KNOXVILLE — University of Tennessee trustees in an 11-10 vote Friday picked Joe DiPietro, the chancellor of the UT Institute of Agriculture, to be the UT system’s president.
The board selected DiPietro, 59, over West Virginia Higher Education Policy Commission Chancellor Brian Noland, 43.
“I come to you sort of floating on air, I admit,” DiPietro said at a crowded news conference hours later. “But I am confident I can do this job. With a great land-grant university like Tennessee, it ties right back to every county, every city.”
The UT system includes campuses in Knoxville, Chattanooga and Martin; the Health Science Center in Memphis; state Institutes of Agriculture and Public Service; and the Space Institute in Tullahoma.
Jim Murphy, vice chairman of the board, said after a search panel unanimously nominated both of the finalists Wednesday that he expected the vote to be close. Murphy said he supported DiPietro because of his success at multiple land-grant institutions and his ability to lead his staff.
DiPietro was the dean of the College of Veterinary Medicine at the University of Florida from 1997 to 2006 and a former administrator at the University of Illinois, Urbana.
Karl Schledwitz, a trustee from Shelby County, said he voted for Noland, a former Tennessee Higher Education Commission associate director.
“We need to come out of this a united board even though we have a divided vote,” Schledwitz said. “We have sweated over this decision.”
The UT system’s 24th president succeeds John Petersen, who abruptly resigned last year. UT Knoxville anthropology professor Jan Simek has worked as interim president. A university statement Friday said no decision had been made about a timetable for DiPietro to take office.
DiPietro’s four-year contract pays an annual base salary of $420,000, with a housing allowance of $20,000 and an expense account of $12,000. It is unknown when he will assume his presidential duties.
DiPietro said his experience as a faculty member will help him in those working relationships. He said he might hold office hours for students.
Douglas Horne, a trustee from Knox County, said many donors he talked to favored DiPietro.
Horne also predicted that DiPietro would be able to lead the system through any state reorganization of higher education.
DiPietro said he will work to achieve the goal of Tennessee becoming a Top-25 university.
“The Oak Ridge National Laboratory, we need to take advantage of that and we need to work with the (University of Tennessee) Medical Center,” DiPietro said.
The presidential search started in February and a consulting firm received 71 applications.
Gov. Phil Bredesen, the trustee chairman, is ending his final term and did not participate in the choice.
DiPietro, who is married and has three children and six grandchildren, is the first president chosen from within the university since Joe Johnson in 1991.
UT’s last three presidents — Petersen, John Shumaker and J. Wade Gilley — came from outside universities.
Petersen resigned in February 2009 after disagreements with board members over donors and other issues.
Bredesen dismissed Shumaker in 2003 over complaints of lavish spending and misuse of the university airplane.