As a result of intensive internal planning and strategic growth, the University of Tennessee Health Science Center is primed to serve as an anchor for change in the community that surrounds it, Executive Vice Chancellor and Chief Operations Officer Ken Brown, JD, MPA, PhD, FACHE, told an international conference of university, civic and government leaders earlier this week.
Dr. Brown was a guest speaker at the International Town & Gown Association (ITGA) 2016 Annual Conference in Chicago. The ITGA is the leading organization addressing challenges, issues and opportunities of higher education institutions and the communities in which they are located.
Invited to address the topic of “transforming neighborhoods,” Dr. Brown described his efforts to move the campus from “incidental to intentional,” ensuring strategic development of buildings and grounds to meet the needs of the university as it progresses.
He highlighted our Campus Master Plan that serves as the roadmap for future growth, and discussed UTHSC’s role as the anchor for partnerships and strategies that are transforming the Memphis Medical District, where the university is located.
Dr. Brown was joined as a presenter by Krisan Osterby, planning practice leader for Perkins+Will, the architecture and design firm that worked with campus leaders to draft the master plan. Also on the presentation was Alex Feldman, a vice president at U3 Advisors, the real estate and economic development consulting firm helping to develop a strategy for revitalization of the medical district.
Dr. Brown has been recognized as a leader in moving our campus forward to meet the needs of internal and external stakeholders. In April, he was a panelist for a community forum led by The Memphis Daily News to talk about plans for the medical district and the key role UTHSC plays in the process. He is vice chair of the Memphis Medical District Collaborative, a nonprofit community development entity charged with making the area, which is between Downtown and Midtown and roughly bordered by Poplar Avenue, I-40, Vance Avenue and Danny Thomas Boulevard, economically prosperous, clean and safe.
Last August, Dr. Brown was invited by the Association of American Medical Colleges to serve as a leader of a webinar on campus planning. His presentation used the master plan to discuss the use of data in master planning. Unveiled in 2014, the plan is the first comprehensive blueprint for growth of the campus in more than two decades, and is designed to enhance UTHSC’s stature as an urban academic medical center and driver of the medical district revitalization.