Erlanger’s newly appointed chief medical officer, Dr. Jensen Hyde, is the first female CMO to lead the 130-year-old health system.
Hyde previously served as chief medical quality officer for Erlanger Medical Group and as a hospitalist at Erlanger. She also holds assistant professor appointments with UTHSC for the Department of Internal Medicine, including associate program director.
Hyde has also served on multiple committees, including Pharmacy and Therapeutics, Medication Safety and Internal Medicine Program Evaluation, to name a few.
A board-certified internal medicine physician, Hyde earned her medical degree from the University of Tennessee Health Science Center in 2014. She completed her internship and residency in Internal Medicine at UTHSC Chattanooga before earning a Master of Public Health from Columbia University in 2020.
Hyde has earned several awards, including “Distinguished Women in Medicine and Top Doctor in Internal Medicine” from Top Doctors and Resident of the Year at UTHSC Chattanooga for 2016. She has also been published in multiple peer-reviewed journals.
Secretary of state names Temple chief of staff
Bledsoe County native and current Chattanoogan Christina Temple is Secretary of State Tre Hargett’s new chief of staff.
Temple will serve as a senior adviser to Hargett and lead legislative affairs with the Tennessee General Assembly and Tennessee’s congressional delegation. Additionally, Temple will play a role in strengthening the department’s relationships within state government.
Temple served as the New Hampshire state director for the Republication National Committee during the 2022 election cycle. Before that, she worked as coordinator on the Delegates and Party Organization team on President Trump’s 2020 campaign. As a political consultant at Hill City Strategies, Temple has worked on various political campaigns.
Collegedale’s Lamb receives Leadership Award
The Tennessee Municipal League awarded Collegedale Commissioner Katie Lamb the fifth annual Bob Kirk Local Government Leadership Award at its 83rd annual conference in Nashville.
The Bob Kirk Award is presented to a council member, alderman, or commissioner who is at least in their second term of service to their municipality and has shown themselves to be an outstanding public servant to both their municipality and their community.
The award is named for Dyersburg City Alderman and TML Past President Bob Kirk, who served his city for nearly 51 years as an elected official.
A Texas native, Lamb and her husband lived and worked in five states, as well as Washington, D.C., due to his military career before arriving in Collegedale in January 1972.
After attaining her master’s in nursing, Lamb taught nursing at Collegedale’s Southern Adventist University and eventually earned her doctorate in nursing from the University of Tennessee at Knoxville.
She went on to serve as Southern Adventist’s dean of the School of Nursing, associate vice president for Academics, and dean of Graduate Studies before her retirement in 2006.
After her retirement, Lamb turned her attention from nursing and academics to local government and was elected to the Collegedale City Commission in 2009. Her dedication to the community led her fellow commissioners to elect Lamb the first female mayor of Collegedale in 2014, a position she held until she voluntarily stepped back into the role of city commissioner in 2021.
Lamb as a commissioner and mayor partnered with the city administration in providing steady and effective leadership, notes the TML in a news release announcing the award.
“Through the development of effective spending plans and approval of commonsense legislation, the city of Collegedale developed a vision for growth that both meet the needs of a progressing population while still maintaining what it is that makes Collegedale unique,” the announcement reads.
Lamb led the charge for updating and increasing the vehicles and equipment in the city’s Public Works Department and led the commission in the creation of a land use plan and design standards that would help Collegedale retain its emphasis on greenways, parks, recreation and bike trails.
Lamb also encouraged the city to create a parks and recreation department with a professional director. Resulting community programs earned Collegedale recognition from the Governor’s Foundation as a Healthier Tennessee community.
Other projects include the 56,000-square-foot Collegedale Commons and Founder’s Hall.
Lamb also helped navigate the multi-level discussions with a major city stakeholder who wanted to donate a new 10-acre park to the city.
When the Collegedale Public Library reverted to municipal control after 50 years in the county system, Lamb was instrumental in passing a special tax increase to keep it open. Within a month, the library was open and running independently, and presently is ranked fourth in the state in terms of circulation per capita overall and third in children’s circulation per capita.
At city hall, Lamb was beneficial in helping the city move to a four-day workweek.
“One need not look further than her home to see Lamb demonstrate how she puts her love for others first by taking in her grandchildren while her daughter and son-in-law were both on Navy deployment and caring for her late husband Ed. It is this dedication to other people that has made Collegedale a better place,” says the TML.
UTC names Bradshaw director
The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga Gary W. Rollins College of Business has named Mike Bradshaw director of the UTC Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship.
Bradshaw has served the center as its first entrepreneur-in-residence since 2021. His history with UTC goes back to his days as a graduate student in the Rollins College of Business in 2008.
He has been an adjunct faculty member since 2011 and is the director of the University’s Urban Vision Initiative, a program that supports disadvantaged individuals who are developing new businesses in underserved areas of Chattanooga.
Bradshaw assumes the role as the center launches new programs to help students develop their business ideas outside the traditional classroom environment.
“Entrepreneurial skills will serve our students for their entire careers, whether they intend to start a business of their own,” he notes. “Creating innovative new products, or working with practicing entrepreneurs from the community, is a unique educational experience. I’m excited to be a part of providing our students the opportunity.”
Bradshaw has helped build businesses in diverse industries, including startups in hospitality, software, digital publishing and high-speed internet. He’s previously held positions as executive director of The Company Lab, president of Trinity Communications, and executive producer and director of software development for The Learning Company
In addition, he led the rebranding and expansion of Jensen Hughes, an international safety engineering and consulting firm.
Bradshaw earned a bachelor’s degree from Georgetown University and an MBA from UTC. He has also co-written and published several articles on entrepreneurial ecosystems.
Hargett appoints Reed to advisory committee
Secretary of State Tre Hargett has tapped Rebekah Reed of Hamilton County Schools to serve as a member of the 2023-2024 Civic Education and Engagement Advisory Committee. Reed is one of 14 education professionals chosen to serve on the committee.
The Civic Education and Engagement Advisory Committee will work to develop lesson plans and curriculum that align with Tennessee academic standards to incorporate civic engagement throughout the K-12 education experience.
State safety office honors Chattanooga patrol
The Tennessee Highway Safety Office honored the Tennessee Highway Patrol Chattanooga District’s Ace Unit during its 35th annual Tennessee Lifesavers Conference this month.
The unit – which is comprised of Lt. Stoney Morton and troopers Lance Hughes, Dale Herring and Scott Uselton – assisted the Chattanooga Police Department as it experienced an increase in violent crime and alcohol-related crashes during the summer of 2022.
THP Major Timothy Spicer created the Ace Unit, which is composed of volunteer troopers.