UT president names pick for new UTM chancellor

MARTIN, Tenn. — After a months long search, the president of the University of Tennessee System has chosen his recommendation for the next chancellor of UT Martin.

Keith Carver

Dr. Keith Carver has been selected by UT President Joe DiPietro to serve as the next chancellor of UTM. He has served as executive assistant to the president of the UT system for more than five years and is excited for the opportunity.

“I am just so grateful and just so honored,” Carver said. “I just hope for the full endorsement of the board and then to be able to roll up my sleeves and get to work.”

Dr. Carver and his wife are natives of rural West Tennessee, and he once served more than a decade as the dean of UT Martin’s School of Arts and Sciences.

“If I’m fortunate enough to get the board endorsement, certainly it’s a situation where we’re moving back to an institution that we’ve served before and a community and a region that we love,” Carver said.

Although Dr. Carver’s appointment as chancellor has to be approved by the UT Board of Trustees, he says his current job has prepared him to take the reigns.

“And seeing sort of how state policy works, and it’s exciting to think about taking that knowledge and hopefully being able to apply it on a campus level,” Carver said.

If Carver is elected, he would start this spring semester, a move he says he is ready to make.

“Some of the issues that are facing UT Martin certainly would lend itself to someone who wants to come, that wants to roll up their sleeves and wants to stay for a while.”

The UT Board of Trustees will have the final say on Dr. Carver’s appointment at their meeting Oct. 13 and 14 in Knoxville.

If approved by the board, Carver will start the new role Jan. 3. He would replace Tom Rakes who stepped down from the position in April 2015 to return to teaching.