Contracts Signature Authority
The University of Tennessee’s bylaws (Article VII section 7.6) and Contracts Fiscal Policy (FI0420) specify which University employees are allowed to sign contracts on behalf of the University. Only those individuals on the list below have authority to sign on behalf of the University. So, if someone’s name is not on this list, they are not authorized to sign on behalf of the University. This applies for all contracts, regardless of dollar value. The University is not bound by unauthorized signatures.
If you have questions about this webpage, please contact Blake Reagan at breagan@tennessee.edu.
Per FI0420: An official otherwise authorized to sign a contract on behalf of the university may
not do so for contracts involving entities in which that individual is also an officer
or a member of the board of directors.
List of University employees who are authorized to sign contracts on behalf of The University of Tennessee:
Page last updated: September 3, 2021
| First Name | Last Name | Title | Signature Authority | Based On | Date of CFO letter (if applicable) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Procurement Services/Purchasing Offices | Procurement and Purchasing staff in UTC, UTM, UTHSC, and UTK procurement/purchasing offices | Order forms related to master agreements | CFO letter | December 15, 2015 | |
| Dr. Steven R. | Angle | Chancellor, University of Tennessee at Chattanooga | Delegated Chattanooga | FI0420 | |
| Dr. Caula | Beyl | Dean, College of Agriculture Sciences and Natural Resources | Delegated College Grants & Contracts | CFO letter | October 13, 2010 |
| Mr. Randy | Boyd | President | All contracts | Bylaws (Article VII section 7.6.) | |
| Dr. Kennard | Brown | Executive Vice Chancellor and Chief Operations Officer, Health Science Center | Delegated Memphis | CFO letter | June 11, 2005 |
| Dr. Herb | Byrd | Vice President of Public Service | Delegated 13, 14, & 15 | FI0420 | |
| Dr. Keith | Carver | Chancellor, University of Tennessee at Martin | Delegated Martin | FI0420 | |
| Chris | Cimino | Vice Chancellor Finance and Administration, Knoxville | Non-binding agreements with foreign entities for collaboration/affiliation. | CFO letter | June 26, 2017 |
| Chris | Cimino | Vice Chancellor Finance and Administration, Knoxville | Delegated Knoxville | FI0420 | |
| Dr. Deborah | Crawford | Vice Chancellor for Research | Delegated domestic sponsored grants and contracts | FI0420 | |
| Tim | Fawver | Chief Business Officer, University of Tennessee Institute of Agriculture | Delegated UTIA | FI0420 | |
| Anthony | Ferrara | Vice Chancellor for Finance and Operations, Health Science Center | Delegated Memphis | FI0420 | |
| Tyler | Forrest | Executive Vice Chancellor for Administration and Finance, Chattanooga | Delegated Chattanooga | FI0420 | |
| Staci | Fuqua | Coordinator of Field Placements | Partnership agreements with local schools on the UTM template. | CFO email | February 18, 2021 |
| Kristena | Gallimore | Accounting Coordinator | Tennessee Department of Human Services Vocational Rehabilitation Program forms. | CFO letter | January 8, 2021 |
| Dr. Steven R. | Goodman | Vice Chancellor for Research, UTHSC | Delegated domestic sponsored grants and contracts, and related documents, for UTHSC. | CFO letter | September 8, 2015 |
| Mike | Keener | Director of Licensing Office | College Crafter Agreements only | CFO letter | May 16, 2012 |
| Tonya | Kenley | Budget Director, College of Veterinary Medicine | Delegated 18 | FI0420 | |
| Dr. Mark | La Branche | Chancellor, UT Southern | Delegated UT Southern | FI0420 | |
| Ron | Loewen | Chief Business Officer, University Wide Administration | All 17 | CFO letter | January 20, 2017 |
| Ron | Loewen | Chief Business Officer, University Wide Administration | Delegated 17 | FI0420 | |
| Tim | Mapes | Associate Treasurer | contracts related to investments, funds transfers, and managing investments, including contracts for subscriptions. | CFO letter | 08/31/2021 |
| Dr. Linda | Martin | Interim Senior Vice President/Senior Vice Chancellor, University of Tennessee Institute of Agriculture | Delegated Entity 11,12 & 18 | FI0420 | President's announcement |
| Petra | McPhearson | Vice Chancellor for Finance & Administration, Martin | Delegated Martin | FI0420 | |
| Rip | Mecherle | Chief Investment Officer | contracts related to investments, funds transfers, and managing investments, including contracts for subscriptions. | CFO letter | 08/31/2021 |
| Jean | Mercer | Assistant Vice Chancellor for Research and Director of Sponsored Programs | Delegated Knoxville Research | CFO letter | April 5, 2016 |
| David | Miller | Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer | All contracts | Bylaws (Article VII section 7.6.) | |
| Cynthia | Moore | Secretary | All contracts | Bylaws (Article VII section 7.6.) | |
| Brenda | Murrell | Director, Office of Sponsored Programs/Grants | Research grant proposals and related documents. | CFO letter | May 15, 2017 |
| Donna | Neblett | Director of Educator Preparation Program & Accreditation | Partnership agreements with local schools on the UTM template. | CFO email | February 18, 2021 |
| Cynthia | Nichols | Budget Director, University of Tennessee AgResearch | Delegated 11 | FI0420 | |
| Austin | Oakes | Executive Director | Contracts related to construction and real property. | CFO letter | December 6, 2019 |
| Mark | Paganelli | Treasurer | All contracts | Bylaws (Article VII section 7.6.) | |
| Dr. Stacey | Patterson | Vice President for Research, Outreach, and Economic Development | The UT Intellectual Property Agreement (for a visitor engaged in research), pursuant to UT policy RE00002. | CFO letter | December 10, 2020 |
| Dr. Donde | Plowman | Chancellor, University of Tennessee, Knoxville | Delegated Knoxville | FI0420 | |
| Dr. Sarah | Pruett | Assistant Vice Chancellor for Research, Responsible Conduct of Research, and Institutional Research Integrity Officer | IRB; IBC; Radiation Safety; Export Control; Research Integrity (See memo for more details) | Click here | December 6, 2019 |
| Blake | Reagan | Director of Procurement Services | Minnesota Multistate Contract Alliance for Pharmacy (MMCAP) applications | CFO letter | December 16, 2015 |
| Dr. Joanne | Romagni | Vice Chancellor for Research | Domestic grants and contracts for UTC's sponsored research | FI0420 | |
| Dr. Steve J. | Schwab | Chancellor, University of Tennessee Health Science Center | Delegated Memphis | FI0420 | |
| Robby | Shelton | Chief Business Officer | Delegated contracts for UT Southern | FI0420 | |
| Dr. James ("Jim") | Simonton | Associate Executive Director, Dean for Academic Affairs, | Delegated research agreements for UTSI. | CFO letter | August 16, 2017 |
| Ryan | Stinnett | General Counsel | Authority to retain outside legal counsel (Bylaws); contracts for legal consulting services and legal research goods and services (CFO letter). | Bylaws Section 7.7; CFO letter | September 18, 2019 |
| Ryan | Stinnett | General Counsel | All contracts when signing "as to form and legality." | Click here | June 26, 2018 |
| Ryan | Stinnett | General Counsel | Designer agreements; designer agreement supplements; construction contracts; CMGC contract amendments; gift property contracts for amounts greater than $24,999.99. | CFO letter | June 18, 2015 |
| Ryan | Stinnett | General Counsel | Contracts for legal consulting services; contracts for legal research goods and services | CFO letter | August 23, 2021 |
| Dr. Ashley | Stokes | UT Extension | Delegated contracts for UTIA | CFO letter | March 5, 2021 |
| Amy | Stover | Budget Director | Delegated UTIA, in Mr. Fawver's absence. | CFO letter | December 4, 2017 |
| Dr. James P. | Thompson | Dean, College of Veterinary Medicine | Delegated 18 | CFO letter | June 6, 2012 |
| Sarah | White | Associate Vice Chancellor for Research | Delegated research grant proposals and related documents; confidentiality agreements; material transfer agreements; data agreements; and related documents. | CFO letters | December 13, 2018, May 28, 2018 |
| Dr. Mark | Whorton | Executive Director, University of Tennessee Space Institute | Delegated UTSI Research | CFO letter | August 10, 2016 |
| Kerry | Witcher | Vice President for Development and Alumni Affairs | Contracts related to planned giving. Mr. Witcher may not sign contracts between UTFI and UT, per FI0420. | August 3, 2018 | |
| Rumira | Xhaferaj | Chief Business Officer, Institute of Public Service | Delegated 13,14 & 15 | FI0420 | |
| Dr. Hongwei | Xin | Dean, AgResearch | Delegated contracts for AgResearch | CFO letter | April 11, 2019 |
| Dr. Steven | Youngentob | Senior Associate Vice Chancellor for Research | Delegated domestic sponsored grants and contracts, and related documents, for UTHSC. | CFO letter | September 8, 2015 |
| Footnotes | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| **UT Contracts Fiscal Policy allows authorized officials to delegate signature authority to athletics directors to sign non-financial game contracts and housing directors to sign pre-approved form contracts for the rental of student housing. The following individuals have been delegated that authority: | |||
| Name | Type of Contracts | Based On | Date of CBO Letter |
| John Abel | Pre-approved forms for student housing | Letter from CBO | September 11, 2015 |
If you have any questions about this list, please contact Blake Reagan, Director of Procurement Services for University System Administration at breagan@tennessee.edu or 865-974-3971.