The University of Tennessee at Martin has announced a $22 million gift from Bill and Rosann Nunnelly in support of scholarships.

The largest gift ever to UT Martin will fund a scholarship program for students from Hickman County, where Bill Nunnelly grew up on a farm in a community bearing the family name. Although the full impact of the gift will not be realized until both Nunnellys have passed away, four students will receive scholarships though the program this fall. When fully funded, more than ninety scholarships could be awarded annually to qualified students from Hickman, Dickson, Giles, Lawrence, Lewis, Maury, and Humphreys counties in Tennessee.

Nunnelly received his bachelor's degree in education from UT Martin in 1970 and later earned a master's degree in education from Boston University. Commissioned as second lieutenant in the U.S. Army after graduating, Nunnelly went on to become a successful entrepreneur and, with his brother, sold the family farm in 2010.

"We appreciate the Nunnelly family opening doors for students from rural counties to attend UT Martin," said University of Tennessee interim president Randy Boyd. "They are helping to change not only the lives of students, but also of families, communities, and the state. The impact of their gift will reverberate through generations of Tennesseans."