Professor Barb Kaye talks to the crowd after accepting a recognition for her retirement after 24 years from CCI Dean Joe Mazer.
To mark her retirement, Professor Barbara Kaye painted her nails Tennessee orange with white letters spelling out “retirement” across all 10 digits.
“It is with gel nail polish, so I can’t change my mind,” Kaye said jokingly during a recent College of Communication and Information faculty and staff meeting where her retirement and career were celebrated.
Kaye is retiring after 24 years of teaching in the School of Journalism and Media at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. She leaves the higher education profession with more than 30 years of higher education experience.
“Thank you for 24 years of friendship, good humor, good cheer and support,” Kaye said. “I leave knowing the college is in excellent hands. I am going to miss everybody.”
In the classroom, she has taught dozens of courses at the undergraduate and graduate levels, mentored countless students, and brought global experiences through study abroad programs.
Throughout that time, Kaye has published 86 peer-reviewed articles and book chapters, co-authored three textbooks—one in its fifth edition—presented 110 peer-reviewed conference papers and panels, and her scholarly works have been cited more than 11,000 times as of May 2025.
Her work has received several accolades including, but not limited to, CCI College Researcher of the Year Award in 2004 and 2019; Advertising Educator of the Year Award by the American Advertising Federation–Knoxville Chapter in 2011 and 2019; and the 2025 CCI Career Achievement Award.
In addition, she co-authored an award-winning textbook with Northern Arizona University’s Norman J. Medoff, Now Media: The Evolution of Electronic Communication, which was recognized as the 2022 Broadcast Education Association’s Textbook of the Year and adopted by instructors in more than 60 colleges and universities.
“Barb Kaye’s scholarly impact is felt widely, and our classrooms and research have directly benefited from her expertise,” said Amy Jo Coffey, director of the School of Journalism and Media. “The sense of community that Barb helped instill within the school is genuine and we will miss that just as much as her accolades.”