University of Tennessee Honors a Woman Pioneer

A street in the new Sorority Village at the University of Tennessee has been named to honor Ann Baker Furrow. A 1967 alumna of the university, she was the first woman to play on a men’s varsity sports team at the university. She was a member of the golf team in 1964 and 1965 and went on to win five Tennessee State amateur championships.

Furrow helped establish a women’s golf team at the university and served as interim coach and a volunteer coach for 15 years. She helped raise a more than $2 million endowment to support the women’s golf team.

Furrow was the first woman and the youngest person to serve on the University of Tennessee board of trustees. She served as a trustee for 18 years. In 1971 she was the first women to give the commencement speech at the university.