UT Board Confirms Next Chancellor of UTHSC

Knoxville — The University of Tennessee Health Science Center (UTHSC) has a new chancellor after a special meeting of the Board of Trustees held Monday afternoon.

Trustees approved UT System President Randy Boyd’s recommendation that Peter F. Buckley be appointed as the next chancellor of UTHSC. Buckley’s appointment is effective Feb. 1, 2022, and he will replace Steve Schwab, who announced his retirement in June and will be returning to faculty.

“On behalf on the Board, I’d like to thank President Boyd and the search committee, which was led by Trustee Bill Rhodes,” UT Board Chair John Compton said. “Collectively they have made an excellent decision and we look forward to Chancellor Buckley’s future successes.”

“I have been extremely impressed at the level of insight and energy Peter has demonstrated throughout the search process,” Boyd said. “I could not be more excited about the future of UTHSC under his leadership and with all of our support.”

Buckley has been the dean of the Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) School of Medicine since 2017 and also previously served for seven years as School of Medicine dean at the Medical College of Georgia in Augusta. A psychiatrist and international expert in schizophrenia, Buckley is also a professor of psychiatry. From January through September 2020, he served as interim CEO of VCU Health System and interim senior vice president of VCU Health Sciences while leading the health system-health sciences response to the COVID-19 pandemic. In service to academic medicine, Buckley chairs the Administrative Board of the Council of Deans of the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC) and is also on the AAMC’s Board of Directors.

To access Buckley’s full curriculum vitae and to download a photo, please visit https://hr.tennessee.edu/executive-search/uthsc-chancellor/finalists/peter-buckley/.

“It will be a pleasure and a privilege to serve as a tireless ambassador for the University of Tennessee Health Science Center and for all the great work of its faculty, trainees and staff, Buckley said.

In other board business, the terms of employment for Schwab following his planned retirement as chancellor were approved. Additionally, trustee Jamie Woodson was confirmed to serve on the board’s executive committee.