Professor Emeritus Robert “Bob” Kirk, the first Black professor to teach inside the walls of the University of Tennessee at Knoxville, has died at the age of 92, his family told Knox News.
Derek Kirk remembers the afternoon that he and his father stopped at the scene of a car crash near Central Street in Knoxville and a man who was involved peered over at the Kirks and recognized his dad.
“He was the guy in the accident and I’ll never forget he looked inside our window and said ‘Dr. Kirk?’” Derek Kirk said with a laugh.
“My dad touched everyone; he was just a multifaceted individual who was also a businessman. He had this little small convenience store that he owned for 20 years that people remember to this day.”
Many in the Black community still refer to the little gas station at the corner of Brooks and Dandridge avenues as “Kirk’s Market,” a fixture in East Knoxville.
Educator, Civil Rights Movement groundbreaker, entrepreneur
His daughter, Tracy Kirk Hardin, hopes her dad will be remembered as a father, a beloved educator, a businessman, and a man who touched the lives of so many people inside and outside the classroom and in the city of Knoxville.
It was in the middle of the Civil Rights Movement in 1967 when Kirk became a professor, just as racial barriers at the university were being broken down. He taught in the School of Health, Physical Education and Recreation.
“My father came to Knoxville, I would say at a difficult time. And he always just had the sense to treat anyone like you would want to be treated,” Kirk Hardin told Knox News. “In spite of everything, just treat people right. And at the same time, he had a history of excellence, and if you did something you didn’t just do it, but you do it well.”
Kirk left an indelible mark on the University of Tennessee and the city.
Theotis Robinson Jr., a fellow University of Tennessee trailblazer as one of the first Black undergraduates, recalls the cherished friendship he developed with Kirk over the past 50 years.
“He left a legacy at the University of Tennessee not only as the very first Black tenured professor in the history of the college but in the relationships he built with students,” Robinson told Knox News.
Kirk’s business acumen made him a beloved entrepreneur in Knoxville. Along with Kirk’s Market, he was the first owner of the Magnolia Cafe and he owned Kirk’s Restaurant and Hilltop Garden and Nursery.
Robinson said Kirk’s academic expertise and business sense made him unstoppable.
A life dedicated to duty and service
Kirk was born and raised in Murfreesboro and began his journey with a deep passion for education and a sense of duty. After graduating from the historically Black Fisk University in 1953 with a bachelor’s degree in health and physical education, Kirk served in the U.S. Army during the Korean War. The experience provided the foundation for his lifelong commitment to safety and well-being.
In the years following his military service, Kirk earned his doctorate from Indiana University in 1960 and started as a teacher in his hometown of Murfreesboro. In 1967, hired by UT President Andy Holt, he joined the faculty at the University of Tennessee as an associate professor. In 1969, he was named the university’s first full-time Black professor. He was the first Black professor to earn tenure and to head a department. He taught until he retired in 2003.
During his tenure, Kirk chaired the Division of Health and Safety and served as director of the University of Tennessee Safety Center.
Beyond Rocky Top, he also shared his expertise and passion with several historically Black institutions across the country, including his alma mater Fisk University, Grambling State University, Alabama State University, Southern Illinois University, and Southern University at Baton Rouge.
As a community leader throughout his life, he actively participated in numerous local organizations and initiatives, serving as a member of the Board of Trustees of Emory and Henry College, executive secretary of the Knoxville Black Officials Coalition, and a member of several hospital boards and community councils.
At the state level, Kirk played pivotal roles for the Tennessee Department of Education, where he chaired committees and directed curriculum projects.
In 2003, the Tennessee state legislature honored Kirk with a resolution in honor of his retirement from the University of Tennessee.
Kirk’s leadership extended nationally to his presidency of the American School and Community Safety Association and the American Academy of Safety. He also held key positions with the National Safety Council.
His accolades include numerous awards and recognitions, including induction into both the University of Tennessee African American Hall of Fame and the Safety and Health Hall of Fame International. He also was honored with the W.W. Patty Award from Indiana University and the Distinguished Service to Safety Award from the National Safety Council.
Kirk Hardin said her father’s drive is what shaped his legacy, but his commitment to God and family, as a longtime member of Lennon-Senney United Methodist Church, is what kept him going for so many years.
Until his final days, he kept in contact with the more than 50 students he mentored who earned their doctorates.
“To do all of the things he did in a 24-hour day, to make the mark he did on so many people, and he still was there as a father every step of the way,” Kirk Hardin told Knox News.
“As his daughter, I still don’t know how he did it all. I look back on everything and am amazed.”
Angela Dennis is the Knox News race, justice and equity reporter. Email angela.dennis@knoxnews.com. X, formerly known as Twitter @AngeladWrites. Instagram @angeladenniswrites. Facebook at Angela Dennis.
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