The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga has announced Jerold “Jerry” Hale as the next provost and senior vice chancellor for academic affairs.
Hale is currently dean of the School of Humanities and Social Sciences at the College of Charleston, a position he’s held since 2013.
Jerold “Jerry” HaleHale succeeds UTC Interim Provost and Senior Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs George Hynd, who plans to retire in July. Hale’s tenure at UTC will begin on June 1.
“Dr. Hale is exceptionally well-qualified to serve as UTC’s chief academic officer, with a long and distinguished record of both establishing and leading successful initiatives to increase retention and graduation rates and to build diversity, equity and inclusion,” said UTC Chancellor Steve Angle in a statement. “We look forward to welcoming him and his wife, Janet, to the university and to his joining the university’s leadership team in June.”
Prior to his appointment at the College of Charleston in 2013, Hale was dean of the College of Arts, Sciences and Letters at the University of Michigan-Dearborn since 2010. From 1991 until 2010, Hale was a faculty member of the Department of Speech Communication at the University of Georgia and was department head from 2000 to 2008, according to a press release.
He has a bachelor’s degree in political science from the University of California, Los Angeles, and master’s and doctoral degrees in communication from Michigan State University.
At the College of Charleston, Hale implemented diversity, equity and inclusion training for his academic department chairs and their assistants that was adopted campus-wide, according to a press release.
In addition to providing leadership for traditional programs in the liberal arts and humanities at Charleston, Hale oversaw interdisciplinary programs in environmental studies, child life, public administration, urban studies and women’s and gender studies.
“UTC’s commitment to community engagement is clear and one that I share,” Hale said in a statement. “Because I really believe a metropolitan university ought to be to a metropolitan area what land-grants were established to be to rural areas. The entire community is seen as a part of the learning environment at UTC, and with that emphasis and the focus on student success, I believe UTC’s priorities and mine mesh well.”
Hale said that some of his priorities include demonstrating the values of equity, diversity and inclusion – something that UTC and Chattanooga as a whole as been working towards, especially in regards to education.
Earlier in his career, Hale was an assistant professor of speech at the University of Hawaii-Mnoa from 1983 to 1984. From there, he moved to Miami University (Ohio) and served as assistant/associate professor of communication from 1984 to 1991.
A native of Santa Maria, California, Jerry and Janet Hale are the parents of three adult children, Andrew, William and Theresa.
Contact staff writer Meghan Mangrum at mmangrum@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6592. Follow her on Twitter @memangrum.