ELI FLY, FORMER UT PRESIDENT, DIES AT 82

ELI FLY, FORMER UT PRESIDENT, DIES AT 82
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – Former University of Tennessee President Emerson “Eli” Fly died Aug.
8 in Knoxville at the age of 82.
“Another UT legend has left us and he will be missed by all,” said UT President Joe DiPietro.
“We are thankful for his many years of service and leadership, including serving as president, to
his beloved alma mater.”
Fly served as UT president from 2001 until 2002, capping a 40-year career at the university.
“I don’t know of anybody who was more devoted to the university,” said UT President Emeritus
Joe Johnson.
Fly was born in Milan on Feb. 5, 1935, in what he described as “pretty humble circumstances”
during an interview with the UT Martin “Campus Scene” magazine in 2002. His father died
when he was two years old, and his mother worked in a factory.
Fly and legendary UT President Andy Holt were both from Milan, and Milan notes both on the
city’s welcome sign.
“I don’t know anyone else who has that,” Johnson said. “It’s quite an accomplishment and a
well-deserved recognition.”
After beginning his college education at UT Martin, Fly earned a bachelor’s degree in
accounting from UT Knoxville in 1961 and became a certified public accountant in 1962. He
worked as a junior accountant for Price Waterhouse from 1961 to 1962 before returning to the
university as an assistant auditor, a position he held until becoming the internal auditor in 1968.
In 1973, he became the vice chancellor for finance at UT Chattanooga, and he was named UT
vice president for business and finance in 1977. In 1991, he became system’s executive vice
president.
In 2001, Fly was named acting president, which the UT Board of Trustees later designated, for
the historical record, as permanent. He retired in 2002, but was asked to return as interim
executive vice president and chief financial officer in 2003 by Johnson, then interim UT
president. He retired again in 2004.

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ELI FLY, Page 2
Johnson said he requested that Fly return because of his intimate knowledge of UT and his
positive relationships with state officials and the UT family.
“I trusted Eli completely,” Johnson said. “If I went to war, I’d want to go with Eli.”
Johnson also described Fly as “one of the most competitive people I know, but in a positive
way.”
“He wanted things to be done the best they could be done. He wanted everything done the right
way,” said Johnson.
Fly served as the first president of the University of Tennessee Foundation and is a former
president of the Southern Association of College and University Business Officers. He was the
higher education representative on the advisory committee of the Governmental Accounting
Standards Board and was a member of the National Association of College and University
Business Officers accounting principles committee. NACUBO awarded him its distinguished
business officer award.
 
He was a charter member and president of the East Tennessee chapter of the Institute of Internal
Auditors. He was also past chair of the executive committee of the Council of Business Affairs
for the National Association of State Universities and Land Grant Colleges.
He has served as advisory council chair for the Teachers Insurance and Annuity
Association/College Retirement Equities Fund as well as on the boards of UT-Battelle and
University Health System. He was past president and treasurer for Junior Achievement and was
active in the Knoxville chapter of the American Red Cross.
 
Fly was a U.S. Navy pilot and held the rank of commander in the U.S. Naval Air Reserve. He
was a member of First Christian Church. He is survived by his wife, Catherine, four children
and nine grandchildren.