2017 Outstanding Alumnus Award Winner
Dr. Mitchell Mutter is described by friends and colleagues as an outstanding professional, mentor, teacher, leader, and humanitarian. One of seven children born to a deaf-mute couple, starting at age 10 Dr. Mutter worked for tobacco farmers in the area to help his family.
He also worked for the janitor at his elementary school in order to get a free lunch. Later in high school he cleaned lunch trays in the cafeteria in order to get lunch. Ultimately, however, he was elected Student Body President and captain of the football team. He attended the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, on a football scholarship, graduating in 1968. He moved on to the University of Tennessee Health Science Center in Memphis to pursue a degree in medicine.
Following his 1972 UTHSC graduation, Dr. Mutter served until 1976 as a general medical officer in the U.S. Army at Walter Reed Army Medical Center Andrew Radar Clinic. He went on to complete his internship, internal medicine residency, and cardiology fellowship at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, D.C. He is board certified in internal medicine and cardiology.
After his service at Walter Reed he was Chief of Cardiology at the Eisenhower Army Medical Center in Augusta, Georgia. He left active military service with the rank of lieutenant colonel. He returned to Knoxville in 1982 to begin private cardiology practice. He also served on the faculty for the UT Health Science Center as associate professor of medicine. In 1992 he began practicing cardiology in Chattanooga. He was Chief of Staff at Erlanger Hospital in Chattanooga from 2004 to 2007. Since 2012, Dr. Mutter has served as Medical Director of Special Projects for the Tennessee Department of Health. He is spearheading the state’s pain management task force.
Dr. Mutter is the founder of the Children’s Nutrition Program of Haiti, which has employees in Chattanooga and Haiti. He began going to Haiti in 1988 to work as a cardiologist and decided that the vast medical needs of the country might be addressed with a grassroots nutrition program designed to empower and enable a generation of healthy Haitian children. In 2007 he was named a Citizen Diplomat by Sister Cities International for his work in Haiti.
Dr. Mutter has been president of the Tennessee Heart Association, president of the Hamilton County Medical Society, and president of the Hamilton County Medical Foundation. Until recently he was president of the Tennessee Board of Medical Examiners, the regulatory and disciplinary board for physicians in Tennessee. Over his distinguished career, Dr. Mutter has served on research teams as either a principal-, co-, or sub-investigator for more than 25 research studies in the area of cardiology. Dr. Mutter was named the 2007 Outstanding Physician by the Tennessee Medical Association. He also received the Medical Staff Meritorious Service Award from the Tennessee Hospital Association in 2007. In 2010, he received an “Angel for Children” award from Bethany Christian Services. Recently he received the 2012 Distinguished Physicians Award from Erlanger Baroness Foundation.
Dr. Mutter is married to Carol Mutter, an attorney, and the current mayor of Lookout Mountain, Tennessee. They have three grown sons and six grandchildren.
View Past Medicine Award Winners