As chairman of the Chancellor Search Committee, I was pleased to announce last week that we have invited five highly qualified finalists to campus.
During the finalists’ visits, you will have a chance to meet each candidate, ask them questions and provide the search committee with your feedback.
Here are the finalists:
- Jimmy G. Cheek, senior vice president for agriculture, University of Florida
- Jennie Hunter-Cevera, president, University of Maryland Biotechnology Institute
- Howard Johnson, former provost/vice president and now a math professor, University of North Texas
- Ellen Wartella, vice chancellor/provost, University of California, Riverside
- David Young, senior vice president, Arizona State University
The search committee’s mission is to recommend to UT President John Petersen a list of proven leaders who will aggressively promote continued development of UT Knoxville’s academic programs, research productivity and national reputation of excellence, built upon a commitment to access and diversity.
With the help of a professional search firm, we considered 37 candidates. We narrowed the list to 12 candidates and interviewed them in early August. After those interviews, we selected these five very capable leaders to bring to campus.
Now we need your feedback.
Starting on Sept. 8, each finalist will visit campus for two days. To provide ample opportunity for faculty, staff, students and the Knoxville community to get to know the candidates, each finalist will participate in two public forums, each an hour long. The forums will be Web cast live and archived on the Chancellor search Web site, http://chancellor.utk.edu/search/.
During these forums, the candidates will make brief statements and then field questions from the audience. Audience members, those viewing the Web cast and all members of the campus community will be invited to submit feedback about the candidates.
Also during these visits, the finalists will meet with Petersen, Executive Vice President David Millhorn, Interim UT Knoxville Chancellor Jan Simek, the vice chancellors and senior staff, academic deans, the Faculty Senate Executive Committee, Student Government Association representatives and a group of students from the honors programs, representatives of the chancellor’s diversity commissions, and Oak Ridge National Laboratory directors.
You can learn more about the candidates at http://chancellor.utk.edu/search/. I encourage you to attend the forums and share your thoughts about each candidate.
Please take advantage of this opportunity to help select the leadership that will guide UT Knoxville into the future.
Forum Schedule
David Young:
- 3 p.m., Sept. 8, Hodges Library Auditorium
- 2:30 p.m., Sept. 9, UC Auditorium
Jennie Hunter-Cevera:
- 4 p.m., Sept. 9, UC Auditorium
- 3:15 p.m. Sept. 10, UC Auditorium
Ellen Wartella:
- 2 p.m., Sept. 15, UC Auditorium
- 3:15 p.m., Sept. 16, Black Cultural Center multi-purpose room
Howard Johnson:
- 2 p.m., Sept. 18, UC Auditorium
- 3:30 p.m., Sept. 19, Hodges Library Auditorium
Jimmy Cheek:
- 3:45 p.m., Sept. 24, Hodges Library Auditorium
- 3:30 p.m., Sept. 25, UC Auditorium