Troy University alumnus and administrator Dr. Lance Tatum has been appointed as the Senior Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs, according to Dr. Jack Hawkins, Jr., Chancellor.

Dr. Tatum, who had been serving in the role on an interim basis, follows Dr. Earl Ingram, who retired effective Jan. 1 after 31 years of service.

As TROY’s Senor Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs, Dr. Tatum serves as the University’s chief academic officer, and is responsible for the creation and implementation of the academic priorities and for the allocation of resources to support those priorities.

“As an alumnus who has served the University in many leadership roles, Dr. Tatum truly knows and represents TROY well,” Dr. Hawkins said. “I am pleased that we have the type of expertise and experience that he will bring to the role of Senior Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs.”

Dr. Tatum said the opportunity to serve as his alma mater’s chief academic officer is humbling.

“To be a TROY alumnus and to sit in this office and do this job is one of the greatest honors I’ve ever been extended,” said Dr. Tatum. “It is humbling to have started as an assistant professor and now serve as the chief academic officer of a University from which I have received two diplomas. It means a lot to me to have the opportunity to play a role in making my university a better place.”

Dr. Tatum has more than 24 years of experience in higher education, including the past 20 years with TROY. Prior to this appointment, Dr. Tatum served in a variety of administrative roles for the University, including Vice Chancellor for the Montgomery Campus, Vice Chancellor for Global Campus, Dean for the College of Education and Department Chair for the Department of Kinesiology and Health Promotion.

After earning both his bachelor’s (1988) and master’s (1989) degrees in education from then-Troy State University, Dr. Tatum earned his Doctor of Philosophy (1993) in education from Florida State University. He joined the University’s full-time faculty in 1998 as an assistant professor after having served as an assistant professor and head coach at Gordon College in Barnesville, GA., and currently holds the rank of professor.

Dr. Tatum has served on a variety of statewide boards and commissions related to education, as well as serving as the University’s Faculty Athletics Representative to the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) from 2000 to 2008. He currently serves on the Air University Foundation Board of Trustees, the Greater Montgomery YMCA Board of Directors, the Board of Directors for the American Association of University Administrators and the Alabama-Korea Educational and Economic Partnership Board of Directors. He is married to the former Jill Ellis, also a graduate of Troy State University’s College of Education, and they have two children a son, Thad, and a daughter, Zoe.