Dr. John J. Quinn, Professor and holder of the Willis Lincoln Chair of Excellence in Physics at the University of Tennessee, has been named the 2012 Distinguished Alumnus of the College of Computer, Mathematical and Natural Sciences.

Dr. Quinn received his Ph.D. in Physics here in 1958, under the tutelage of the late Richard A. Ferrell. He received a UMD postdoctoral appointment in condensed matter theory, then accepted a position in the RCA Laboratories. In 1964, he returned to academia as the Mary Amanda Wood Visiting Lecturer at the University of Pennsylvania, and then served as a Visiting Professor of Physics at Purdue. In 1965, he began an extremely productive stay at Brown University. At Brown, his roles included Professor, Associate Provost, Ford Foundation Chair and Dean of the Faculty. In 1989, he left Brown to serve as Chancellor of the University of Tennessee.