Chancellor recommends Dr. David Hicks as next President of Tennessee College of Applied Technology Elizabethton; Board meets May 25 to consider appointment.

Tennessee Board of Regents Chancellor Flora W. Tydings is recommending Dr. David J. Hicks for appointment as the next president of Tennessee College of Applied Technology Elizabethton. The Board of Regents will consider his appointment in a special called meeting May 25.

A career educator in Georgia, Dr. Hicks has been superintendent of Bremen City Schools in Bremen, Ga., since 2010 and is one of two finalists for the TCAT Elizabethton presidency selected last month by a 14-member search committee composed of board members and representatives of the campus community. If appointed by the Board of Regents, he would succeed  President Dean Blevins, who is retiring in June after nearly 13 years of service as TCAT Elizabethton’s sixth chief executive officer and 35 years in career and technical education.

The finalists participated in campus meetings and public forums at TCAT Elizabethton May 3. Dr. Tydings reviewed input from the campus community and the public and conducted further interviews with the candidates before deciding on her recommendation to the Board.

The Board of Regents will meet by teleconferencing at 1:30 p.m. ET/ 12:30 CT May 25, 2022, to consider acting on the chancellor’s recommendation. The meeting will be live streamed and archived on the TBR website here: https://www.tbr.edu/board/may-25-2022-special-called-board-meeting. Anyone needing direct access to the teleconference rather than the live-stream should contact Board Secretary Mariah Perry at mariah.perry@tbr.edu or 615-366-3927 by 4 p.m. CT, May 24, 2022.

Also on the agenda for the May 25 meeting are consideration of appointment of the chancellor’s recommendation of Dr. Ty Stone as the next president of Cleveland State Community College, announced last week, and her recommendation for the next vice chancellor for business and finance for the TBR system.

“I’m delighted to recommend Dr. David Hicks for the Board’s consideration,” Tydings said. “I want to thank members of the search committee for their work in selecting two excellent finalists. I believe – after watching the forums, reviewing input from the campus community and interviewing the candidates – that Dr. Hicks is the best candidate to lead the college in its service to northeastern Tennessee.”

Hicks earned a Doctor of Education degree and a Master’s degree, both in educational leadership, from Valdosta State University, and a Bachelor of Science in history/secondary education at Georgia Southwestern State University.

Prior to his service as superintendent of Bremen City Schools, he was superintendent of Hart County Schools, another K-12 public school system in Georgia. He began his education career as a high school social studies teacher at Dooly County High School and spent the following nine years as a teacher, assistant principal and principal.  His complete resume and other information about the search are posted on the TBR website at: https://www.tbr.edu/hr/executivesearches/president-tcat-elizabethton

“It is truly an honor to be recommended for the next president of TCAT Elizabethton. Pending the board’s action, I am excited to join the Northeast Tennessee area to continue and grow the exceptional opportunities provided to our deserving students,” Hicks said.