When the University of Tennessee was reorganized into a statewide system in 1967, the Knoxville campus was designated one of the primary campuses of the institution and renamed the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. Each of the primary campuses (Chattanooga, Knoxville, Martin, the Medical Units, and Nashville) was headed by a chancellor, and the statewide University of Tennessee system was headed by a president.
The university was again reorganized by the board of trustees upon the recommendation of President J. Wade Gilley in 2000. UT Knoxville was merged with UT Memphis and the UT Space Institute to make one institution (often referred to as Big Orange U), which made Chattanooga and Martin more clearly branches of the flagship institution—essentially returning to the structure in place prior to 1967—and eliminated the office of chancellor at Knoxville and Memphis. The chief officer in residence, the chief operating officer, on the Knoxville campus was designated as provost.
The office of chancellor was reinstated in 2003. The title of the vice president for agriculture was changed to chancellor in 2010.