“Engrams” celebrate longtime members of faculty and staff

CLEVELAND, Tenn. — Anyone walking the halls of Lee University this semester may have noticed new additions on the walls of several buildings. Large bronze tablets have been permanently installed in nine buildings on campus. These tablets, called “engrams,” commemorate members of faculty and staff who have served at least 35 years full-time at Lee.

The “Engram project” is the brainchild of Chancellor Dr. Paul Conn. The project was brought to fruition during Conn’s stint as interim president in the 2024-2025 academic year, and is set to continue in years to come.

Most people do not know what an engram is. It is certainly not a term used in everyday conversation.

“It’s a very specialized word from psychology ... When you remember something, it’s not only a cognitive or intellectual thing, it’s a physical thing. So that is why they call it the engram,” Conn said.

The concept of the engram, that our memories could have a physical impact to our brains, inspired Conn to honor Lee faculty in a new, physical manifestation.

“I got to thinking about it. So many people have invested so much of their lives in Lee, and they’re remembered warmly by so many people. But, they come and they go, either because they die or they retire. But if you have been here for a long time, for most of your working life ... it seemed to me there ought to be a physical trace of you,” Conn said. “You should exist in some physical form, not just exist in the minds and the hearts of your students.”

Thus, the idea for the “Engram project” was born.

“I had this idea a couple of years ago, so we just got started. We took a look at a list of all the people who had long term careers here,” Conn said. It was decided that an engram would be created for anyone who served at least 35 years as a full-time employee at the university.

“Each one has a likeness and a short paragraph describing their career,” Conn said. These engrams are large and metal, screwed directly into the wall, becoming permanent fixtures. Each engram will be placed in the building where its subject worked. If a faculty or staff member already has something named for them in the building where they worked, they will not receive an engram.

Engrams were created with the purpose of honoring Lee’s longtime employees, but also having a place where the former students can go to appreciate the impact their professors had on their Lee experience.

“What if you sang in Campus Choir back in the Horton years, and Virginia was your saving grace? You want to be able to come, look around and see ‘there’s my favorite teacher’,” Conn says. There is an engram of Dr. Virginia Horton in the Curtsinger Building – School of Music.

Most who have received engrams did not already have a facility on campus named for them. There is a bit of an inconsistency in the fact that engrams were created for Dr. Donald Bowdle and Dr. Robert O’Bannon, even though they already have dormitories named for them: Bowdle and O’Bannon Halls. The project team felt the two professors left such an impact, they should also be honored in the buildings where they worked.

“If you studied under Don Bowdle, he made an impact on you, but that was all done in the School of Religion, so we went ahead and did his there. Same thing with Bob O’Bannon ... same thing with the Dirksen’s ... It’s just a general way of honoring them,” Conn said of the engrams.

Many members of faculty and staff have left their mark on Lee University. These engrams are much more than slabs of bronze on concrete walls. These tablets are a physical means of honoring those who have put so much of their life into Lee University.