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Randy Boyd appointed as President of University of Tennessee System for five-year term

Staff photo by Tim Barber/ Inside the University Center Auditorium at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, Randy Boyd, former Tennessee gubernatorial candidate, now UT Interim President, speaks at his first of many community town hall meetings to be held at the UT Systems campuses, Mar. 4, 2020.
Staff photo by Tim Barber/ Inside the University Center Auditorium at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, Randy Boyd, former Tennessee gubernatorial candidate, now UT Interim President, speaks at his first of many community town hall meetings to be held at the UT Systems campuses, Mar. 4, 2020. Staff photo by Tim Barber/ Inside the University Center Auditorium at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, Randy Boyd, former Tennessee gubernatorial candidate, now UT Interim President, speaks at his first of many community town hall meetings to be held at the UT Systems campuses, Mar. 4, 2020.

By Meghan Mangrum 4 min read

UT President Randy Boyd is “interim” no more.

The University of Tennessee Board of Trustees selected Boyd to serve as president of the state’s flagship university system with a unanimous vote Friday afternoon, just six weeks after the board decided to begin the process of permanently appointing him.

Boyd was appointed to the interim role in September 2018, after former President Joe DiPietro announced his retirement.

Boyd, a Knoxville businessman and former gubernatorial candidate, officially took over as leader of the system in November 2018, agreeing to a 24-month term.

After giving Boyd a glowing annual performance evaluation at the board’s annual winter meeting in February in Chattanooga, Board Chairman John Compton suggested the board not conduct a search for a new candidate but instead explore appointing Boyd to a five-year term starting in November.