The Jefferson Prize honors a tenured or tenure-track faculty member who has demonstrated excellence in research and creative activity.
Paul Harrill
Paul Harrill, the Dee & Jimmy Haslam Chair in Cinema Studies, joined UT in 2013. LIGHT FROM LIGHT, Harrill’s 2019 feature film, premiered at Sundance, earned a “Certified Fresh” distinction from Rotten Tomatoes upon its theatrical release, and received accolades from Variety, The Hollywood Reporter, and Film Comment, which called it “a remarkable achievement.” Harrill’s debut feature SOMETHING, ANYTHING was named a New York Times Critics’ Pick and streamed on Netflix.
What does being a Volunteer mean to you? How has UT empowered you to make a difference in a way you might not have imagined elsewhere?
“Being a Volunteer is in my DNA — and I mean that almost literally. In addition to being a professor at the University of Tennessee, I’m also a third-generation alumnus of the university. (Both of my parents are alums, and my mom’s mother graduated in 1938!) Studying at UT shaped who I am as a person and as a filmmaker, igniting my interest in telling stories set in East Tennessee. Now, as a professor, it’s my great pleasure to help students develop and realize the stories they have to tell.”