Paris, Tennessee, native Austin Dunagan received his business administration degree May 2 during commencement exercises at the University of Tennessee at Martin. However, he won’t use his finance major to become a banking professional or wealth adviser. This fall, he’s headed to the UT Health Science Center in Memphis to pursue his doctor of dentistry degree, fulfilling a lifetime dream to work in the health-care profession.
Dunagan family members have been familiar faces at UT Martin commencements for decades. Austin is a fourth-generation UT Martin graduate and where both his parents and both sets of grandparents graduated. Dr. Nick and Cathy Dunagan were UT Martin chancellor and first lady from 2001-2007, and Austin’s father, Dr. Stan Dunagan, is a geosciences professor in the university’s Department of Agriculture, Geosciences and Natural Resources. His mother, Dr. Stephanie Dunagan, whose parents are Lou and Bettye Carter, is a primary care physician at Griffey Clinic in Paris.
Education is important to his family, and academics were a priority for Austin before and during his Henry County High School years. However, it wasn’t all schoolwork during high school, as he was involved in different student activities. He sang in the Madrigals, a longtime a capella singing group, participated in student government, ran cross country and swam competitively.
Outside school, he worked on the family farm as well as on a Henry County row-crop farm owned by another family. His busy life didn’t prevent him from getting a jump on college, and he graduated in 2022 with his high school diploma and 30 hours of college credit, which made it possible for him to graduate in four years from UT Martin.
Austin credits his supportive family for shaping his values, instilling in him a strong work ethic and teaching him to set priorities. Among influential family members is his twin sister, Taylor Dunagan Morton, who provided support and a dose of healthy competition along the way. They often had the same teachers through school and finished among the top students in their high school graduating class: valedictorian for her and fifth in the class for Austin.
His UT Martin years
College took Austin and Taylor in different directions, with Taylor choosing to attend UT Chattanooga and Austin coming to UT Martin. Both earned business degrees, but Taylor remained in Chattanooga after graduation, where she works for HHM Certified Public Accountants, is pursuing an MBA degree through UT Martin and is now married. It’s been an adjustment living in different parts of the state, but they remain close.
“We are a really good team. … I would say that we both are one of each other’s biggest cheerleaders, because we talk on the phone at least a few times a week, and we’re definitely hoping for success – the most amount of success for each other,” he said.
Both Taylor and Austin wanted to earn UT degrees, but Austin decided to remain closer to home, so UT Martin was the only college he applied to. Staying in Northwest Tennessee allowed him to remain near family, earn money through his farming jobs, and graduate from college debt-free. His family supported him in many ways, but Austin accepted the larger share of the financial burden for his education.
One academic decision remained for him to make after arriving at Martin – whether to pursue a medical or dental degree after earning his bachelor’s degree. He was inspired by his mother’s work as a family practice physician, but after seeking other advice and weighing the options, pursuing dentistry was his choice.
Gaining acceptance to dental school with a business degree was another matter.
“I thought if I could do finance and that could prepare me for business-related activities in the future, then dental school would take care of the rest,” he said. “I would just have to take about 48 hours of extra classes.
“Now, luckily, I had those 30 (dual-enrollment) hours coming in; otherwise, I might be a fifth year (student), but I was able to get them all done, and that’s why I’m able to graduate on time with about 150 hours, because I had to take a bunch of other things.”
Austin’s mix of classes found him spending time in the Business Administration Building for business classes and the Latimer-Smith Engineering and Science Building for science courses and labs. His freshman year included biology and sophomore-level finance classes, and he was just getting started.
Late nights and early mornings in the Latimer-Smith Building were normal for Austin, as he became a familiar face to faculty members while he pursued his required science courses. His path included check-ins with Kristina Pitz, the university’s pre-health science adviser, whom he visited once per semester. He understood the process of becoming a health-care professional through the eyes of his mother’s own medical school journey, and Pitz kept him on task.
“I tried to be somewhat independent, and that’s just kind of the nature of me, but I would visit her once a semester and tell her everything I’ve done, everything I plan on doing, and see what she thinks is a good idea, if she thinks I’m on the right track, if she knows of any important deadlines coming up,” he said. “And she hosted some good pre-professional days that kind of taught me about the application (process).”
Pitz said that non-science students face some special challenges when pursuing acceptance to professional school. Austin had the drive and flexibility to bring everything together and accomplish the steps needed to achieve his goals.
“Austin is a man of many faces,” Pitz said in response to email questions. “In some ways he is a modern Renaissance man: he majored in finance with the goal of going to dental school, conducted research on moths with a biology professor and joined an agriculture fraternity.
“He has ties to many areas across campus, which allowed him to move seamlessly between seemingly disparate areas. I have no doubt that he will be an excellent dentist.”
Finding balance in his busy academic schedule was no problem for Austin. His connections to agriculture, which he describes as “my true passion in life,” was one reason for pledging the Alpha Gamma Rho Fraternity.
He lived in the AGR house for two years, and his business background came into play when he served as the fraternity’s financial chair, a position in which he paid bills, collected rent and helped to manage the fraternity’s finances. He’s especially proud to be a member of two AGR rope-pull championship teams.
Never too far from agriculture, his father, Stan, and his grandfather, Lou Carter, helped Austin plant 200 Chinese chestnut trees on six acres of the family farm earlier this year, an orchard that should start producing Chinese chestnuts by the time he graduates from dental school. His new enterprise even has, by his own admission, a “pretty Hallmarky name”: the Southern Chestnut Company.
“So, I planted them now because four years from now after dental school, they’ll start producing, and that’s when I’ll have to have some more money to start paying for various things,” he said, describing the nuts as tasty and having potential to generate sales in ethnic markets.
Preparing for dental school
Austin’s more immediate focus is on dental school classes this fall. In his mind, stepping back is the best way to prepare for what’s coming next, but a change of pace for him is a bit different from what others might do.
“So, there’s a lot of things I’ve been checking off as far as just getting ready, figuring out loan-related stuff, where I’m going to live, that sort of thing,” he said. “But the biggest thing I’m doing right now is I’m trying to give myself a break, and I’ve set myself up academically to where this past year has been pretty easy compared to the previous three.
“And by ‘break,’ I mean I’ve been getting to work on the farm a lot. … And I see that as a break. I mean, I enjoy that a lot.”
Austin’s undergraduate college choice kept him close to his grandparents, Nick and Cathy Dunagan, which was a special time for them. They’re understandably proud of Austin and are optimistic about his prospects as a dentist.
“Austin is a smart, engaging and hard-working young man who is going to succeed in whatever he chooses to do,” Nick said. “These traits will help him be successful as a dentist, and his business degree will offer a sound foundation for the management of his professional practice and any other activities he chooses to pursue.”
Cathy added, “With Austin’s mother and uncle both being physicians, Austin already understands what is expected in the medical profession, so I think he will succeed because he knows what is involved with working hours, staying current with evolving treatments, and insurance.”
Never looking back
Austin knows that dental school will challenge him, but he signed up for the journey and anticipates pursuing a profession that that will allow him to help others.
“I think there is something special in learning a skill that not many people know how to do … but especially a skill that you can literally help heal people and make them feel better,” he said. “And I think that is rewarding, no matter how stressful it can be or what hours you pull.”
Austin will start accepting dental patients about the time his Henry County orchard begins producing and the Southern Chestnut Company officially opens. His business degree will come in handy when the next chapter of life begins for the most recent Dunagan family member to cross the UT Martin commencement stage.
PHOTO: Austin Dunagan receives congratulations on earning his degree from UT Martin Chancellor Yancy Freeman. The Paris native with a degree in business administration is now preparing to enter dental school.
