UT-Oak Ridge Innovation Institute names Education and Bredesen Center Director
Brynn Voy will lead the institute’s efforts to expand UT-Oak Ridge National Laboratory’s joint graduate research opportunities for students across the UT System
The University of Tennessee-Oak Ridge Innovation Institute (UT-ORII) has selected Brynn Voy as Education and Bredesen Center Director, effective August 1.
Voy will lead the Institute’s efforts to expand the joint graduate research opportunities for students across the UT System in conjunction with Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL). She will be filling the position that has been held on an interim basis by UT Knoxville faculty member Philip Rack.
“Brynn’s passion for advancing STEM (science, technology, engineering, math) education and mentoring students, coupled with her extensive background as a UT alumna, ORNL postdoctoral fellow and staff scientist, and UT faculty member and department leader, make her ideally suited to take on these important leadership roles for the UT-Oak Ridge Innovation Institute,” said David Sholl, UT-ORII’s recently named Interim Director.
“On behalf of UT-ORII, I also want to extend our deepest gratitude to Dr. Rack for the significant role he has served in helping us to expand our joint graduate programs while serving as our interim education and Bredesen Center director,” Sholl said. Rack will continue working with UT-ORII on a part-time basis as Voy takes over these important leadership positions.
A native Tennessean, Voy received her Ph.D. in physiology and bachelor’s degree in zoology from UT. She then spent 13 years at ORNL, first as a postdoctoral fellow in the Mammalian Genetics and Genomics Group and then as a staff scientist in the Systems Genetics Group through 2009.
Voy returned to UT to join the faculty in animal sciences, where she is a Professor. Voy recently completed service as the interim head of the Department of Nutrition, a position she held since 2021. She has been involved with the UT-ORNL joint Bredesen Center Genome Science and Technology program since her time at ORNL, serving as a core faculty member in the program since 2005.
“UT is our state’s land grant institution. The mission of a land grant institution is to improve the lives of our citizens, students, individuals, and families within the state through education, especially through readily available, research-based, knowledge-based education programs and resources,” Voy said. “The programs offered by UT-ORII have the potential to bolster the career trajectories of our students, to spark interest in science among the region’s K-12 students, and to develop a workforce that is exceptionally well-trained to fill the needs of a rapidly evolving STEM workforce.”
Over the course of Voy’s career, she has mentored more than 100 high school and Ph.D. students. In recognition of Voy’s commitment to her students, in 2018, she was nominated by her students and received the UTK Educational Advancement Faculty Mentor Award. While serving as UT-ORII education and Bredesen Center director, Voy will maintain her UT faculty role. She also will be teaching this upcoming semester.
To learn more about UT-ORII, click here.
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