The Tennessee Higher Education Commission (THEC) unanimously voted to elect Cato Johnson as their new chairman of the commission. Johnson served as vice-chairman last year. The Tennessee Higher Education Commission serves as the public policy coordinating body for the Tennessee public higher education system.
“I want to thank Cato for his work on the Tennessee Higher Education Commission,” Tennessee Gov. Bill Haslam said. “I look forward to working with him as chair, and I appreciate his willingness to serve Tennessee in this new capacity.”
THEC consists of nine universities, thirteen community colleges and twenty seven Tennessee Colleges of Applied Technology throughout the state and approximately 252,000 students attend each year. The commission responsibilities include making higher education budget recommendations for over $1.2 billion in state funding as well as a current capital budget of approximately $400 million.
“Tennesseans need and deserve citizens who step up for their best interests, and understand how important education is to the well-being of our state,” Richard Rhoda, THEC Executive Director said. “Cato Johnson provides that understanding and the leadership to do just that. He will be an outstanding chair of the commission.”
“I’m delighted and honored to be named to this role because higher education is such an important issue for our state especially during these challenging times. I look forward to helping the commission reach its goal of increasing the educational attainment beyond high school so that more Tennesseans with college degrees can make positive contributions to our workforce needs,” said Johnson. He has served on THEC for five years.
He is the new chairman of the 15 member board, which includes Memphis Mayor A C Wharton, TN State Secretary David Lillard and Secretary of State Tre Hargett.
Johnson is the Senior Vice President of Corporate Affairs for Methodist Le Bonheur Healthcare and lives in Bartlett, Tennessee.