I am pleased to announce two searches now underway for key members of the chancellor’s cabinet—vice chancellor for research and vice chancellor for communications.
An internal search for the vice chancellor for research has begun, with a goal of having a new leader in place by late October. This member of our senior leadership team serves as the chief research officer of the university and works to promote research and economic development activities, particularly in collaboration with Oak Ridge National Laboratory through UT–Battelle and with other research and development institutions in the state and region.
Stacey Patterson, vice president for research at the UT System, will chair the search. Members of the search committee include:
Christine Boake, associate dean for research and facilities, College of Arts and Sciences
Michelle Buchanan, deputy for science and technology, Oak Ridge National Laboratory
Mark Dean, John Fisher Distinguished Professor, Tickle College of Engineering
Terry Hazen, Governor’s Chair for Environmental Biotechnology
Diane Kelly, director of the School of Information Sciences, College of Communication and Information
Jean Mercer, assistant vice chancellor and director, Office of Sponsored Projects, Office of Research and Engagement
Marisa Moazen, executive director, undergraduate research, Office of Research and Engagement
Jeff Pappas, director of the School of Music, College of Arts and Sciences
Hollie Raynor, interim assistant dean for research, College of Education, Health, and Human Sciences
Tami Wyatt, associate dean of research and Torchbearer Professor, College of Nursing
Robert Nobles has been serving as interim vice chancellor for research since August 1 and will continue to serve until the position is filled.
In addition, a national search is underway for our next vice chancellor for communications.
This position is the university’s chief communications and marketing officer and advises the chancellor and other senior leaders on communications-related matters. The position oversees the Office of Communications and Marketing and WUOT-FM 91.9, the university’s public radio station.
Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs Vincent Carilli has been serving in this role unofficially since May and will continue to do so until the position is filled.
Mike Wirth, dean of the College of Communication and Information, is chairing the search. Committee members include:
Lola Alapo, public information officer for the UT Police Department
Chip Bryant, vice chancellor for advancement
Tiffany Carpenter, associate vice president for communications and marketing for the UT System
Fabrizio D’Aloisio, assistant vice provost for enrollment management and director of undergraduate admissions
Tyra Haag, director of media and internal relations in the Office of Communications and Marketing
Sadie Hutson, assistant dean for graduate programs in the College of Nursing
Haley Paige, vice president of the Student Government Association
Donna Thomas, senior associate athletics director and chief of staff for the Athletics Department
The committee’s review of candidate materials for the vice chancellor for communications will begin in the coming weeks with the intent to bring candidates to campus in late September or early October for public forums.
I encourage you to refer or nominate qualified candidates for both positions to Brooke Swart, executive recruiter in UT Human Resources, 865-974-5942 or bswart@utk.edu.
I am pleased to announce that Robert Nobles has agreed to serve as interim vice chancellor for research beginning August 1.
An internal search for the next vice chancellor will begin in the coming weeks, with a goal of having a new leader in place by November. As I announced last week, Victor McCrary has decided to leave the university for family reasons effective July 31. Stacey Patterson, vice president for research at the UT System, will chair the search for his replacement.
In the meantime, I am confident in Robert’s ability to lead the Office of Research and Engagement. I know he will keep our university moving forward following a record year for research in fiscal year 2017, which saw $203 million in total research expenditures including $117 million in federal research expenditures. Robert has been associate vice chancellor for research since 2013 and spent seven months as interim vice chancellor for research last year.
In his earlier service as interim, Robert instituted several initiatives that increased faculty engagement in research and creative activities, including the launch of a new faculty orientation in the fall and an investment of nearly $1 million in internal seed funding. These measures resulted in significant increases in the number of proposals submitted and awards granted during fiscal year 2018.
Robert has maintained an active research program throughout his career. He has a bachelor’s degree in molecular biology and a master’s in public health from Florida A&M University and a doctorate in public health from the University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston.
Information about the search, including the appointment of the search committee members and a call for applications, will be posted at hr.utk.edu in the coming days.
Vice Chancellor for Research Victor McCrary has informed his team that he has made the difficult decision to return to the Maryland/DC area for family and other personal obligations.
His last day will be July 31.
I’d like to thank Dr. McCrary for his time and effort in helping to move our research efforts forward. He has worked with a dedicated team and key stakeholders important to our university’s success.
His achievements include conducting a strategy summit that led to a new vision and mission for the Office of Research and Engagement as well as a plan to evaluate the office’s centers and institutes; implementation of a portfolio management framework to increase agency research funding with the National Institutes of Health, the Department of Defense, the Department of Energy, and the National Science Foundation; an in-progress agreement between UT and Auburn University to create a new research institute in aerospace materials, and manufacturing; and positioning UT to be the host of the SEC Chief Research Officers meeting in the upcoming fall semester.
Dr. McCrary and I will work closely together during his last two weeks to ensure a smooth transition.
I intend to appoint someone to serve in the interim role until a search can be completed. I will keep the campus informed during this process.
Please join me for a reception honoring John Zomchick’s service as interim provost and senior vice chancellor and recognizing the achievements of our academic community.
Monday, June 11
4–6 p.m.
Hodges Library Galleria First Floor
It is my honor to introduce our 2018 class of Chancellor’s Professors. These outstanding teachers, researchers, and servant leaders have distinguished records of research or creative achievement and are representative of the highest standards in teaching and exemplary university service.
Read more about Suzie Allard, Louis Gross, J. Wesley Hines, Susan Riechert, Jay Rubenstein, and Soren Sorensen at the Chancellor’s Professors website.
This is an important week on our campus as we gather to honor our students and their accomplishments. I know that for many of you, this is also a difficult time. A change in leadership is never easy. I want you to know how committed I am to supporting you and providing stability to our university through this transition. I also want to thank Dr. Davenport for her service to the University of Tennessee.
UT Knoxville is a dynamic and innovative institution. Our research is growing, our campus is expanding, and our students are being nationally recognized. We have made great strides in recent years, and I look forward to building on this momentum as we continue to propel our university forward.
Many of you know I first arrived on this campus more than four decades ago as a student myself. Now, 47 years later, I am humbled and honored to serve an institution that means so much to me. If I can be of service to you in any way, please do not hesitate to reach out.
We are resilient and together we will continue to advance the University of Tennessee.
Every time I speak to groups about what is happening on our campus, I take along a 3D-printed prosthetic hand with an orange Power T on the back. I take it to meetings with donors, alumni, and community leaders. It sits on my desk and is often in the backseat of my car. If you watch the video below, then you’ll know why it has come to represent all that is so good about the University of Tennessee. You can’t help being impressed with Riley Toll, a first-year engineering student who worked with two upperclassmen to design and create her own prosthetic.
When I visited the Tickle College of Engineering at the beginning of the semester, I met Riley and her classmates in the Maker’s Club, where they showed off their work and gifted me an early prototype. It has become the ideal visual aid when I tell stories of our students’ ingenuity, talent, and persistence.
It’s the perfect example of what we do here at UT. We create. We innovate. We solve problems. Faculty, students, and staff use their skills, talents, education, and research to make things better—to help make their communities better, the state better, and the world better.
Record-Setting Year
By now you may know that we have had a record 18 students offered Fulbright Scholar awards, doubling last year’s record of nine recipients. Our students will take Rocky Top with them as they study wastewater purification in Argentina, insulin release in the Czech Republic, and ancient and contemporary architecture in Indonesia. These awards speak to our investment and commitment to education—to excellence and student success.
It’s no surprise that we are making history with the number of students receiving these prestigious awards because more and more of them are participating in research right here in Knoxville. Our total number of undergraduates participating in research grew by 50 percent last year, for a total of 2,205. Earlier this month, we had 850 students participate in EURēCA, our undergraduate research symposium—up by more than a third from last year.
Our faculty have also been busy at work receiving worldwide recognition for their research. Dr. Richard Jantz has received global acclaim for cracking one of history’s most captivating mysteries: the fate of Amelia Earhart. We also announced that UT will be a partner on a $9.8 million hypersonics development project with the US Air Force Research Laboratory and two other universities to help develop vehicles that travel at speeds greater than five times the speed of sound. One of our Governor’s Chairs, Suresh Babu, was chosen by the US Navy to lead a team that includes Virginia Tech, Ohio State, Iowa State, Colorado School of Mines, and the University of California, Santa Barbara, to conduct research in advanced manufacturing.
For the first time ever, our total research expenditures exceeded $200 million on the Knoxville campus. This total represents an 11 percent growth over last year, compared to a 4.8 percent average national growth. These are dollars that faculty have competitively won to support their research and the work of their student research partners.
Growing Campus
These accomplishments and milestones speak to the progress we’re making as a university. We are not complacent. We are continuing to invest in our students, our faculty, and our campus. This fall, we are preparing to open a new academic building, the Ken and Blaire Mossman Building, and we will break ground on a new $129 million engineering building later in the year. This year the stunning Strong Hall came to life again, and students have been busy in the state-of-the-art laboratories which boast views of the Great Smoky Mountains out of the windows on every side. And with fingers very crossed, we are looking forward to the long-awaited opening of the spectacular new $180 million Student Union. Drive along Volunteer Boulevard and you will see the landscaping being put into place right now. As our campus grows, so, too, will our faculty and our student body.
I have commissioned, and we have begun implementing, an ambitious five-year plan to grow undergraduate enrollment by 15 percent. We hit our first-year goal last August when we welcomed an historic new class of more than 4,897 students. We’re on track to make history again as we expect, for the first time ever, to welcome more than 5,200 new students to Rocky Top this fall. Not only will you see more traditional first-year students, you’ll also see more transfer students. We expanded our Bridge Program with Pellissippi State by 19 percent last year and plan to have another record cohort this fall. We not only want to make a world-class education available to more students, but we want to make sure they succeed once they get here. We’ve been investing in advisors and support programs for students, and it’s paying off. This year, more students returned from fall to spring semester than ever before—a record-setting 95.6 percent! This persistence rate is a reflection on the entire campus community because we share this responsibility. All of our students, faculty, and staff must feel welcomed, included, supported, and able to thrive.
Scholarships play a central role in our ambitious goals to grow our student body by 15 percent—double the 7 percent growth we have experienced in the last 10 years. We are competing with some of the country’s best schools for the top students, and we need to do more for both merit and need-based awards. This year, we expect to award some $50 million in institutional scholarships in addition to the $30 million in HOPE scholarships awarded by the state. We’ve invested an additional $2.5 million in two scholarship programs aimed at helping our most vulnerable high school students, for a total of $16.3 million for the Tennessee Pride and Tennessee Project high schools. Our alumni chapters across the country awarded another $54,900 in scholarships in 2017, more than three times the amount they awarded just two years ago. We also have opened our new Veterans Resource Center and eliminated out-of-state tuition for our veterans, whom we hope to welcome more of in the fall.
We are extremely grateful to have such generous donors at our university, and during the 2017 calendar year, we raised $165 million. It was the third-largest fundraising year on record and a $20 million increase over 2016. As part of this effort, I created the Chancellor’s Transformational Fund, and with the $1.2 million given to date, I have been able to support microgrants for students who fall behind and are at-risk for leaving school, provide scholarships to bridge the gap for high-ability students, and give funding to Smokey’s Closet, which offers professional clothes to students who can’t afford interview attire.
This fund has also supported the Office of National Scholarships and Fellowships to provide grants to students to study or conduct research abroad. We’ve already seen the fruits of investing in these grants with this year’s Fulbright class. I have also invested in funds to support unpaid internships and co-ops through our Center for Career Development, and we’re working to expand Smokey’s Pantry for those students who might need a little extra to eat as they plug through the semester. We’re very grateful that so many students have donated meal card swipes for others who run out of funds or need a helping hand. I am so very proud that Vols help Vols!
Truly, it has been an incredible year. We all know there have been challenges, such as an unwelcomed racial separatist group and our discussions about the First Amendment and the role of our iconic Rock, where we left our handprints for justice.
Leading the Way
We are beyond proud of Coach Rick Barnes and our men’s basketball team for capturing a share of the SEC season championship. Tennis, softball, rowing, diving, and so many more sports are competing for national records. We are so pleased to welcome a new football and volleyball coach, and we’re exceedingly proud of how hard all of our student–athletes compete and win inside and outside of the classroom.
We are very grateful to the General Assembly for the supportive budget that helps build our beautiful buildings and facilities, and ensures that our workers have a living wage and our productive faculty are competitively compensated.
We honored nine new unbelievably talented Torchbearers and handed out 66 awards and 289 academic citations to deserving graduating seniors, talented graduate students, and dedicated faculty. We inducted over a hundred students into Phi Beta Kappa, the nation’s oldest and most prestigious honorary society. Our engineers, nurses, social workers, musicians, global business scholars, entrepreneurs, budding lawyers, nutritionists, hospitality and tourism professionals, educators, inventors, artists, and more come through these streets and avenues, buildings and hallways, and their triumphs trump all of the challenges we have met. They are smart, they are prepared, they are ready to change the world, and as I always say, they will lead us to a better, more prosperous, just, and kind tomorrow.
So along with the 3D-printed hand, I take these stories of Tennessee everywhere I go. It has become my mission to make sure that across this state and this country, people know of the great minds and talents and research and exploration we have here at Rocky Top. I hope you’ll take these next few days of spring semester to soak in the companionship you have found here and the common bonds of learning and discovery that draw us together.
As always, I hope you all know how proud I am of the work you are doing and how proud I am to work alongside you to make this place of learning something special you will take with you for the rest of your life.
I’m very pleased to tell you that I’ve named David Manderscheid, currently executive dean of the College of Arts and Sciences and vice provost for arts and sciences at the Ohio State University, our new provost and senior vice chancellor.
He will start July 1.
Coming from Ohio State, where he provided leadership for its largest college, David understands our land-grant mission and the breadth and scope of a large nationally ranked public institution. During his career, he’s built a reputation for success in forging interdisciplinary partnerships. As the lead dean in OSU’s initiative on translational data analytics, he’ll provide great leadership in our initial cluster hiring with Oak Ridge National Laboratory in this area. His success in advancing e-learning, education abroad, and service-learning fits perfectly with our growth goals and Volunteer traditions at UT.
David is an internationally recognized mathematician and will hold the rank of professor in our Department of Mathematics. He received his PhD in mathematics from Yale University and his bachelor’s degree in mathematics from Michigan State University. He has held appointments at the Institute for Advanced Study at Princeton; the Mathematical Sciences Research Institute in Berkeley, California; and the University of Paris.
His work in representation theory with applications to number theory has been widely published. He has received support from the National Science Foundation, the National Security Agency, and the US Department of Education in addition to numerous teaching awards.
David is a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science and an inaugural fellow of the American Mathematical Society. He serves as past president of the Council of Colleges of Arts and Sciences—the largest group of arts and sciences deans in the country—and chairs the Big Ten Academic Alliance Liberal Arts and Sciences Deans’ Group.
Before joining Ohio State, David was dean of the College of Arts and Sciences at the University of Nebraska–Lincoln from 2007 to 2013. He served for 20 years on the faculty of the University of Iowa, where he rose through the ranks to become chair of the Department of Mathematics.
David’s wife, Susan Lawrence, will be joining our Department of History as a professor. She is an expert in the history of medicine, with specific research interests in privacy and research ethics as well as the history of human dissection in medical education.
As we move toward this transition, I want to offer my heartfelt thanks to John Zomchick, who has been our interim provost and senior vice chancellor since August 2016 and will continue serving in the post until David arrives. He’s been an invaluable part of my leadership team since I arrived here, and he’ll continue to have a senior advisory role moving forward.
I also want to thank Victoria Niederhauser, dean of the College of Nursing, who chaired the search committee, along with her committee members, for a job well done.
Please join me at a special reception welcoming Victor McCrary, Vice Chancellor for Research, on Wednesday, April 4 from 4 to 5:30 PM in the Strong Hall Atrium.
