Haslam appoints 10 to smaller UT board

Gov. Bill Haslam on Monday celebrated the passage of one of his signature proposals this year, a measure reducing the size of the University of Tennessee’s board of trustees and announced 10 appointees to the new board.

After considerable debate, House lawmakers passed the UT FOCUS Act to reduce the board from 27 to 12 members on March 29. The bill previously passed 27-3 in the Senate.

As well as reducing the size of the board, the bill Haslam signed into law Friday creates seven advisory boards for the separate UT campuses.

The board will have 12 members in total, including the Commissioner of Agriculture and a non-voting student member — in additional to the 10 gubernatorial appointments. Here are Haslam’s 10 appointees. ❚ John Compton, former President of PepsiCo and current partner with Clayton, Dubilier & Rice

❚ Kara Lawson, former Lady Vol and current basketball TV analyst for ESPN and the Washington Wizards

❚ Donnie Smith, former President and Chief Executive Officer of Tyson Foods

❚ Sharon Pryse, CEO and Founder of The Trust Company

❚ Kim White, President and CEO of River City Company

❚ Bill Rhodes, Chairman, President and CEO of AutoZone

❚ Melvin Malone, former Special Tennessee Supreme Court Justice and current practice group leader with Butler Snow LLP

❚ Bill Evans, former Director and CEO of St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital

❚ Raja Jubran, CEO of Denark Construction

❚ Brad Lampley, former Tennessee Volunteers football player and current partner in charge of the Nashville office of Adams and Reese, LLP