Phyllis Richey, PhD, a professor at the University of Tennessee Health Science Center, has been appointed to the Education, Research, and Service Committee of the University of Tennessee Board of Trustees. She will begin serving on the committee July 1 for a one-year term.
“I am truly honored to have been selected to be the full-time voting faculty member on the University of Tennessee Board of Trustee’s Education, Research and Service Committee for the 2021-2022 term,” Dr. Richey said. “As the committee’s sole faculty member, I accept the responsibility of representing all faculty of the UT System, regardless of rank or tenure status, across the wide array of diverse disciplines and varying demands we encounter in pursuit of the teaching, research, clinical practice, and service missions of the university.”
Dr. Richey has been with UTHSC for more than 30 years and holds faculty appointments as a professor in the College of Medicine’s Departments of Preventive Medicine (primary) and Pediatrics, and in the College of Health Professions’ Department of Physical Therapy.
As a member of the Education, Research, and Service Committee, Dr. Richey will have the opportunity to directly assist the UT Board of Trustees in its teaching, research, and service missions related to academic programs, faculty affairs, student success, student conduct, research, service, and outreach. In addition, she will assist the board, along with other members of the committee on reviewing enrollment, retention, graduation, career attainment, academic programs, and institutional and program accreditation for each campus.
Dr. Richey is an accomplished extramurally-funded researcher, who has received grant funding from the National Institutes of Health and the Department of Defense. Utilizing her expertise as an exercise physiologist, Dr. Richey’s research is based in clinical trial interventions that focus on improving healthy lifestyle behaviors, including physical activity, mobility, the treatment of obesity, and other cardiovascular-related comorbidities.
She has been awarded the Senator of the Year recognition twice by the UTHSC Faculty Senate and was named a Health Care Heroes finalist two years in a row by the Memphis Business Journal.
“Dr Richey is an ideal UTHSC representative to the board, given her strong research career combined with a major educational involvement and substantial service on the Faculty Senate,” said UTHSC Chancellor Steve J. Schwab, MD.
Dr. Richey is a graduate of the University of Memphis, where she received her bachelor’s degree and master’s degree. She received her PhD from the University of Mississippi.
“In the spirit of our Be One UT Values system, I will strive to be impactful by providing input on the inclusivity of UT policies from the unique perspective of the faculty,” Dr. Richey said. “I look forward to this new opportunity to help build relationships to be stronger together and inspire a culture of teamwork and collaboration across the greater UT community.”