Governor’s Chairs

Governor’s Chairs

Funded by the state of Tennessee and ORNL, the program attracts top researchers to broaden and enhance the unique research partnership that exists among UT, the state’s preeminent public university system, and ORNL, the nation’s largest multiprogram laboratory.

The Governor’s Chair program is managed by the UT-Oak Ridge Innovation Institute (UT-ORII) in coordination with ORNL and UT. To accelerate collaborative research between UT and ORNL, UT-ORII is expanding its prestigious Governor’s Chairs program. There are currently 15 Governor’s Chairs, 13 located at UT Knoxville and two at UT Health Science Center.

Rigoberto “Gobet” Advincula
Advanced and Nanostructured Materials
Appointed 2020

Sudarsanam Suresh Babu
Advanced Manufacturing
Appointed 2013

Robert Davis
Biomedical Informatics
Appointed 2013

Easo George
Advanced Alloy Theory and Development Appointed 2016

Terry Hazen
Environmental Biotechnology
Appointed 2011
Yilu Liu
Power Electronics
Appointed 2009
Frank Loeffler
Microbiology, Civil and Environmental Engineering
Appointed 2009

Arthur Ragauskas
Biorefining
Appointed 2014

Jeremy Smith
Molecular Biophysics
Appointed 2006

Alexei Sokolov
Polymer Science
Appointed 2009
Uday VaidyaUday Vaidya
Advanced Composites Manufacturing
Appointed 2015

Robert WilliamsRobert Williams
Computational Genomics
Appointed 2009

Brian Wirth
Computational Nuclear Engineering
Appointed 2010
Thomas Zawodzinski
Electrical Energy Conversion and Storage
Appointed 2009
Steve Zinkle
Nuclear Materials
Appointed 2013