Chancellor Roger G. Brown
Dr. Roger G. Brown, a proven academic leader and native Tennessean, is the fifteenth leader of The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga. His appointment as Chancellor was celebrated by the campus in February of 2006.
Under Brown’s leadership, the campus has experienced record enrollment growth at all levels, including the enrollment milestone of surpassing 10,000 students in 2009. Since taking the helm of the Chattanooga campus, he has promoted UTC’s mission as a metropolitan university with special emphasis in the fields of science, mathematics, and technology. Brown has pledged the campus’ commitment to teacher preparation, healthcare professions, business and commerce, and cultural appreciation.
UTC recently completed a strategic planning initiative that focuses campus efforts on the power of partnerships, especially relationships within the learning laboratory of Chattanooga. In 2008, UT Chattanooga earned the Community Engagement designation by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching in recognition of its many successful partnerships in the community.
Brown came to Chattanooga from the University of North Carolina at Pembroke, where he served as Provost and Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs since 2000. Previously, he had served since 1991 in various academic and administrative capacities with the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. Brown left UNC Charlotte in 2000 as Senior Associate Provost and Associate Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs.
A political scientist with particular academic emphasis in American government, Brown earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees in Political Science from the University of Tennessee and the Ph.D. in Political Science from The Johns Hopkins University. He began his teaching career at Iowa State University in 1983 before joining the UNC Charlotte faculty in 1985.
In 2002, Brown was appointed to the inaugural delegation of the American Association of State Colleges and Universities Sino-American Leadership Development Training for Higher Education Leaders in China. He has traveled on assignment for the U.S. Department of State to Syria, Jordan, and Israel. He also helped establish international exchanges with universities in Germany, France, South Korea, and South Africa.
In Chattanooga, Brown is a member of Rotary International and has also been named to the United Way of Greater Chattanooga Board of Directors, the RiverCity Company Board, and the Chattanooga Area Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors. He is a commissioner of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools and has been appointed to the Southeast Tennessee PreK-16 Education Council.
Brown’s wife and partner, Dr. Carolyn Thompson, is also a committed community activist. In addition to her involvement and support of the university, she currently serves on the boards of the Community Foundation of Greater Chattanooga, Allied Arts of Chattanooga, Chattanooga Symphony and Opera, WTCI, Good Shepherd Church School and College Access.
The couple has two children, Caroline and Austin. Roger and Carolyn also share custody of “Madeline Albright,” a rescued husky mix with diplomatic immunity.
