On Leadership: Plowman Interviews Dee and Jimmy Haslam on Giving Back
UT Alumni Dee and Jimmy Haslam joined Chancellor Plowman for her latest On Leadership interview to discuss engaged community leadership and how to create a meaningful impact. The conversation followed a historic $130 million investment from Dee and Jimmy to advance student success, student scholarships, and faculty recruitment for the Haslam College of Business and greater university. UT also recently announced Dee and Jimmy’s roles as co-chairs of the new It Takes A Volunteer campaign.
Reflecting on the experiences that shaped them, the Haslams emphasized core leadership traits needed to be successful like integrity and curiosity. They also stressed the importance of giving back.
“Our parents, when we were younger, said try to leave things better than you found them,” Jimmy said. “If we can do small things with either our financial (support) or our time, if we can give back to help make the university better, that will make Knoxville, East Tennessee and the state of Tennessee a better place to live and work.”
Both Knoxville natives, Dee and Jimmy Haslam each built successful careers in executive leadership, before joining forces as managing partners for the Haslam Sports Group, which includes ownership of the Cleveland Browns and a portfolio of other professional sports teams.
Over the course of their careers, they have generously supported multiple areas of the university and currently serve as the executive committee chairs for UT’s upcoming fundraising campaign. For the Haslams, investing their time in pursuit of meaningful change is the purest form of generosity. They view leadership and philanthropy as interconnected—grounded in relationships and a commitment to improving lives.
“One of the things in leadership is that you have to be in relationships with people to be a good leader. And I think part of giving back is that you care about people; you want to make the world a better place,” said Dee. “So, I think it all, it definitely goes together.”
Watch the full interview at the link below.