Philip W. Conn

Chancellor Conn was born in Decatur, Alabama on January 4, 1942 to Charles William Conn and Edna Louis (Minor). His parents relocated to Cleveland, Tennessee where he attended local schools including Bradley Central High School which he graduated from in 1960. After high school he attended Berea College in Kentucky attaining a Bachelor of Arts degree in biology in 1963. In 1964, he was named Associate Director of Appalachian Volunteers by the Council of Southern Mountains in Berea, Kentucky. The following year he served as a Field Representative for the Volunteers In Service To America (VISTA) in Washington, D.C. and was part of the initial staff of the "domestic Peace Corps". In 1966, he traveled to the Netherlands and attended the Institute of Social Studies in The Hague where he received a diploma in social policy.

Dr. Conn returned home in 1967 where he was employed by the Bradley/ Cleveland Community Action Corporation as Assistant Executive Director and Project Coordinator. The next year he was again at Berea College this time acting as Director of Alumni Affairs, editor of "The Berea Alumnus" and the Placement Director. In 1971, he worked on the gubernatorial campaign of Bert Combs and Julian Carroll as Public Relations Advance Director in Louisville, Kentucky. Later in the same year, he enrolled at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville and acquired a Master of Arts degree in Sociology in 1972. After completing his graduate work at the University of Tennessee he served as Research Specialist and then as Executive Director of the Kentucky Legislative Research Commission in Frankfort.

By 1977, Dr. Conn was the Vice President of Research and Development and later the Vice President for University and Regional Services for Morehead State University. While serving as Vice President he attended the University of Southern California and in 1982 received a Master's degree in Public Administration. Three years later, in 1985, he was hired as the Vice President for University Advancement at Central Missouri State University at Warrensburg, Missouri. During his Vice Presidency he continue his graduate work at University of Southern California where he acquired his Doctorate in Public Administration in 1991. In 1994, he became President of Dickinson State University in Dickinson, North Dakota where he spent the next four years as the college's executive officer. Dr. Conn accepted the Chancellorship at the University of Tennessee at Martin in the Summer of 1998.