Students celebrated Donde Plowman's first day on the job as the University of Tennessee's ninth chancellor.
The Rock on UTK's campus was checkered and stamped with a Power T Monday morning with a message from Student Life to the new chancellor: "Welcome to Rocky Top Chancellor Plowman!"
As UT's ninth chancellor, Plowman said priority number one is listening and pulling ideas from students, staff, faculty and alum to start making their collective dreams a reality.
“I don't like the idea of leaders coming in and saying, ‘Here is the vision,’” Plowman said. “I want to help surface what people are thinking about and dreaming about into a strong coherent vision for the university."
Plowman is returning to Knoxville after working as the executive vice chancellor and chief academic officer at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. Before heading to Nebraska, she was on the management faculty at UT from 2007 to 2010 -- serving as the department head for two years.
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.
College of Engineering dean Wayne Davis had been serving as interim chancellor up until Monday after former chancellor Beverly Davenport parted ways with the university in 2018.