Bridget Waller serves as director of communications for the University of Tennessee–Oak Ridge Innovation Institute (UT–ORII), overseeing all internal and external communications, marketing and partnerships. She also leads UT-ORII’s STEMOVATE program, in partnership with Tennessee 4‑H, the Oak Ridge Institute for Science and Education, and UT‑Battelle, connecting students to hands-on STEM learning and community engagement.

Waller began her career as a reporter and writer for the Knoxville News Sentinel, Panama City News Herald, Noblesville Ledger, the original Knoxville Journal and Whittle Communications. She later served as executive vice president and director of Oak Ridge operations for both the Ingram Group and Akins & Crisp Public Strategies. She also runs her own public relations consulting business in affiliation with SRW & Associates, serving clients that have included the Electric Power Research Institute, Honeywell, CH2M Hill, the City of Knoxville, Great Schools Partnership and Project GRAD Knoxville. Waller spent nine years managing community and government relations at the Y‑12 National Security Complex.

A Knoxville native, Waller earned her bachelor’s degree in communications and news journalism from Anderson University in Indiana. She serves on the board of Parents as Teachers and volunteers with her church, Cokesbury United Methodist. She is a member of the FBI Citizens Academy Alumni group and a graduate of Leadership Oak Ridge. She enjoys spending time with her husband, two daughters, grandson and pups.