The agriculture functions of the university were headed by a dean who reported to the president of the university until the 1968 reorganization of the university into a university system. In the new system organization, the Agricultural Experiment Service (now AgResearch), Agricultural Extension Station (now UT Extension), and College of Agriculture (now College of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources) were joined as entities of the Knoxville campus and headed by the vice chancellor for agriculture, who reported to the chancellor of the Knoxville campus.
In 1970 President-elect Edward Boling recommended to the board of trustees that the Extension and Experiment Station functions be transferred to the system because of their inherent statewide mission and that agricultural instruction should become the College of Agriculture and headed by a dean reporting to the vice chancellor of academic affairs of the Knoxville campus. He further recommended that the agriculture function be consolidated as the Institute of Agriculture and that the vice chancellor of agriculture be elevated to the position of vice president of agriculture, reporting to the president of the university system. When the board of trustees met on June 18, 1970, they acted to accept and implement Boling’s recommendations.
Interim UT-System President Jan Simek proposed in 2010 (as the Institute of Agriculture prepared to celebrate its 100th birthday) that the vice president of agriculture become chancellor of agriculture and have expanded academic and administrative responsibilities. With the title of chancellor would come the designation as the chief academic officer for the agriculture campus and with additional latitude and authority needed in the tenure and promotion process. The chancellor of agriculture, rather than the chancellor of the Knoxville campus, would be responsible for faculty and staff of the Institute of Agriculture.
Simek’s proposal included the continuation of the joint relationship of the institute and the Knoxville campus in shared responsibility for the College of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources and the College of Veterinary Medicine. The board of trustees accepted his recommendation and modified the institutional by-laws, changing the title and role of the head of agriculture to chancellor on June 22, 2010.