Professor Hillary Herndon Honored with UT’s Thomas Jefferson Prize
Hillary Herndon, professor of viola at the University of Tennessee Natalie L. Haslam College of Music, has been named the 2025 recipient of the Thomas Jefferson Prize, one of the highest faculty honors bestowed by the university.
Presented during last week’s Academic Honors Banquet, the Thomas Jefferson Prize recognizes tenured or tenure-track faculty members for distinguished achievement in research and creative activity, especially in disciplines where securing external funding is limited. The award includes a $6,000 annual stipend for up to three years.
The Academic Honors Banquet, established in 2021, celebrates the achievements of UT Knoxville’s faculty, staff, and students. The awards highlight those who embody the Volunteer spirit through excellence in research, creative activity, leadership, and service to the campus community.
Herndon, an internationally recognized violist, has built a reputation for her expressive artistry, insightful pedagogy, and advocacy for underrepresented voices in classical music. Time Out New York has praised her “sweetly soaring tone,” and she has performed with world-renowned artists including Itzhak Perlman, who once described her as “having it all… a gifted teacher and an excellent musician.”
In addition to her three acclaimed solo recordings on MSR Classics—La Viola, American Voices, and 1919: Hidden Treasures from an Epoch Year—Herndon has appeared on NPR and PBS and led master classes around the world, including at Carnegie Hall, Juilliard, and the Sibelius Academy in Finland.
Herndon joined the UT faculty in 2003 and has been a driving force behind new initiatives within the college. She is the founder of the annual Viola Celebration and co-founder of Mosaic Music Publications, which curate’s anthologies for string students featuring composers from historically underrepresented communities. In 2023, Mosaic released The Beginning series for solo and ensemble strings featuring works by Black and Latino composers.
“Being a Volunteer means asking how we can help when we see an area of need,” Herndon said. “One of the things I appreciate most about being at the UT College of Music is the support to help tackle new projects, no matter how far outside the ‘traditional way of doing things’ they may be.”
In recent years, Herndon’s leadership and service have extended beyond campus. She served as president of the American Viola Society from 2020 to 2023, receiving the organization’s Distinguished Service Award in 2024. That same year, she was named an Individual Artist Fellow by the Tennessee Arts Commission and received the Creative/Scholarly Achievement Award from the Natalie L. Haslam College of Music. She now serves as executive director of the Sewanee Summer Music Festival.
For more information about the Thomas Jefferson Prize and the Academic Honors Banquet, please visit https://liveutk.sharepoint.com/sites/provost/SitePages/Thomas-Jefferson-Prize-winner.aspx.