Donde Plowman has returned to UT Knoxville to serve as the campus’ ninth chancellor. She started work July 1. Plowman most recently served as executive vice chancellor and chief academic officer at the University of Nebraska–Lincoln. Plowman was on the management faculty at UT Knoxville from 2007 to 2010, serving as management department head for two years.
She is a well-known scholar in the area of leadership and organizational change. After her appointment, she shared a message with campus: “For me, being a Volunteer means committing to excellence—for our students, faculty, staff and alumni and for the people of Tennessee and beyond. It means thinking big and making a difference on our campus and in our communities.”
New Director of McClung Museum
The new position is named for Jeff Chapman, who is retiring after serving as the McClung Museum’s director since 1990. Gómez comes to UT from the National Museum of Natural History of Chile, where he has been director since 2007. He has a bachelor’s degree in social anthropology from the Universidad de Chile and a master’s degree in public administration from the University of Pittsburgh. He has served as a research fellow at the National Museum of Natural History and as a Lampadia Fellow at the National Gallery of Art, both in Washington, D.C.
The McClung Museum holds 27,000 objects in its arts and culture collections as well as millions of specimens in its archaeology, paleoethnobotany and malacology collections.
Smokey Statues Placed Around Campus
Statues honoring the 10 bluetick coonhounds that have served as the campus’ mascot were unveiled in April before the annual Orange and White Game.
Visitors can see the statues at the UT Gardens, the Tennessee Recreation Center for Students, the corner of Lake Loudoun Boulevard and Phillip Fulmer Way, Circle Park, Hodges Library, the courtyard between Strong Hall and Clement Hall, the Student Union pedestrian bridge, Gate 21 of Neyland Stadium, the Hill and the Engineering Quad.
The idea to honor Smokey came from the Student Government Association, and a committee of staff and students expanded on the idea by suggesting multiple statues. The fiberglass statues, slightly larger than life size, were designed by Chicago Fiberglass Works.
