Global Symposium on Racing Speaker: Randy Boyd
Randy Boyd has served as UT’s 26th president since November 2018 and serves as the chief executive officer of the statewide UT System.
The UT System includes campuses in Chattanooga, Pulaski and Martin; the Health Science Center in Memphis; and the Institute of Public Service. Additionally, it includes the flagship campus in Knoxville, which is also comprised of the Space Institute in Tullahoma and the statewide Institute of Agriculture. The UT System also manages Oak Ridge National Laboratory through its UT-Battelle partnership, where Boyd serves as chairman.
In 1991, Boyd founded Knoxville-based Radio Systems Corporation (now PetSafe Brands), a company that produces over 4,000 pet-related products under the brand names PetSafe, Invisible Fence, ScoopFree and SportDOG. The company employs more than 1,400 people with offices in six countries around the world. Boyd also owns Boyd Sports, LLC, which owns six minor league baseball teams, including the Knoxville Smokies.
In 2007, Boyd began a journey transitioning from entrepreneur and businessman to full-time public servant. Boyd is a founder and chairman of tnAchieves, a nonprofit which has helped send more than 200,000 students to community college free of tuition and fees. This success led then-Governor Bill Haslam to invite him to serve as special advisor on higher education in 2013. During his tenure, he is credited with being the architect of the Drive to 55 and the Tennessee Promise. In 2015, Gov. Haslam recruited him back to serve as commissioner of economic and community development. Randy and his wife Jenny have dedicated their lives to giving back. In 2018, the couple formed the Boyd Foundation to further promote youth education, mental health, the arts and animal welfare.