Pietro “Pete” F. Pasqua (1922–1992), was the first head of the first department of nuclear engineering in the nation, established in 1957 here at UT. Among his many outstanding contributions to education, Pasqua played a role in founding the Nuclear Division of the American Society of Engineering Education, and for many years he served on the Oak Ridge Associated Universities Council and the Alcoa Board of Education.

In 1988, UT dedicated a building in honor of Pasqua – a facility originally constructed in 1925 as the university’s power plant and renovated in 1973 to house the Department of Nuclear Engineering. In July 2018, Pasqua Hall was demolished to make way for the Zeanah Engineering Complex, the new home of the Department of Nuclear Engineering, where the Pietro F. Pasqua Classroom is named in his honor.