The Z. Lupton Patten Chair in Business Ethics was endowed from the vision of the late Fontaine Patten Moore and the generosity of her sisters, the late Peggy Patten Winningham, Phyllis Patten Hardin, and Charlotte Patten Gauss, and their children.

An alumnus of Baylor School, Lupton Patten graduated with honor from the University of Chattanooga in 1927, where he was president of the senior Class, captain of the Tennis Team, and member of the Alpha Society. Upon graduation, Lupton Patten joined the faculty of the University as an instructor in French and Philosophy. He later was elevated to president of the family’s business, The Chattanooga Medicine Company, in 1938 at age 31. Under Lupton Patten’s foundational leadership, the Medicine Company grew and prospered through the war years and continues to thrive today as Chattem, Inc.

Robert Dooley, dean of the UTC Rollins College of Business, said the goal of the Z. Lupton Patten Chair is to “guide students to be ethical and successful managers and leaders and to encourage administrators and faculty members in business education to explore ways to incorporate and strengthen ethics education” in the curriculum.

“While UTC and the Rollins College of Business have long included ethics education as part of our instruction, their generous gift will give strength, recognition and added emphasis to those efforts,” Dooley said.