Randy Boyd - Office of the President | University of Tennessee

University of Tennessee President

Randy Boyd has served as UT’s 26th president since November of 2018, and serves as the chief executive officer of the statewide university system. The UT System includes campuses in Chattanooga, Pulaski and Martin; the Health Science Center in Memphis; and the Institute of Public Service. Additionally, it includes the flagship campus in Knoxville, which is also comprised of the Space Institute in Tullahoma and the statewide Institute of Agriculture. The UT System also manages Oak Ridge National Laboratory through its UT-Battelle partnership, where Boyd serves as co-chairman.

In 1991, Boyd founded Knoxville-based Radio Systems Corporation, a company that produces over 4,000 pet-related products under the brand names PetSafe, Invisible Fence, ScoopFree and SportDOG. The company employs more than 1,400 people with offices in six countries around the world.

Boyd also owns Boyd Sports, LLC, which owns five minor league baseball teams, including the Tennessee Smokies.

In 2007, Boyd began a journey transitioning from entrepreneur and businessman to full-time public servant. Boyd is a founder and chairman of tnAchieves, a nonprofit which has helped send more than 133,000 students to community college free of tuition and fees. This success led then-Governor Bill Haslam to invite him to serve as Special Advisor on Higher Education in 2013. During his tenure, he is credited with being the architect of the Drive to 55 and the Tennessee Promise. In 2015, Gov. Haslam recruited him back to serve as Commissioner of Economic and Community Development. During his tenure, his team recruited 52,000 new jobs and $9 billion in new investment for the state. He also founded and co-chaired the governor’s Rural Task Force and chaired the Governor’s Workforce Sub-Cabinet.

Randy and his wife Jenny have dedicated their lives to giving back. In 2018, the couple formed the Boyd Foundation to further promote youth education, mental health, the arts and animal welfare. Among the Foundation’s many philanthropic commitments is the Boyd Center for Business and Economic Research and the Boyd Venture Challenge seed grant program for student entrepreneurs, both through the Haslam College of Business at UT Knoxville.

Boyd is the first in his family to graduate from college. He earned a bachelor’s degree in business with an emphasis on industrial management from UT Knoxville. He also earned a master’s degree in liberal studies with a focus on foreign policy from the University of Oklahoma.

When not working for UT, Boyd enjoys running and has run more than 85 half marathons and 50 full marathons, including one in Antarctica. But his favorite time is spent as Jenny’s husband of 38 years, father to his two sons, and being Poppi to his two granddaughters.