Randy - Randy Boyd

Randy Boyd is the President of The University of Tennessee System and the founder of Radio Systems Corporation in Knoxville, Boyd Sports, and TnAchieves.

Randy and his wife Jenny have been married for 38 years and have two sons, Harrison and Thomas, with daughter-in-law Lindsey and two granddaughters Wiley Mae and Penelope, and their two family dogs, Oskar and Jolene.

THE UNIVERSITY OF TENNESSEE

Randy currently serves as the President of The University of Tennessee System.

Boyd serves as the chief executive officer of the statewide university system. The flagship campus in Knoxville includes the Space Institute in Tullahoma and the statewide Institute of Agriculture. The UT System also includes campuses in Chattanooga, Pulaski and Martin; the Health Science Center in Memphis; and the Institute of Public Service. The UT System also manages Oak Ridge National Laboratory through its UT-Battelle partnership, where Boyd serves as co-Chairman.

EARLY LIFE

Born and raised in South Knoxville,

Randy graduated from Doyle High School at the age of 16 before enrolling in the University of Tennessee. By age 19, Randy had graduated with honors, earning a degree in industrial management and becoming the first in his family to graduate from college. While attending UT, Randy worked nights in his father’s factory running injection molding machines to pay for tuition and to help him graduate, debt-free.

Randy married Jenny Houbler in March of 1985 at Erin Presbyterian Church in Knoxville, where they still worship today.

ENTREPRENEUR

At 23, Randy started his first business,

and at 31 — with his wife Jenny working as a court reporter and a 2-year-old at home — he sunk their entire life savings into designing a new product: an underground pet fence. Today, Randy’s company, Radio Systems Corporation, sells more than 4,000 pet-related products — including the Invisible Fence — and employs more than 700 people with nearly $500 million in annual sales in over 60 countries around the world.

PUBLIC SERVANT

In 2013, Randy took a year-long leave of absence from Radio Systems Corporation to serve as the unpaid advisor on education for Tennessee Governor Bill Haslam,

where he became the architect of the state’s Drive to 55 initiative, and Tennessee Promise and Tennessee Reconnect scholarship programs.

Those programs, combined with Randy’s earlier work with knoxAchieves and tnAchieves, have already helped nearly 300,000 Tennesseans attend community or technical college, tuition-free.

In 2015, Governor Haslam appointed Randy as Commissioner of the Tennessee Department of Economic and Community Development. Volunteering his time as ECD Commissioner, Randy worked to grow and attract business to Tennessee and to create better alignment between education, workforce development, and business. As a result of Randy’s hard work as ECD Commissioner, Tennessee secured a record-breaking 50,000 new job commitments and $11 billion in capital investment in just two years.

CANDIDATE FOR GOVERNOR

In 2017, Randy stepped down from his role as Commissioner of Economic Development to run for Governor of Tennessee.

His campaign goal then, and now, is to make Tennessee THE State of Opportunity – Opportunity for a Better Education, Opportunity for a Better Job, and Opportunity for Everyone.

A DEDICATED LONG DISTANCE RUNNER

Randy has completed 50 marathons, including the Six Majors – London, Berlin, Tokyo, Chicago, Boston, and New York.

He has also run the Antarctic Ice Marathon! He has competed 87 half marathons as of July 2023. Randy has reached two of his running goals and is still working to to run a marathon on each continent and 100 half marathons. He became the first candidate in Tennessee history to run 537.3 miles across the state from Bristol to Memphis, as part of his gubernatorial campaign.

AWARDS & HONORS

Throughout Randy’s career, he has been recognized by a number of government, nonprofit, and business organizations for his professional and philanthropic work. HERE are some of the awards and recognitions Randy has received.