NASHVILLE -- The Tennessee Board of Regents today appointed David Gregory acting chancellor for the State University and Community College System of Tennessee at the recommendation of Gov. Bill Haslam, the board's chairman.
Gregory will replace current Chancellor John Morgan, who announced earlier this month he was quitting over Republican Haslam's plan to split up the TBR and spin off six four-year universities into self-governing boards.
Morgan said Haslam's plan would prove unworkable and he wanted no part of it. Two-year colleges and technical institutes would remain under the TBR banner under Haslam's plan, which the governor says will allow TBR officials to focus on those institutions which are accelerating his drive to increase the number of Tennesseans with post-high school certificates or degrees to 55 percent by 2025.
David Gregory, vice chancellor of the Tennessee Board of Regents, asks a question during a Wednesday, Oct. 26, 2011 meeting of the Senate Lottery Stabilization Task Force in Nashville, Tenn. The panel is looking for ways to stem losses in the reserves of the program that funds the state's lottery scholarships. (AP Photo/Erik Schelzig)Gregory is currently serving as TBR's vice chancellor for Administration and Facilities Development. He too previously announced his plan to retire at the end of January, but agreed to delay his departure to assume the post temporarily beginning Feb. 1 as TBR conducts a search to replace Morgan.
"David Gregory is known by and respected by many for his years of service to the Tennessee Board of Regents and in many roles in state government," Haslam said in a TBR news release. "As a different governing structure around TBR and its institutions is being considered, I think it is important to have someone who is known by everyone in the system and knows state government very well."
Haslam said Gregory "will be a strong and steady hand as acting chancellor as we conduct the chancellor search. He has the character, the insight and the commitment to the system and will do an outstanding job."
As vice chancellor, Gregory oversees government relations, institutional advancement and facilities development. In that role he speaks for the interests of TBR and its institutions as the key legislative liaison to the Tennessee General Assembly and represents the system to the executive branch of state government.
As acting chancellor, Gregory will guide the TBR system in accordance with the board's direction and manage the system office in Nashville until the search process is completed and new chancellor is selected.
"Higher education in Tennessee has an undeniable momentum today, thanks to the Governor's Drive to 55 initiative, Tennessee Promise, the TBR's completion efforts, and similar initiatives happening at every one of our public colleges and universities," Gregory said in the news release.