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Sunday, November 15, 2026Nov 15

UT selects first woman chancellor for Knoxville campus

Students walk across campus at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville in this 2005 file photo.
Students walk across campus at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville in this 2005 file photo.

KNOXVILLE – University of Cincinnati Interim President Beverly Davenport has been selected as the University of Tennessee’s next chancellor of its Knoxville campus.

If the Board of Trustees approves Davenport’s selection, she would become the school’s first female chancellor.

University of Tennessee President Joe DiPietro announced Monday that he had selected Davenport. DiPietro will recommend Davenport at a special Board of Trustees meeting Dec. 15 in Nashville.

Davenport would take over March 1 pending Board of Trustees approval.

She would replace Jimmy Cheek, who announced in June he was stepping down to return to teaching. Cheek has been Tennessee’s chancellor since 2009.