Kenneth J. Monty ’51 died on May 23, 2016, in Knoxville, Tennessee.

(The following appeared in the Knoxville News Sentinel from June 4 to June 18, 2016):

Kenneth James Monty, Ph.D., age 85, died unexpectedly of natural causes on May 23, 2016. Born on September 11, 1930, in Sanford, Maine, Ken was a loving and singularly empathetic father, teacher, mentor, administrator, gentleman, colleague and collaborator, as well as an avid musician and naturalist.

Ken Monty dearly missed his departed wife of 61 years, Barbara H. Monty, former Director of the Office on Aging for Knoxville/Knox County, who passed away in May, 2013. He was preceded in death by his parents Leo and Evelyn Monty, of Reading, MA, and brother, Richard A. Monty, Ph.D., of Aberdeen, MD. He is survived by daughter Melissa L. Monty (husband Richard D. Johnson) of Elk, CA; son Stuart J. Monty (wife Lee Ann Hall Monty) of Orlando, FL; granddaughters Lisa Adams of New Hope, PA, and Kristina Caldwell and her three children, Anthony, Ray, and Leah, of Orlando, FL; sister-in-law Margaret Monty of Urbana, IL; brother-in-law Frederick Vesely, Sr., of Hartwick, NY; nephews Frederick Vesely, Jr., and Michael Vesely, plus extended family residing in northeastern states. Dr. Monty graduated from Reading Memorial H.S. in Massachusetts in 1947, Bowdoin College in 1951, and the University of Rochester with his Ph.D. in 1956. He was a post-doctoral researcher and later an Assistant Professor at Johns Hopkins University, 1956-62. In 1963, Dr. Monty and his family moved to Knoxville, Tennessee, where he was the Founding Head and a Professor of the Department of Biochemistry at the University of Tennessee. Dr. Monty brought a unique focus on research and teaching to the newly created department. From a modest start of five faculty members focused on graduate education, his early guidance and vision helped the department evolve into a robust enterprise today with 27 faculty, 54 graduate students and over 400 undergraduates. Dr. Monty served as Coordinator of the Life Sciences from 1973 to 1984 and oversaw the design and construction of the Walter’s Life Sciences Building on the UTK campus. In the early 1990’s, then UT President Lamar Alexander appointed Dr. Monty to head the Governor’s School for the Sciences at UT and to also serve as the Founder and Head of the Academy for Teachers of Science and Mathematics. Over 600 administrators and teachers completed the Teacher’s Academy during his tenure as director. Dr. Monty maintained correspondence with many of these individuals until recently, inspiring them to strive for excellence in their high school teaching. He was instrumental in creating and oversaw the UT Office of Special Programs and served as the Director of the Tennessee State Science Olympiad and the Academic Decathlon. He retired from UT in 2004. Throughout his tenure at UT, Dr. Monty was a dedicated advisor to students, teachers, and administrators and a champion for excellence in education. In 2014, he organized and established an annual Biochemistry Alumni Graduate Award recognizing a graduate student for combined excellence in both research scholarship and teaching. In his early years in Knoxville, Ken Monty was very active in his neighborhood serving as the vice-president and president of the newly re-organized West Hills Community Association. During these years, he worked to bring city services to West Hills and helped preserve the land that later became the greenway and trail system in the West Knoxville area. More recently, he read avidly and enjoyed spending time with his colleagues, and he volunteered by delivering meals and collecting donations for Mobile Meals.