Sarah Fisher Gardial has been named vice provost for faculty affairs at UT Knoxville, Interim Chancellor Jan Simek announced.
Gardial, currently associate dean for academic programs for the College of Business Administration, will take over for Susan Martin, who will become interim provost on Aug. 1.
Gardial’s duties will include oversight of tenure and promotion processes, faculty recruitment, retention, development and other processes related to academic personnel.
"Sarah’s experience both in the classroom and as an administrator will allow her to hit the ground running in this position," Simek said. "She will be a great liaison with faculty and help us achieve the retention goals we’ve set."
Gardial has been at UT Knoxville since 1986. As associate dean for academic programs, she was in charge undergraduate and full-time MBA programs, as well as diversity and globalization initiatives. She also was a professor in the Department of Marketing and Logistics.
Her primary expertise and research interests are in the areas of customer value and satisfaction, the decision processes of customers and consumers, consumer information processing and buyer-seller relationships.
Martin said, "Sarah is an experienced academic leader who will bring to this position a strong background in academic administration. She will have an immediate positive impact on the ability of the provost’s office to carry out essential functions as well as engage in planning for the future."
Gardial has a bachelor’s degree in business administration and an MBA from the University of Arkansas. She has a doctorate in marketing from the University of Houston.
Gardial has received several teaching awards over the years and has taught in undergraduate, graduate and doctoral programs. She is part of the 2008-09 class of Leadership Knoxville, and she attended the 2006 Bryn Mawr Summer Institute for Women in Higher Education Administration.
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