Ellen Robinson

Longtime Knoxville resident Ellen Hummel Robinson, former executive vice president of communications and government relations for Tennessee Valley Authority and active board member of numerous area arts organizations, has died following a brief illness. She was 68. Robinson’s 45-year career in public relations encompassed a wide variety of clients, including both corporate and government entities as well as arts organizations. She managed public relations campaigns in Europe, Latin America, Asia, and the former Soviet Union as well as here at home. In addition to her talents in strategic communications, Robinson is fondly remembered for her vivacious, outgoing personality and quick wit. She was famous for her green thumb and seemingly miraculous natural ability to improvise in the kitchen; she considered written recipes “way too confining.” A lifelong lover of animals, she raised five Jack Russell Terriers. She also had an unerring eye for style – especially for the latest fashions from Dries Van Noten. She assumed her TVA position in 2001, where she directed communications strategies to reach all TVA stakeholders in the company’s seven-state operating area. Leaving TVA in 2006, Robinson became vice president of the Knoxville public relations firm Moxley Carmichael. In 2012 she moved to law firm Lewis Thomason, as chief marketing officer, retiring in 2017. In Robinson’s early career she served as vice president of global PR firm Burson-Marsteller and Fortune 500 company Case Corporation, a Wisconsin heavy equipment manufacturer. She served on the boards of Knoxville Jazz Orchestra, Knoxville Museum of Art, Knoxville Symphony Society, Arts & Cultural Alliance of Greater Knoxville, WUOT Public Radio, and Mayors’ Ten-Year Plan to End Chronic Homelessness. She was a member of Executive Women’s Association and was active in Leadership Knoxville. Robinson received a B.A. in journalism from the University of New Mexico, followed by a master’s in public administration from The American University, Washington, D.C. She was married for 38 years to Peter Acly. She is survived by her sisters, Nora Robinson, Sarah Robinson, and her husband Nassos Felonis and daughters Claire and Christina Felonis. An open house will be held Saturday, May 20, at Robinson’s home in Sequoyah Hills at 750 Cheowa Circle, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. to celebrate Ellen. The family asks that, in lieu of flowers, donations be made in Ellen’s memory to the America Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA).

Tributes

Ellen Robinson

October 13, 1954 - May 6, 2023