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.

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.

"As I've said, naming the president of the University of Tennessee System is one of our most important decisions that we undertake as trustees," Compton said in a statement Friday. "We wanted to make sure we were comprehensive and considerate to all key stakeholders in reaching our decision. Randy Boyd is absolutely the right person to lead the University at this time."

Boyd will serve in the position until June 30, 2025 and like he has during as interim, he will serve without a salary.

He will receive $10,000-per-year to cover state health insurance costs though, according to a press release.Before his retirement, DiPietro was earning more than $565,000 a year in 2018, with opportunities for bonuses and annual performance raises.

"I am thankful to all who have shown confidence and support for me to continue as the 26th president of the University of Tennessee," Boyd said in a statement Friday. "It is an honor and a privilege to serve my alma mater and our great state with this great team. Together, we will make this the greatest decade in the history of the University of Tennessee."

During his time tenure so far, Boyd established the UT Promise Scholarship program, a last-dollar scholarship program that provides free tuition and mentoring for Tennessee residents whose family household income is less than $50,000 a year.

He has also led the creation of the Oak Ridge Institute at UT, which seeks to create a robust talent pipeline in areas of growing national need and he helped reunite. UT Knoxville and the UT Institute of Agriculture, according to a press release.

Earlier this month, Boyd traveled to campuses across the state to make his case for the presidency and gather feedback from chancellors, faculty and students.

During his March 4 visit to the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga (UTC), Boyd promised greatness under his leadership.

"We are determined to make this the single greatest decade of the University of Tennessee," he said. "And to make that true, it's going to take each university."

UTC Chancellor Steve Angle praised the board's decision in February.

"I think the board is being very thoughtful, the amount of feedback and the work that they've done to get input is maybe unprecedented, and I think now the opportunity for him to come to the campuses where people are understanding that this is an opportunity for people to give feedback will allow him to have a real mandate to lead the University of Tennessee in the future," Angle previously told the Time Free Press.

Boyd is the founder of Radio Systems Corp., a Knoxville company that produces invisible fences and other pet products that has more than 700 employees and $400 million in annual revenue.

He took a yearlong leave of absence in 2013 to serve as an adviser to former Gov. Bill Haslam, helping him create education initiatives such as the Tennessee Promise program for free tuition at state community colleges. In December 2014, Haslam named Boyd the next state economic and community development commissioner, a post he filled until January 2017.

Boyd also was an architect of Haslam's Drive to 55 initiative, which is aimed at increasing the number of Tennesseans with a post-secondary degree or certificate to 55 percent by 2025.

Contact Meghan Mangrum at mmangrum@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6592. Follow her on Twitter @memangrum.

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