Possibly Tennesse’s busiest person, Boyd has many irons in fire
Randy Boyd is quite possibly the busiest man in Tennessee.
He’s president of the University of Tennessee System. He owns the Tennessee Smokies minor league baseball team. He’s the visionary behind the downtown Knoxville stadium under construction in the Old City.
It’s hard for us mere mortals to understand, but Boyd gives 110% to everything he does.
With amazing things happening at UT, big changes ahead for his baseball team and more marathons than most people run in a lifetime, it’s shaping up to be one of Boyd’s busiest years yet.
Here’s what Boyd is up to next.
Boyd plans for five more years leading UT System
Boyd wants to serve another fiveyear term as UT System president to finish his quest of making this the “greatest decade” in UT history.
He’s had a successful run so far, with a record system enrollment of 58,726 students, rising retention and graduation rates, and a fundraising goal of $3 billion by 2030.
He expressed the desire to lead for another five years, of course with the support of his wife, Jenny Boyd, at the UT Board of Trustees meeting March 1. The board unanimously voted to begin locking in their leader for another term.
“Serving this university is the honor of my life,” Boyd said. “I get to serve my state, the people of my state who I love, my alma mater, and work with such an incredible group of people.”
It helps that he’s never taken a salary at UT. Boyd could be raking in $850,000 to $1.2 million a year, UT Board of Trustees Chair John Compton told Knox News last year.
Smokies step up to the plate for one more season in Sevier County
The Tennessee Smokies, the Double-A
affiliate of the Chicago Cubs, kick off one final season in the Kodak stadium with a home opener April 5 against the Rocket City Trash Pandas from Madison, Alabama, just outside of Huntsville.
Boyd bought the team in 2013 and established Boyd Sports LLC. He also owns the Elizabethton River Riders, Johnson City Doughboys, Greeneville Flyboys and Kingsport Axmen teams in the Appalachian League.
The Smokies’ season concludes with six home games Sept. 10-15 against the Birmingham Barons.
After that, the Smokies will say goodbye to Kodak and hello to Knoxville, becoming the Knoxville Smokies.
Knoxville downtown stadium construction heats up
The construction project set to change the face of downtown and draw tourists to Knoxville will hit a major milestone soon.
Boyd and the team building and developing the stadium have said it will be ready for opening day 2025.
That means there’s one more year to finish up the $114 million massive project. It’s a testament to Boyd’s ability to bring people together to get this project off the ground.
Boyd personally contributed $13 million to the project along with a $20 million loan. The rest of the funding comes from local government bonds, state grants and investment earnings.
Opening day 2025 will mark 25 years since the Smokies left Knoxville.
Boyd laces up running shoes for marathons across the world
In the midst of everything, Boyd will lace up his running shoes to tackle another milestone: completing his goal of one marathon on every continent. South America in June 2024 Africa in October 2024 Australia in 2025
Yes, he already ran one on Antarctica.
Keenan Thomas is a higher education reporter. Email keenan.thomas@knoxnews.com. X, formerly known as Twitter @specialk2real.