David Knott ’58

David Knott ’58, a leading drug and alcohol addiction researcher, died April 19, 2009, in Memphis, Tenn. He was 72.

Knott was among the first researchers to label alcoholism as a disease, opening the doors for addiction treatment. He was the head of the Alcohol and Drug Dependence Clinic at the Tennessee Psychiatric Hospital and Institute and taught at the University of Tennessee.

Knott received the James H. Tharp Alcohol Research Award every year from 1974 to 1995, and in 1994 the Tennessee Department of Health awarded him the Melville Kelly Lifetime Achievement Award in the field of alcohol and drug dependence.

Knott is survived by two sons, Kevin and Kepler; brother John; and one grandson.