SoCon Academic Exchange Southern Conference

ETSU names interim dean for Clemmer College of Ed

JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. – Dr. Richard Rhoda, former executive director of the Tennessee Higher Education Commission, has been named interim dean of the Clemmer College of Education at East Tennessee State University.

Rhoda served as executive director of THEC from 1997 until his retirement in 2004. THEC is the coordinating body for the Tennessee Board of Regents and the University of Tennessee system.

“I am extremely pleased that Dr. Rhoda has accepted the position of interim dean during the period that we search for a permanent dean of the Clemmer College of Education,” said Dr. Bert C. Bach, provost and vice president for Academic Affairs at ETSU. “Dr. Rhoda is a prominent and highly respected Tennessee educator. He will provide outstanding leadership and advocacy for the college’s programs and important initiatives.”

Rhoda’s career in Tennessee higher education spans more than 40 years. He began in 1973 as a member of the research staff with the TBR and eventually assumed the position of executive assistant to the chancellor.

In 1985, Rhoda joined the administration of Tennessee State University, where he fulfilled a series of assignments, including leading external relations, overseeing the university’s downtown campus, serving as chief development officer, launching the Institute of Government, and recruiting the inaugural class of Ph.D. students.

He returned to TBR in 1990 as vice chancellor for administration. While working for TBR, he served as interim president of Nashville State Technical Community College and later Austin Peay State University, and as acting chancellor of the Board of Regents in 1993. Rhoda joined the faculty of Vanderbilt University in 1995. While there, he was the original assistant director of the Peabody Center for Education Policy and taught undergraduate and graduate courses. In 1997, he returned to the Tennessee Board of Regents as senior vice chancellor of academic affairs and strategic planning. It was later that year that he was called upon to lead THEC.

Rhoda holds a Ph.D. in higher education administration from Vanderbilt University.

In addition to serving as interim dean, Rhoda is director of ETSU’s newly established Center for Community College Leadership.