Meet the IE Team

Associate Vice President for Institutional Effectiveness
jperez@tennessee.edu
823 Andy Holt Tower
865-974-3843
Dr. Jorge Pérez joined the UT System in 2018 after twenty years in Georgia, where he was vice provost for institutional effectiveness, SACSCOC accreditation liaison, and professor of information systems at Kennesaw State University. He holds a bachelor’s degree in English, an MBA, and a Ph.D. in information systems from Florida State University. Digital literacy is the focus of his current research.
The recipient of a prestigious American Council on Education (ACE) Fellowship, Jorge spent the 2013 academic year in Boston analyzing the strategic plans of constituents of the Massachusetts Department of Higher Education. He serves on the Board of Governors of the Informing Science Institute and the Advisory Board of the Atlanta Council on International Relations; he has served on the boards of the Latin American Association and the Atlanta Electronic Commerce Forum. Jorge has industry experience as a systems analyst, web developer, and consultant. He was inducted into the PhD Project Hall of Fame in 2019.
Jorge is an Ironman Lake Placid finisher who enjoys teaching indoor cycling classes and hiking with his pit bull, Murphy.
Institutional Research

Director of Institutional Research and Chief Academic Data Officer
bhester@tennessee.edu
P251 Andy Holt Tower
865-974-9695
Dr. Brian Hester is the Director of Institutional Research & Planning at the University of Tennessee System and has been with the department since 2010. He has served in various committees and service roles with UT over this time period. Brian has also been an active member of the Tennessee Association for Institutional Research for the past eight years – serving in leadership roles as secretary from 2016 through 2017 and most recently as vice president in 2018 and president in 2019.
Born and raised in Knoxville, Brian is a graduate of Bearden High School and a three-time graduate of the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, where he earned a bachelor’s in English, a Master’s of Business Administration, and a PhD in Higher Education Administration. Before joining the UT System, Brian worked in the private sector in business management. He currently serves as a board member of St. George Greek Orthodox Church and has served as its treasurer numerous times over the past fifteen years.
Brian, his wife Alice, son Nicholas and daughter Sophia live in Knoxville, and they spend most of their free-time together – playing sports, gardening, and enjoying the many parks and nature areas around Knoxville and East Tennessee.
Assessment Coordinator
dbland4@tennessee.edu
865-974-1611

Research Associate
tbodinhe@tennessee.edu

Intern
gjudy@vols.utk.edu

Research Associate
mricha49@vols.utk.edu
Business Intelligence

Director of Business Intelligence
eckles@tennessee.edu
133 Kingston Pike Building
865-974-3592

Software Developer
jeremybradford@tennessee.edu

Software Developer
tbrown77@tennessee.edu

Software Developer
dhaley1@tennessee.edu

Software Developer
rob@tennessee.edu

Software Developer
mozhgan@tennessee.edu

Software Developer
nvogel@tennessee.edu
Planning and Policy

Director of Strategic Planning and Policy
katie@tennessee.edu
865-974-9938