A large crowd of current and former employees of the University of Tennessee (UT) joined with others from Oak Ridge National Laboratory, East Tennessee Economic Council, and the broader community at a reception Monday night that honored Stacey Patterson. The current UT Vice President for Research, Outreach and Economic Development is leaving to become Vice President for Research at Florida State University. She begins her new role October 15 (see teknovation.biz article here).

UT President Randy Boyd, pictured here with the honoree, hosted the event and posted the following comment on social media: “Last night was bittersweet as we said farewell to @stacey_sspatter before she begins her new role at Florida State. 16 years of service to the University of Tennessee! Dr. Patterson has made a lasting impact on UT through her leadership & dedication and we wish her all the best.”

Patterson joined UT as a Licensing Associate at the UT Research Foundation in April 2006 and was gradually promoted. Today, Patterson is President of UTRF, the organization she joined 16 years ago in an entry level role; a key liaison to Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) and Battelle, UT’s partner in managing the lab; and a point person for UT in the “Techstars Industries of the Future Accelerator” that is underwritten by UT, ORNL and the Tennessee Valley Authority.

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