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Preparatory Academies and Vanderbilt University
Presidents
| 1874-1902 | J. Lynn Bachman |
| 1902-1918 | O.C. Hulvey |
| 1918-1956 | C.R. Endsley |
| 1956-1971 | C.R. Endsley, Jr. |
| 1971-1973 | Thomas C. Dula |
Tennessee Military Institute
... Sweetwater, Tennessee
1874-1988
Courtesy Rob Hill, www.cadetweb.net
Tennessee Military Institute began as Sweetwater Military College, founded by Presbyterian minister J. Lynn Bachman. For 26 years, Bachman administered the school “where young men could have good educational advantages under safe and wholesome influences.” In 1902, the school changed administration and became Tennessee Military Institute. TMI moved from inside Sweetwater to just outside the then-city limits in 1909. U.S. Army officers began directing military instruction in 1911, and R.O.T.C. began in 1918 after World War I.
In 1973, the school began admitting women, but ended the coeducational program in 1975. The same year, the school changed its name to TMI Academy. It closed in 1988, and a Japanese group bought the buildings, which are now occupied by Tennessee Meiji Gakuin, a school for Japanese high school students affiliated with Meiji Gakuin University, a university founded by American Presbyterian missionaries in the 19th century.
