Haslam Impact
What’s in a name? So much.
Ten years ago, the Haslam College of Business became the University of Tennessee, Knoxville’s first named college. Since that transformative gift from the Haslam family, much has changed for the college—from exponential enrollment growth to the development of new programs and centers, an influx of extraordinary faculty, and the expansion of international business and study abroad opportunities.
The Haslam naming gift did not prescribe how the funds would be used, leaving flexibility to the college’s leadership to invest where needed to make the greatest impact on the college and its students. “When we made the gift, we had a strong desire to honor our father, while at the same time providing the opportunity for more students to benefit from the university in the same way that he had,” says former Tennessee Governor Bill and Crissy Haslam. The Haslams also wanted the college to become an economic driver for the state, and to become known as one of the best places to prepare students for the business marketplace. “Looking back, I think we would all say that the results have far exceeded our expectations. The college’s growth and development over the past decade has been nothing short of phenomenal and has helped lead the entire university to new heights.”
Growing the Faculty
Haslam undergraduate enrollment grew by 117.2 percent over the past decade, and the college has also seen significant growth in graduate programs during that time frame. Thanks to the naming gift, several internationally recognized faculty members were brought on to keep pace with the college’s monumental growth.
To bolster the institution’s academic strength and align with evolving industry demands, college deans developed a strategy
to increase the number of faculty members while focusing on broadening their scope of expertise. Chad Autry, associate
dean of faculty and research, Myers Distinguished Professor of Supply Chain, and R. Stanley Bowden II Faculty Research
Fellow, says, “The naming gift enabled us to attract faculty who were settled in at other great institutions. We never would have
been able to recruit them otherwise.”
Stephen L. Mangum, dean and Stokely Foundation Leadership Chair, says hiring faculty who share the college’s values remains a priority. “We’ve sought those who exhibit a commitment to the institution and our community,” he says. “Also, we look for individuals committed to and gifted in both research and teaching—not research or teaching.”
The college has developed several new research streams and areas of expertise since the Haslam’s transformative gift. “This is paying off in terms of educating our students,” Autry says. “The classroom experience is richer and more thorough because of the
new faculty expertise we’ve been able to acquire.”
Broadening Student Services and Access
Since the naming gift, the college has greatly expanded the depth and breadth of its student programs and services, such as signature and honors programs, learning communities, specialized academic advising, career management services, international programs, student engagement initiatives, professional development, and technology-enhanced education. These
investments include creating a course series for professional and career development that every undergraduate student now takes. “The academic experience we’re able to provide is the main reason we have grown to more than 9,100 undergraduate
students,” says Lane Morris, associate dean of undergraduate studies and student affairs and the Fisher Professor of Innovative Learning. “Our suite of student services and signature programs has become very impactful and attractive.”
The college simultaneously strengthened initiatives to widen its demographic profile and improve undergraduate student reten-
tion for historically underrepresented groups and first-generation students. For example, the college’s Business Education for Talented Students (BETS) summer program is designed to introduce high school seniors to the world of business through discipline-specific workshops and networking opportunities. Haslam family funding made possible the creation of scholarships to increase the ability of BETS completers to matriculate to UT after graduating high school.
Clarence Vaughn, the director of Haslam’s Office of Access and Community Connections, explains that offering financial aid to top BETS program participants is a key component of the college’s strategy to recruit students from varied backgrounds. “The BETS Scholarship also gives students access to supportive resources,” says Vaughn. “Recipients have increased opportunity to network and receive useful input on career management and professional development best practices.”
Expanding Graduate and Online Education
Over the past 10 years, Haslam has introduced seven new master’s programs, including three new fully online programs, helping the number of enrolled graduate students grow from 560 students in 2014 to 1050 students in Fall 2024.
The naming gift played a key role in the growth of the college’s graduate programs, says Amy Cathey, Haslam’s associate dean
for Graduate and Executive Education (GEE). “Part of the gift was support for graduate scholarships, and those have allowed
us to attract talented students, grow our programs, and enhance the quality of programs,” she says. Because scholarships at the
graduate level are often more difficult to obtain, offering them helps make Haslam’s programs more accessible and competitive.
“Scholarships are central to attracting top students from across the nation and world to Haslam. It’s really important for us.”
The gift also gave graduate program leaders the freedom to invest in developing new, flexible online programs that fit the
schedules of busy professionals. “The naming gift gave us the time and resources to execute our first online program, the MS Supply Chain Online, several years ago,” Cathey says. Since then, Haslam has launched an online MBA program and an online MS Business in Cybersecurity. “The online programs have been very successful in the marketplace and helped us meet market demand from students in a variety of locations and with different schedules.”
Investing in Institutes and Centers
A portion of the Haslam naming gift has gone toward fostering existing institutes and centers of the college, as well as seeding
new, impactful ways to connect students with experiential learning opportunities and industry leaders. Examples of impacted college entities include the JTV Center for Applied Business Analytics, the Anderson Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation, the Business Analytics Forum, the Global Supply Chain Institute, the Boyd Center for Business and Economic Research, the Masters Investment Learning Center, the Professional Sales Forum (a precursor to the current Marketing and Sales Innovation Alliance) and the Neel Corporate Governance Center. Each of the college’s centers forges connections with industry leaders and other academic disciplines to enrich the student experience.
The unwavering focus on students is, for Jimmy and Dee Haslam, the hallmark of the college’s decade of growth. “Each Haslam College of Business student is a future leader who will make an economic and community impact,” they say. “It’s exciting to see the relentless focus on how the Haslam College of Business experience helps these future leaders achieve outsized outcomes in
job creation, economic impact, and innovation.”
Forging a Strong Identity
Beneath the financial impact on the college’s programming lies the psychological effect of bearing a family’s name, notes Morris. “The Haslam family has had a huge philanthropic heart that’s made an impact throughout the Knoxville community and beyond,” Morris says. “We could not have been blessed with a better leadership role model and name than Mr. Haslam’s
for our college. The naming gave all of us an identity—and what a wonderful one, to be affiliated with the Haslam family.”
UT Chancellor Donde Plowman says the 2014 Haslam gift set the stage for more generosity that’s impacted the entire university.
“When the Haslam family decided to invest in the college of business 10 years ago, UT had never received a gift of that magnitude. Since then, we’ve not only seen how [the Haslams’] continued generosity has transformed that college, but we’ve
also seen it pave the way for others.”
Brian Broyles, senior vice chancellor for advancement for UT Knoxville, adds, “The Haslam family’s unparalleled generosity,
which includes the establishment of the Haslam College of Business and numerous other philanthropic gifts, has paved the way for three additional named colleges at UT, profoundly transforming lives within the university community.”
To Ann (Haslam) and Steve Bailey, meeting Haslam students and hearing their stories is the biggest return on their family’s investment. “Every one of them has such an appreciation for the Haslam College of Business and the education they are receiving,” say the Baileys. “We feel so blessed to be a small, small part of the school.”
