Two members of the Boyd Center for Business and Economic Research have been promoted to leadership positions within the research center in the Haslam College of Business at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville.
Don Bruce, Douglas and Brenda Horne Professor of Business, has been promoted to associate director of the Boyd Center following former associate director Matthew Murray’s retirement.
“Don is an outstanding leader and academic — we are privileged to have him as associate director,” Bill Fox, director of the Boyd Center, said. “Don is a superb scholar, a wonderful mentor and a servant leader across campus and the profession.”
Bruce holds a joint appointment in the Boyd Center and the Department of Economics, and serves as the University of Tennessee’s Faculty Athletics Representative to the NCAA and SEC. His academic research largely focuses on tax policy and its economic and behavioral effects on small business activity or owner-occupied housing. Since joining the Boyd Center in 1999, Bruce has worked on many economic research projects for state and federal government agencies.
“It is an honor and a privilege to step into this new role after 22 years, and it is a treasured gift to be able to work with the amazing Boyd Center staff every day,” Bruce said. “I look forward to great things as we continue to be of service to the business and policy communities in the coming years.”
In addition to Bruce’s promotion, Boyd Center business manager Brittany Permaul has been promoted to assistant director. Fox said that Permaul’s growing contributions — not only to the Boyd Center, but to the Haslam College of Business and UT as a whole — led to the creation of this new position.
“We were so fortunate that Brittany joined the Boyd Center,” Fox said. “She started as business manager and immediately demonstrated to us, and all of campus, extraordinary capabilities. She makes the Center better in so many ways, and we are delighted she has taken on the extended responsibilities as assistant director.”
Permaul has been with the Boyd Center since 2016, and completed her Masters of Public Health degree at UT in 2020.
