The University of Tennessee at Knoxville plans to hire its first female chancellor.
The school announced Monday that it wants Beverly Davenport to take over the position next March with a salary of $585,000, calling her a “proven higher education leader.”
Davenport has been a top administrator at the University of Cincinnati for three years and its interim president since July. During her time there, she launched a program to recruit more minority and female faculty. The number of women hired has doubled since she started, according to her bio.
And she’ll take the helm of UT Knoxville on the heels of controversies related to gender and diversity.
The school recently
settled a class-action lawsuit that accused UT of fostering a sexually hostile environment, especially in the athletic department. It also took heat from
conservative state lawmakers earlier this year for some blog posts made by its diversity office.
UT calls Davenport a proven higher education leader and offered her a base salary that’s $130,000 higher than outgoing chancellor Jimmy Cheek and $70,000 higher than the president of the entire UT system.
She’ll receive another $60,000 for housing during her first year and $50,000 to keep her on retainer before the job officially starts.
The UT Board of Trustees will have to sign off first at a special meeting next month.