KNOXVILLE, TN — Following an extensive national search, the University of Tennessee System has selected Donde Plowman as the ninth chancellor of the University of Tennessee, Knoxville.
Plowman, currently executive vice chancellor and chief academic officer at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, will be recommended to the Board of Trustees during a special meeting on Friday, May 3
“After meeting with Dr. Plowman, I could not be more thrilled with the opportunity to present her candidacy as chancellor of the University of Tennessee, Knoxville to the full board of Trustees next week,” Compton said. “She brings a distinguished track record of professional success, has a contagious energy to challenge higher achievement and brings the servant leadership of the Volunteer spirit that we all desire.”
Plowman served previously on the UT Knoxville faculty and led the management department in the Haslam College of Business.
Reporting to the president, the chancellor is responsible for the administration and management of the campus and aggressively promotes continued development of its academic programs, research productivity and national reputation of excellence, built upon a commitment to access, diversity and student success.
Prior to coming to Nebraska, Plowman was on the management faculty at UT Knoxville from 2007 to 2010, serving as department head of the department of management for two years. She began her academic career at the University of Texas at San Antonio as an assistant professor of management and advanced to the position of professor and associate dean for graduate studies and research, where she was responsible for the creation of the doctorate degree in business.
Plowman received her undergraduate degree with a major in English from Southern Methodist University in Dallas, Texas. She holds a master’s in higher education administration from the University of North Texas. She received her doctorate in strategic management from the University of Texas at Austin.
In 2015, Plowman received the “Inspire Woman of the Year Award,” given by the Lincoln Journal Star. She has twice been named one of the 30 Most Influential Women in Lincoln and in 2016 received the Noddle Distinguished Development Service Award from the Nebraska University Board of Trustees in recognition of her fundraising efforts as dean of the College of Business.
Plowman is married to Dennis Duchon, a professor of management and department chair at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. She has two sons Kevin Ashmos and Chijioke Onuoha, who reside in Austin, Texas.
