Twenty executives from campuses and institutes across the University of Tennessee System were chosen to participate in the 2026 class of the Executive Leadership Institute. The ELI is a year-long, cohort-based professional development program managed at the UT System level by the Employee Engagement and Organizational Team that reports to Dr. Linda Martin, executive vice president. The ELI’s purpose is to develop executive leaders for the UT System and is a biennial program that rotates across the UT campuses and institutes for each monthly session. Participants are nominated by their respective chancellor and approved by the UT System president. UT Martin participants in this year’s class are Dr. Jamie Mantooth, executive director, strategic leadership, Office of the Chancellor; Dr. Erik Nordberg, dean of the Paul Meek Library; Dr. Jeffrey Bibbee, dean of the College of Humanities and Fine Arts; and Ben Jones, assistant vice chancellor for advancement.
Shown above at the ELI session Aug. 5 is Chancellor Yancy Freeman Sr.
Kara Tapp (in white, speaking), director of the UT Martin Somerville Center, takes part in a discussion at the ELI session at UT Martin.
Jake Bynum, chief of staff in the UT Martin Office of the Chancellor, speaks at the ELI session.
