On August 1, Tim Munyon began a five-year term as head of the Department of Management and Entrepreneurship at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, Haslam College of Business. Munyon, who also serves as the Ergen Professor in Business and Janet and Jeff Davis Faculty Fellow, succeeded Russell Crook, who accepted the dean’s position at Louisiana State University’s E. J. Ourso College of Business.

Seamless Leadership Transition

Stephen L. Mangum, Haslam dean and Stokely Foundation Leadership Chair, describes Munyon as a natural choice for the role of department head.

“Tim Munyon is exceptionally well prepared to lead the department at this point in its history,” Mangum said. “An active international scholar, who serves on multiple editorial boards, he also is a highly decorated teacher. Tim brings insight, energy and, perhaps most importantly, the respect of his colleagues. These strengths provide him a foundation to guide the department into its next phase, building on the exemplary work of Russell Crook.”

Mangum also praised Crook’s leadership and service to management and entrepreneurship.

“Under Russell’s leadership, the department significantly expanded its educational portfolio and industry outreach efforts,” he said. “I wish Russell every success in the next chapter of his very successful career.”

Praise for Past Leaders

Munyon echoes Mangum’s praise for his predecessor, explaining that Crook delivered tremendous leadership to the department.

“Russell Crook and other previous department heads are incredible mentors and helped set us on a positive trajectory for the future,” he said. “It’s humbling to walk in their shoes, and I’m very excited about the future of our department. We have an amazing team, positive culture and strong academic programs, giving us a great foundation on which to build.”

Planning for Growth and Change

The Department of Management and Entrepreneurship is a large academic unit, with students its most important stakeholders. The department’s success depends on developing students’ knowledge base and equipping them with immediately applicable skills to excel in the professional world.

“My first priority is ensuring we continue offering our students transformative experiences in and out of the classroom,” Munyon said. “We’re elevating our international program and research rankings, hiring new faculty and developing new courses, such as one on technology commercialization, and incorporating emerging technologies like AI into our curriculum.”

Munyon adds that the department plans to develop a program for its high-performing students, providing them with unique developmental experiences, special access to internship support and scholarships and priority engagement with employer partners. This development should excite corporate partners, because they will have first access to these exceptional students upon graduation.

To better connect UT with Knoxville’s growing entrepreneurial ecosystem, he sees the department’s Anderson Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation as the “front door” to those connections.

“The Anderson Center team sustains these connections and strengthen bridges between the university and our community,” Munyon said. “We view entrepreneurship and innovation as critical economic engines for UT and our region, and I am particularly interested in supporting economic development efforts in our underserved rural communities.”

Munyon is optimistic that the initiatives underway will pique interest and draw support from alumni and corporate partners.

“The goal is to equip students and faculty for long-term success, including raising funds for management major scholarships, merit- and need-based internship scholarships and regional economic development,” he says.

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CONTACT: Scott McNutt, senior business writer/publicist, rmcnutt4@utk.edu