The College of Communication and Fine Arts (CCFA) was established in 1977. Dr. Richard R. Ranta became the founding Dean of the College, which then consisted of the departments of Art, Journalism, Music, and Speech and Drama.

In 1979, CCFA brought a radio station to the U of M, when WSMS-FM 92, became part of the College's Department of Communication. The station is now known as The Jazz Lover WUMR-FM 92, a 25,000 watt powerhouse broadcasting beyond the Memphis city limits and streaming online.

Also in 1979, CCFA celebrated the memory of Elvis Presley during its first annual Distinguished Achievement Award for the Creative and Performing Arts. The award has honored outstanding Mid-South artists such as Sam Phillips, B.B. King, Cybill Shepherd Bobby Blue Bland, Booker T, Carroll Cloar, The MG’s, and most recently Knox Phillips.

In 1979, The Newspaper Research Journal (NRJ), brainchild of professor Gerald Stone was established at the University of Memphis, with Stone as its editor until 1988. In 2000 faculty of the Department of Journalism took over the Journal's editorship and brought it back to Memphis.

The Daily Helmsman, the University's student newspaper settled in the College’s Department of Journalism in 1980. The paper started as Tiger Rag in 1931, when the University of Memphis was known as West Tennessee State Teachers College. Recently, The Daily Helmsman broke a U of M record by winning in seven out of 10 categories at the Southeast Journalism Conference (SEJC).

In 1995 Helen and Jabie Hardin endowed the Hardin Chair of Economics/Managerial Journalism, which is awarded to a distinguished journalism scholar or practitioner. Bob Levey, a 37-year veteran of The Washington Post, currently occupies the Hardin Chair of Excellence.

In 1997, the Department of Journalism together with Memphis City Schools and The Commercial Appeal started the The Teen Appeal, the first citywide high school newspaper. Today, many of The Teen Appeal writers study journalism on a full scholarship and often become outstanding journalists.

In an effort to preserve Memphis' musical heritage, Mississippi River Music Publishing Company, Music River Publishing Company, and High Water Recording Company were established in our College in the early 1980s. In 2000 the Department of Music, which was established in 1947 was transformed into a School of Music, thanks to an endowment from the Scheidt family.In honor of its patron, the school was named Rudi E. Scheidt School of Music.

In 1981, the Department of Art was accredited by the National Association of Schools of Art and Design. The Department has been further distinguished among state institutions by being the home of both a Chair of Excellence and a Center of Excellence.

The Dorothy K. Hohenberg Chair of Excellence in Art History allows us to host a distinguished visiting scholar every year. The Institute of Egyptian Art and Archaeology (IEAA) is one of the very few centers in the U.S. supporting the study of ancient Egypt with a library, museum collection, and a distinguished faculty.

Also in 1981 the Art Museum of the University of Memphis (AMUM), then known as University Gallery, opened. AMUM houses the Institute of Egyptian Art and Archaeology’s permanent collection and the Museum’s collection of Works on Paper. Recently, the Andy Warhol Foundation's Photographic Legacy Program selected AMUM as one of 183 college and university art museums to receive a collection of original Andy Warhol photographs. Through a generous donation from Robert and Martha Fogelman, AMUM’s permanent collection now also includes African art and artifacts.

In 1984, CCFA was honored by a visit from Jehan Sadat, wife of the late Egyptian President Anwar Sadat. Mrs. Sadat came to celebrate the opening of CCFA’s Institute of Egyptian Art and Archaeology (IEAA). A year later, IEAA became a Tennessee Center of Excellence, one of five such Centers at the University of Memphis. In 2005, the Egyptian Supreme Council of Antiquities (SCA) announced that an expedition sponsored by the IEAA had discovered a new chamber in the Valley of the Kings, dating to the 18th Dynasty.

In 1995 the Department of Theatre and Communication Arts separated into the Departments of Theatre & Dance and Communication. A chance for both departments to grow. 

The Department of Theatre and Dance has since then added professional staff positions, forged strong relationships with local theatres, advanced its technical program with digital sound and lighting equipment and computer numerical control (CNC). The Department also revived its European theatre school exchange program, most recently sending students to Accademia dell’Arte in Tuscany, Italy.

In 1996 the Department of Communication added a Ph.D. program in Communication to its nationally recognized master's degree. Its doctoral degree's rhetorical studies program is now also ranked among the best. The department’s film and video production faculty became noticed for award winning work, including Peabody, Cine Golden Eagle, and Emmy awards.

In 2000, the BFA in architecture degree was initiated in the College of Communication and Fine Arts, when the architecture program, then located in the College of Engineering, joined CCFA as part of the Department of Art. In 2008, the Department of Architecture, which includes the architecture and interior design programs, was established and the graduate level professional Master of Architecture (M.Arch) degree was initiated.

In November 2003, the FedEx Institute of Technology, a state-of-the-art research and innovation support facility opened on the U of M campus. CCFA is represented at the Institute with the Center for Multimedia Arts (CMA), an interdisciplinary and community-engaged research, education, and business resource of our College. Two more research centers were created and based in the College during the same time: The Center for Sustainable Design (CSD), and the Center for the Study of Rhetoric and Applied Communication (CSRAC). All three Centers are engaged in cutting edge research that addresses real world challenges.