Governor's Chair Program
A 2005 budget request from Governor Phil Bredesen and appropriations from the Tennessee Legislature improve the university's search for National Academy-level scientists holding joint UT-ORNL appointments. Recruiting for the joint appointments increased significantly since January 2005 in anticipation of the new Governor's Chair Program.
The Governor's Chair Program is expected to expand over the next four years, with the potential to bring to Tennessee as many as 30 high profile appointments in the biological, neutron, materials, or computational sciences. Appointees hold a tenured, chaired professorship at the University of Tennessee and a chair-level scientific appointment at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, nominally half time at each institution. The appointments include an ongoing discretionary research fund equal to twelve month's salary.