Tillett spent the bulk of his teaching career at
Vanderbilt University in
Nashville,
Tennessee. He was Professor of Systematic Theology and Dean of the Theological Faculty after 1884 and vice chancellor after 1886. During his tenure, he invited
Booker T. Washington to speak at Vanderbilt on the topic, "How can a young Southern man help in the lifting up of the Negro race?". Tillett argued that the United States had been established by God himself to usher in the Kingdom. ==Death==