Four University of Tennessee Health Science Center leaders are among the newest graduates of the UT System’s Executive Leadership Institute. There are a total of 18 graduates in the class, the program’s second. The class had representation from each UT campus and institute.
This year’s UTHSC graduates included:
- Mojdeh Dehghan, interim chair, Department of General Dentistry, College of Dentistry
- Michael Ebbs, associate vice chancellor, Office of Finance
- Dan Harder, vice chancellor, chief information officer, Information Technology Services
- David Mills, director, Government Relations and Advocacy
Participants responded to COVID-19 challenges and worked to combat the issues of racial discrimination and social justice failures within higher education.
“Some of our most intense and emotional conversations were around the topics of racial discrimination,” said Robert Smith, UT System senior associate for executive leadership and talent development. “It’s important our senior leaders know how to address these issues.”
Smith designed the 12-month program after UT President Emeritus Joe DiPietro created the institute to prepare internal candidates to meet the continuous need for diverse, qualified executive leadership across the UT System. The institute offers participants the benefit of research and peer-driven learning through active exchanges and innovative scholarly thought on leadership, as well as access to influential policy makers and campus opinion leaders.
“Developing and growing people is critical to the success of our organization,” said Randy Boyd, president of the UT System. “I am inspired by how the Executive Leadership Institute prepares our future enterprise leaders, and I am confident the experience these graduates have had through the program will greatly impact our university system and its ability to serve the state at the highest level.”
The graduates also completed research on the topic of overcoming obstacles to progress. To learn more about the 2020 UT Executive Leadership Institute and other graduates, visit https://president.tennessee.edu/executive-leadership-institute/.
Catherine Womack, MD, associate dean of Student Affairs in the UTHSC College of Medicine, graduated in the inaugural class last year.