School of Education Director Kim Wingate stands in her Hunter Hall office. Photo by Angela Foster.
Teamwork. Dedication. Perseverance.
These are the words that Dr. Kim Wingate uses to describe her collegiate student-athlete experience.
Wingate’s journey from star softball player to director of the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga’s School of Education is a testament to her unwavering resilience, adaptability and commitment to students and colleagues. She has not only faced personal and professional challenges head-on but has also inspired those around her to do the same.
Her story showcases the competitive spirit that drives her in her new role.
Growing up in Catoosa County, Georgia, Wingate’s early life was defined by a love for sports and learning. In a household where education and athletics were equally valued, she knew from a young age that she wanted to be both a teacher and an athlete.
“My mom (Brenda) was a 34-year teacher in Catoosa County (Georgia), and my dad (Cecil) was a state trooper who always emphasized the importance of education,” said Wingate, who was named director of the School of Education in late March. “When I played softball in high school and from Little League on, I knew I wanted to play softball in college. If God opened that door, that’s what I wanted to do.
“I had the good fortune to get to play, but I also was very driven and determined to become a teacher. Thanks to athletics … teamwork, determination and goal setting have shaped me into who I am today.”
This dual focus on academics and sports set the stage for her future endeavors.
As an all-state shortstop in high school, Wingate led the Ringgold Tigers to a Georgia slow pitch softball championship in 1993. Her talent didn’t go unnoticed, and she soon transitioned to fastpitch at Chattanooga State Community College, playing for Frank Reed—now the softball coach at UTC.
“I met her right out of high school, and I was trying to find players,” Reed said. “North Georgia had a whole lot of high school softball players who played on slow pitch teams. I could go down there and get those players pretty easily because fastpitch teams weren’t knocking on their door. At the same time, I could be selective; in slow pitch, you could find great defensive players.
“In Kim’s case, she was a shortstop, and that’s usually one of your best athletes. You could put a shortstop anywhere—and I asked her to catch.”
Wingate laughed as she talked about the conversion to catcher.
“Playing catcher improved my hitting drastically because I learned the different pitchers and the different pitches,” she said.
At ChattState, Wingate—who was inducted into that school’s Athletics Hall of Fame in 2013—earned All-American honors in 1995 and was named the Tennessee Community College Player of the Year.
Reed lauded her ability not only to switch positions in “the midstream in her career” but also to capitalize on her educational interests.
“One of my favorite questions to ask young student-athletes is, ‘Where do you see yourself in five years? What’s your five-year plan?’ You’d be surprised at the people that don’t have a plan,” he said. “But that was never the case for Kim. She always knew what she wanted to do. She’s a person that you cannot outwork.”
After earning an associate degree in early childhood education from ChattState, Wingate continued her education and softball career at Kennesaw (Georgia) State University—playing a pivotal role in the team’s NCAA Division II national title win in 1996 and earning a bachelor’s degree in early childhood education.
But it wasn’t always easy. Transferring from ChattState to Kennesaw State initially left her as an outsider on her new team. And after being a starter at ChattState, she had to fight for playing time at Kennesaw State. “That was an obstacle for me, having to get used to that.”
Working through those challenges taught her to balance athletics and her education. You need to be successful on the field, she said, but you need to be successful in the classroom, too.
“I learned that you have to balance your workload; you were a student first and an athlete second,” she recalled. “But being an athlete kept me going. It pushed me. The perseverance and the work ethic were continuous.
“The camaraderie that you form … that’s what I think I bring to the School of Education. The teamwork and setting people up for success is definitely what I learned through athletics.”
She admits school didn’t always come easy.
“It’s not necessarily something I’m proud of, but I had test anxiety. It was a very big challenge for me at times,” Wingate said. “But if there is a roadblock, you have to try to overcome it. You can’t quit. You can’t shut it down.”
Kim Wingate played softball collegiately at Chattanooga State (blue and orange uniform) and Kennesaw State. In the ChattState team photo, she is in the bottom row, second from left (photos courtesy of Kim Wingate).
Following her playing days, Wingate returned to Catoosa County to teach middle school and coach softball.
After obtaining master’s and Education Specialist degrees from Lincoln Memorial University, her passion for early childhood special education eventually led her to pursue a doctoral degree from Tennessee Technological University.
It was during that time that she was encouraged by the late Dr. Dean Richey, interim dean of Tennessee Tech’s College of Education, to teach a graduate course.
“I was like, ‘I don’t teach adults,” Wingate recalled. “But he asked again, ‘Why don’t you try it?’ So I taught one course and it went great.”
The experience, she said, was pivotal in leading her to a career in higher education.
After spending two years on the Middle Tennessee State University faculty, Wingate was brought to UTC in 2007 by Dr. Valerie Rutledge, then the director of the School of Education and—since 2013—the dean of the College of Health, Education and Professional Studies.
Among Wingate’s many endeavors, she ran the UTC Governor’s School for Prospective Teachers for 16 years and oversaw the identification of Butterfield Fellows candidates—a program that supports teachers in Hamilton County Schools with classroom management techniques.
Her leadership at UTC has been marked by innovative initiatives, including her efforts in the Grow Your Own program. Her focus on adapting to the changing landscape of education is evident in her approach to course delivery, emphasizing both traditional and hybrid online formats to meet the needs of nontraditional students.
“The profession of teaching has changed,” Wingate said, “so addressing that change and how we partner with and support Hamilton County Schools and our surrounding counties is so critical.
“That’s one of our major goals: How do we meet these new challenges of providing teachers in somewhat of a teacher shortage? We have wonderful support in Chattanooga, but how do we partner?”
Dr. Allen Pratt is the School of Education’s director of strategic partnerships and executive director of the National Rural Education Association.
“Kim was the perfect person to take over the School of Education as director,” Pratt said. “She has the ability to relate really well with our faculty and our staff. She’s been here 17 years, so she knows how the University works—but she’s also smart enough to know that things need to be adjusted. Sometimes, change and innovative approaches need to bring you in, and she’s been very open-minded to change.
“She’s very much into being connected, especially with the community and Hamilton County Schools. Her kids are in the school system, so she has that connection. She has the want to change and help and lead because it is personal to her.”
The Wingates, from left: Joe, Will, Luke, Livi and Kim (photo courtesy of Kim Wingate)
Wingate’s philosophy is evident in her approach to teamwork and support.
“You have to put in the time when no one’s watching,” she said.
This personal mantra has not only guided her career but also helped her navigate personal challenges—including her battle with cancer.
In July 2020, Wingate’s life took an unexpected turn when she was diagnosed with stage 3 breast cancer amidst the COVID-19 pandemic. The diagnosis was a shock, but her determination to maintain normalcy for her three children—Luke, now 14, and twins Livi and Will, now 12—and continue her work at UTC never wavered.
“It was very hard being sick during COVID because no one could go with me to the hospital,” she recalled. “At the time, my twins were eight and Luke was nine, so I was just trying to keep a normal life for them. COVID was already rocking everybody’s world.”
The support from her family, particularly her husband, Joe—who also has a background in teaching and coaching—was crucial. “He’s always been very supportive of me and all the things I have done and wanted to do,” she said.
Since “everybody was pretty much working from home back then,” Wingate insisted on working, too.
“I needed to,” she explained. “It kept me in somewhat of a normal routine.”
Wingate said her doctor released her “to come back to campus and be around people” in 2022.
“I thought I’d been through challenges in my life, but that was definitely a challenge; I really had to lean in on my faith even more than I already should have been doing,” she said. “But the Lord blessed me in so many ways. My family, my husband and my mom were so supportive. The UTC community was so supportive of helping me get through that time.”
Reflecting on Wingate’s journey, Rutledge sees a clear connection between her experiences as a student-athlete and her professional achievements.
“Kim’s a great example for our students of you just don’t stop when some obstacle presents itself,” Rutledge said. “She’s a perfect example of perseverance, of somebody who said, ‘This is what I want to do and I’m going to work hard to get it.’ She and her husband are both now holders of doctorate degrees, and their three kids are following in their footsteps in terms of athletics—but also they’re good students.
“I think everybody has another aspect to their life that’s not just the academic role they play. It’s all these other things that make them who they are.”
As Wingate said, “When I meet students who are struggling, I say, ‘Hey, let me share something with you,’ and then I tell them my story. The perseverance, the work ethic, never giving up when you’re tired … those things have helped me through all of my obstacles and challenges.”
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Dr. Kim Wingate has been a member of the UTC faculty since 2007.
