During its quarterly meeting today, the Tennessee Board of Regents approved the naming of The William L. Jenkins Forensic Center at East Tennessee State University’s James H. Quillen College of Medicine.
The Tennessee Board of Regents is the governing board for ETSU.
A resident of Hawkins County, Congressman Jenkins represented the First District of Tennessee from 1997 to 2007.
During his term, he helped the university obtain necessary federal funding to develop a state-of-the-art forensic center which today serves eight counties in Northeast Tennessee.
“The need for this center was dire,” said ETSU President Dr. Paul E. Stanton Jr. “Our previous facility was designed to handle approximately 30 autopsies per year, but the demand for services rose dramatically and there came a point when our forensic staff was handling more than 300 cases in a given year.
“Congressman Jenkins saw the urgency for this new forensic center and worked tirelessly to secure federal dollars for a major renovation project.”
Stanton said local counties, the state legislature and the governor’s staff, including the Commissioner of Finance and the Commissioner of Health, joined Jenkins and helped make possible the funding for this $6.5 million venture.
The William L. Jenkins Forensic Center is located on the Quillen Veterans Affairs Medical Center campus and includes the medical school’s sections of forensic pathology and toxicology. Renovations for the 38,000-square-foot facility were completed in 2007.
Jenkins is a graduate of Tennessee Technological University, received his J.D. degree from the University of Tennessee College of Law, and served as a captain in the U.S. Army.
He was an energy adviser to former Tennessee Gov. Lamar Alexander and also worked as a private practice lawyer and a farmer. He served the Tennessee General Assembly from 1962-71 and was speaker of the house from 1969-71.
A formal dedication ceremony for the forensic center will be planned.

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