UT Research Park launches recruitment for new leader
Applications are now being accepted and reviewed. The anticipated start date for the new President and CEO is August 1.
The University of Tennessee Research Park (UTRP), officially chartered as the Cherokee Farm Development Corporation (CFDC), has launched a national search for its next President and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) following the retirement of Tom Rogers. A not-for-profit organization, CFDC is responsible for the development and support of real estate and innovation assets essential to the research, innovation and workforce development goals of The University of Tennessee, Knoxville.
CFDC currently supports the development of UTRP, a place-based initiative housing high-tech firms like Volkswagen and CEC, the R&D programs of UT, Knoxville’s Institute for Advanced Materials & Manufacturing, the CFDC-operated Spark Innovation Center incubating and accelerating high-tech start-ups, and The Orthopaedic Institute, a state-of-the-art ambulatory care facility operated by the UT Medical Center and OrthoTennessee and housing UT’s R&D Center for Precision Health.
In the Fall of 2024, CFDC will open a new roughly 90,000-square-foot mixed-use facility on the UT Research Park supporting research, innovation and workforce development in advanced manufacturing, and is currently entertaining bids from organizations interested in developing an extended stay hotel and conference center on the site.
The CFDC President and CEO will support the expansion of the UT Research Park and explore other place-based innovation initiatives in the greater Knoxville region, including, for example, in the City of Knoxville, Knox County’s Hardin Valley, and in Oak Ridge, where the University enjoys a strategic partnership with Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL).
CFDC is a board-managed 501(c)3 subsidiary of the University of Tennessee Research Foundation (UTRF). The CFDC President and CEO serves at the pleasure of the CFDC Board and works in close coordination with the President of UTRF.
Review of applications has begun and will continue until the position is filled. The anticipated start date is August 1, 2024.
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