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Bryant Winfield Culberson Dunn
Tennessee

Gov. Bryant Winfield Culberson Dunn

  • January 16, 1971 - January 18, 1975
  • Republican
  • July 1, 1927
  • September 28, 2024
  • Mississippi
  • University of Mississippi; University of Tennessee
  • Married Jean Prichard; three children
  • Air Force, Navy
  • Physician/Dentist

About

WINFIELD DUNN was born in Meridian, Mississippi. Dunn graduated from the University of Mississippi in 1950 with a B.B.A., and from the University of Tennessee in 1955 with a D.D.S. He served with the U.S. Navy in the Asiatic-Pacific Theatre during World War II. He was also a reserve lieutenant in the U.S. Air Force. In 1964 Dunn was a state leader in the presidential campaign of U.S. Senator Barry Goldwater. He was a delegate to the 1968 Republican National Convention. He was elected Governor of Tennessee in 1970–the first Republican governor of Tennessee in fifty years. As governor, Dunn organized a Commission on Cost Control that produced numerous recommendations for greater efficiency in government that would result in substantial tax savings. During his tenure, Governor Dunn was a member of the National Governors Association Executive Committee from 1971-1973, and he chaired the Education Commission of the States from 1972 to 1973 and the Republican Governors Association from 1973 to 1974. After leaving office, Dunn became an executive with the Hospital Corporation of America based in Nashville.

Source

Governor Bryant Dunn’s Papers at Tennessee State Library and Archives.

Past Governors of Tennessee

Philips, Margaret I. The Governors of Tennessee. Gretna, LA: Pelican Publishing Company, 2001.

Sobel, Robert, and John Raimo, eds. Biographical Directory of the Governors of the United States, 1789-1978, Vol. 4. Westport, CT: Meckler Books, 1978. 4 vols.

Recent Tennessee Governors