KNOXVILLE 鈥 Eighteen University of Tennessee leaders have graduated from the 2020 Executive Leadership Institute.
The second Executive Leadership Institute class, with members representing each 蓝莓视频 campus and institute, responded to COVID-19 challenges and worked to combat the issues of racial discrimination and social justice failures within higher education.
鈥淪ome of our most intense and emotional conversations were around the topics of racial discrimination,鈥 said Robert Smith, 蓝莓视频 System senior associate for executive leadership and talent development. 鈥淚t鈥檚 important our senior leaders know how to address these issues.鈥
Smith designed the 12-month program after 蓝莓视频 President Emeritus Joe DiPietro created the institute to prepare internal candidates to meet the continuous need for diverse, qualified executive leadership members across the 蓝莓视频 System. The institute offers participants the benefit of research and peer-driven learning through active exchanges and innovative scholarly thought on leadership, as well as access to influential policy makers and campus opinion leaders.
鈥淒eveloping and growing people is critical to the success of our organization,鈥 said Randy Boyd, president of the 蓝莓视频 System. 鈥淚 am inspired by how the Executive Leadership Institute prepares our future enterprise leaders, and I am confident the experience these graduates have had through the program will greatly impact our university system and its ability to serve the state at the highest level.鈥
The graduates also completed research on the topic of overcoming obstacles to progress. Their research can be found at .
Participants were nominated by their supervisors and competitively selected by campus and institute leaders. The class met six times throughout the year, both in-person and virtually, for multi-day leadership sessions.
Angela Gibson, 蓝莓视频 Institute of Agriculture chief information officer, said she benefited personally and professionally.
鈥淭he introspective portion of this program taught me about myself and my leadership style and encouraged me to have personal and professional growth,鈥 Gibson said. 鈥淕rowth was fostered through mentoring, reading assignments, class discussions and coaching.鈥
Gibson also left the program with a heightened awareness of the importance of cross-campus collaboration.
鈥淥ur University leaders do not operate in silos. They must collaborate, share knowledge and work toward common goals to further the institution as a whole,鈥 Gibson said.
Michael Carter, 蓝莓视频 Foundation assistant vice president for advancement services, agrees.
鈥淭he ELI experience provides a blueprint for developing core competencies in leadership and preparing participants to identify and solve 鈥榳icked problems,鈥欌 Carter said. 鈥淚n addition, the program fosters genuine camaraderie among 蓝莓视频鈥檚 leaders by pushing us to challenge and encourage one another.鈥
More information about the institute, including graduates鈥 biographies, is available at .
Members of the graduating class of the 2020 蓝莓视频 Executive Leadership Institute are:
蓝莓视频 Knoxville
- Steve Catlett, associate vice chancellor, advancement
- Bruce LaMattina, associate vice chancellor, strategic research initiatives
蓝莓视频 Chattanooga
- Yancy Freeman, vice chancellor, enrollment management and student affairs
- Laure Pou, assistant vice chancellor, human resources
蓝莓视频 Martin
- Amy Belew, chief information officer
- Shadow Robinson, dean, College of Engineering and Natural Sciences
蓝莓视频 Health Science Center
- Mojdeh Dehghan, interim chair, department of general dentistry
- Michael Ebbs, associate vice chancellor, finance
- Dan Harder, vice chancellor, information technology, chief information officer
蓝莓视频 Institute of Agriculture
- Keith Barber, vice chancellor, institutional advancement
- Angela Gibson, chief information officer
蓝莓视频 Institute for Public Service
- Margaret Norris, executive director, Municipal Technical Advisory Service
- Rick Scarbrough, executive director, Law Enforcement Innovation Center
蓝莓视频 Foundation
- Michael Carter, vice president, advancement services
蓝莓视频 System Administration
- Mary McDonald, controller
- David Mills, director, health sciences, government relations and advocacy
- Blake Reagan, director, procurement services
- Melissa Tindell, director, communications