Kim White to join UTC Leadership team

Kim White has been appointed the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga’s vice chancellor for development and alumni affairs and executive director of the University of Chattanooga Foundation. She will join UTC Dec. 1.

“Kim brings to the role an extraordinary blend of experience, expertise and skills,” UTC Chancellor Steven Angle said. “She is a proud Moc, having graduated from UTC, and has served our institution and the UT System for many years in a variety of roles.

“She has gained valuable experience having interfaced with all of the units she will lead as vice chancellor, including development, alumni affairs, financial management, strategic planning, the UC Foundation and board development.”

Angle pointed to her experience holding multiple leadership positions at UTC and within the UT System over the past 18 years. White has been president of the UTC Alumni Board and an active member of the UC Foundation Board. She was the second woman in the Foundation’s 50-plus year history to serve as chair. She represented UTC while on the board of the UT Foundation, chairing the real estate committee and serving as a member of the Foundation’s executive committee.

White, a native of Hixson, received a Bachelor of Arts degree from UTC in 1982.

“Anybody that knows me knows there are two things that are always part of me, and it’s the passion I have for this city and the University; they go hand in hand,” White said. “It’s exciting to be able to spend the next part of my career giving back to a University that has given so much to me.

In 2018, White was appointed to the UT (system) Board of Trustees by Gov. Bill Haslam. She will resign from that position before assuming her role at UTC.

“I know she will hit the ground running as we work together to build on our relationships with our UTC alumni and align our fundraising goals with our new strategic plan,” Angle said.

Doug Brown, chair of the UC Foundation’s Board of Trustees, said, “The Foundation is extremely pleased to have Kim on board as executive director. She is a proven leader, and her experience as a previous board chair gives her a unique ability to move the Foundation forward as we focus on student success.”

White, who ran for mayor of Chattanooga earlier this year, was president and CEO of River City Company—the non-profit development organization dedicated to Downtown Chattanooga’s economic growth and development—from 2009 to 2020. Under her leadership, Chattanooga saw a renewed emphasis on downtown housing, improved connections with UTC and the creation of great public spaces. Private investment helped implement the City Center Plan, the redevelopment of Miller Park and the redesign of Patten Parkway.

“What I want to do is take the community engagement aspect and bring it to the table, to make sure that the community understands what a vitally important role UTC plays in the health of the city,” White said. “UTC is an economic driver. It’s a talent driver. People that love this city should be giving back to the University in a variety of ways.”

White has served the city on numerous boards, including the Enterprise Center and the Chattanooga Area Chamber of Commerce. She has been a member of the Downtown Chattanooga Rotary Club and spent six years as an Erlanger Hospital Authority Trustee.

Her career honors include being selected as one of the 100 most significant alumni in the history of the University of Tennessee system. She received the UTC Outstanding Service Award in 2015 and the Erlanger Foundation’s Gordon Street Distinguished Community Leadership Award in 2020.

“It is an honor to have the opportunity to become an official member of the University,” White said, “and to continue to move UTC forward by getting the community and donors behind students and student success.”