Sept. 7 , 2006
Contact: Bud Grimes, University Relations
Dunagan announces retirement as UT Martin chancellor
MARTIN, Tenn. - Describing his university chancellor’s position as “the most wonderful honor of my life,” Dr. Nick Dungan, University of Tennessee at Martin chancellor since April 2001, announced his retirement Thursday evening to university faculty and staff. He will remain as UT Martin’s chief executive officer until his successor is chosen, with his official retirement effective in June 2007.
The announcement came during the university’s annual faculty and staff picnic held outside Hardy M. Graham Stadium before the home football opener with Urbana University. Joining him for the announcement were his wife, Cathy, and Dr. John Petersen, UT president.
“After a lot of thought and with a great deal of appreciation for the opportunities Cathy and I have had during our 33 years at UT Martin, we want to announce that this will be our final academic year,” Dunagan told the crowd, adding, “But I want you to know that this has been the most wonderful honor in my life to be able to serve the great people that make up this campus.”
Dunagan said that Cathy and he will remain in Martin and “be the most dedicated alums that this institution could have.”
Petersen thanked the Dunagans for their service and wished them well in their retirement years. He expressed special appreciation for their support since he became UT’s 23rd president in July 2004. “Nick and Cathy are two of the most unselfish people that I’ve ever met, ” he said. He added, “I think the exciting thing is the fact that we are in such good shape at this institution.”
Dunagan, who was elected chancellor April 9, 2001, by the UT Board of Trustees, began his work in 1973 at UT Martin as director of development. Before becoming chancellor, he served UT Martin as executive vice chancellor, vice chancellor for student affairs, and vice chancellor for development and administration.
He also served as interim chancellor three times (1985-86, 1997-98, 2000-01), and he currently serves as executive director of WestStar, the university’s regional leadership program for West Tennessee. He is a member of economic development councils for both Weakley and Obion counties, serves on the Volunteer Community Hospital Board of Trustees, and he co-chairs the board for the Weakley County Reading Railroad.
A native of Caruthersville, Mo., Dunagan is a 1968 UT Martin graduate, a 1971 graduate of the University of Missouri School of Law, and received a doctorate in higher education administration in 1990 from Vanderbilt University. He is a retired colonel in the Tennessee Army National Guard and is an active member in the Martin First United Methodist Church.
The Dunagans have four grown children and four grandchildren. The three married children and their spouses all graduated from UT Martin. Drs. Stan and Stephanie Dunagan live in Paris and work in Martin and Paris respectively; Cody and Glenna Dunagan live and work in Memphis; and Brett and Tracy VanderMeeden live and work in Paducah, Kentucky. The fourth, Casey, is in graduate school at the University of Maryland after spending three years in Luanda, Angola, as an international mobile engineer.
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Highlights from the Nick Dunagan Administration
•Successful Accreditations – UT Martin achieved reaffirmation of accreditation in 2001 from the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools. The re-accreditation covers 10 years. Other program accreditations achieved since then include business, communications, engineering, nursing and social work.
•Record Enrollment Growth ?– Dunagan has led the university during a period of record enrollment growth. UT Martin has achieved six consecutive semesters of record enrollments. Current numbers point to a seventh consecutive record enrollment for fall 2006, which will eclipse the all-time record enrollment for any semester of 6,484 students set in fall 2005.
•WestStar Leadership Program – UT Martin is a major contributor to leadership development through WestStar, considered by many as the premier regional leadership program in Tennessee. Dunagan is one of the program’s founders, which now boasts more than 450 alumni from around West Tennessee. The program is a model for other leadership programs in the state and beyond.
•LEAD Academy – The LEAD (Leadership Education, Application and Discovery) Academy fosters leadership development for UT Martin undergraduates through special seminars, service opportunities and travel-study programs. Dunagan led the academy’s formation in 2003, which now incorporates leadership as part of the university’s academic experience.
•West Tennessee Higher Education Consortium – Seeing the value of higher education in developing West Tennessee, Dunagan organized the presidents of eight public and private colleges and universities to form the West Tennessee Higher Education Consortium. The presidents meet and discuss common issues, concerns and opportunities with the ultimate goal of expanding higher-education opportunities in the region.
•Student Housing Transformation – Dunagan’s long association with enrollment management and his familiarity with student needs focused his efforts to transform UT Martin student housing. In fall 2005, University Village opened bringing apartment-style living to undergraduate students on campus. Phase II of University Village will open in fall 2008.
•Student Success Center – Beginning its third year, the university’s Student Success Center is enhancing campus student-retention efforts by offering many student-support services. Dunagan’s vision and support for this center are at the heart of his passion for student success, both inside the classroom and beyond. Besides benefits to students, the center is one reason that UT Martin has enjoyed record enrollment growth.
•Center for Global Studies and International Education – Dunagan is a believer in the internationalization of the undergraduate curriculum, and this newly created center is evidence of his vision for providing this educational experience. The center brings all aspects of the university’s international-education efforts under one area and fosters travel-study opportunities never before available to UT Martin students.
•Higher Education Summit – At the height of the state’s 2002 budget crisis, Dunagan united with other college presidents to tell higher education’s story and to stress the need for adequate funding. He helped to organize the West Tennessee Higher Education Information Summit in Jackson, marking the first time chief executive officers of all five West Tennessee public higher education institutions had joined for a common cause.
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