Dr. Tomlinson Fort
Tomlinson Fort '52, a nationally recognized educator, is an UGA alumnus who is proud of his red and black legacy that reaches back to 1785, when the University was chartered.
Dr. Fort was recently named Centennial Professor of Chemical Engineering, Emeritus, at Vanderbilt University. He and his brother, James S. Fort '54, are the fifth generation of their family to be associated with the University of Georgia. Dr. Fort says one of his cherished memories is having his father, Professor Tomlinson Fort, Sr. '06, hand him his diploma at graduation exercises in 1952. His father at that time was Regents Professor and Head of the Mathematics Department at UGA.
His grandfather, John P. Fort received an honorary Doctor of Science degree from the University in 1909. His great grandfather, Tomlinson Fort, M.D., was a member of the University of Georgia Board of Trustees and his portrait hangs in the University library. His great, great grandfather, Arthur Fort, was a member of the Georgia Assembly in 1785 when the University was chartered and in 1802 was a member of the Georgia Committee which cleared the land title and approved the loan to construct the first UGA buildings in Athens.
Tomlinson graduated from Athens High School, then the University of Georgia. He earned his Doctorate at the University of Tennessee in 1957, and studied a year at the University of Sydney, Australia. He then spent seven years as Research Chemist with the Dupont Corporation before beginning an academic career that lasted almost 40 years.
He served on the faculties at Case Western Reserve University, Carnegie Mellon University, the University of Missouri-Rolla and California Polytechnic State University before going to Vanderbilt in 1989. He was Head of the Chemical Engineering Departments at Carnegie-Mellon and Vanderbilt and was Provost at the University of Missouri-Rolla and Provost and Vice President at Cal Poly.
Over the years, he served as advisor and mentor to many students, was widely published and received numerous awards and special recognitions. He held many professional offices and earned dozens of honors from various educational and corporate groups.
He was initiated into Sigma Chi Fraternity at UGA and later was one of the founders of new chapters at Missouri-Rolla and Cal Poly. He was inducted into the Order of Constantine and received a special commendation from the Grand Consul of Sigma Chi.
While at UGA, he also was a member of the Demosthenian Literary Society, Men's Glee Club, Scabbard and Blade and was editor of "The Fraternity Way."
He was Board member and president of a major Tennessee Real Estate Company and presently makes his home in Franklin, Tennessee where he lives in a house, Centennial Hall, that is listed on the National Historical Register. He is presently working on a book about his family and is interested in music.
After graduating from UGA, his brother, James, opted for a career in the U.S. Merchant Marines. He is now retired and makes his home near Ft. Lauderdale, Florida.
Claude McBride '55, former UGA Alumni Association Tour Director is a veritable repository of campus lore and is now assisting us in writing legacy stories such as the one above. If you have an interesting legacy story please e-mail Claude at cmcbride@uga.edu.
