David Steele to join UTC as head of civic engagement

David Steele

David Steele, who has served as vice president for policy and education and worked on Chattanooga 2.0 for the past couple of years at the Chattanooga Area Chamber of Commerce, is joining the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga as director of civic engagement, effective Jan. 1.

Steele succeeds Ann Yoachim, who previously served as UTC’s outreach director since 2015 after previously working as director of community partnerships and as a clinical professor at UTC.

Steele came to Chattanooga to join the Chamber after previously working for the Florida Department of Citrus, where he was deputy executive director and chief marketing officer. Steele previously worked in higher education, beginning as a graduate student teaching assistant at the University of Notre Dame in 1992.

“David’s background in community service and chamber activities, as well as his many years in higher education, make him an excellent new addition to our staff, and we look forward to his joining UTC,” Chancellor Steven R. Angle said in a statement Thursday.

Steele was previously executive director of the Center for International Business Education and Research at Purdue University’s Krannert School of Management from 1996-99 and also has worked at the University of South Florida, USF Polytechnic and Polk State College in Florida.