KNOXVILLE, Tenn.–The University of Tennessee, Knoxville, hosted its Student and Donor Appreciation Luncheon on Thursday, September 13, 2012, at the Knoxville Museum of Art. The event serves to introduce students to the donors who have funded their studies and to honor scholarship recipients and supporters.

TCE Dean Wayne T. Davis emceed the event, which included approximately 150 people. Dean Davis provided an overview of the college’s progress during the program and then introduced the keynote speaker, engineering alumnus and former Board of Advisors member Dwight Hutchins. Hutchins is the Global Managing Director of Accenture’s Health and Public Service Strategy practice, leading project teams around the world helping clients define their strategy, reorganize, increase effectiveness, reduce costs, and transform their operations to become high performing public sector organizations. Prior to Accenture, Hutchins consulted with McKinsey & Company and Bain & Company, focusing on marketing strategies for Fortune 500 banks and business products companies.

His additional accomplishments include partnering with the Executive Office of Health and Human Services, Commonwealth of Massachusetts, to build a performance management culture by developing and aligning high-level goals and performance measures to six priorities of the governor’s administration and conducting an operational assessment of six key functions of the Massachusetts Health Insurance Connector Authority Commonwealth Choice program, the non-subsidized arm of the health insurance exchange that has served as a model for national healthcare reform.

Hutchins also worked with the International Trade Administration, US Dept. of Commerce–Customs & Border Protection, and the US Dept. of Homeland Security to develop a strategic plan to protect the nation’s ports of entry from threats and risks including those posed by terrorists and weapons of mass affect, which was hand-delivered by the department to every member of Congress.

The keynote address was followed by remarks from Morgan Baltz, a fifth year senior from Mt. Juliet, Tenn, majoring in chemical and biomolecular engineering with a biomolecular concentration. She is the president of the American Institute of Chemical Engineers, chair of Engineers Day through Tau Beta Pi, an Honors ambassador, and a member of the iGEM (International Genetically Engineered Machine) Team. She will be the college’s second Grand Challenge Scholar to graduate from The National Academy of Engineer’s program and she plans to begin pursuing her doctorate in chemical and biomolecular engineering.

For more information, contact Kim Cowart at (865) 974-0686/kcowart@utk.edu.