OAK RIDGE — The University of Tennessee is stepping up its community relations activities here with the addition of another staff member in its Oak Ridge office.
Billy C. Stair, executive assistant to the president, has joined Homer Fisher in the university’s office at 40 New York Ave. UT announced last month it was creating the office and that Fisher, UT senior vice president, would head it.
UT and Battelle Memorial Institute of Columbus, Ohio, have submitted a bid for the management contract of Oak Ridge National Laboratory. The Department of Energy is expected to name a new contractor by the end of the year.
“Billy will be joining me in furthering our community and corporate relationships in Oak Ridge and in transition planning for UT-Battelle,” Fisher said. “It is our intent that Billy will be a part of the management team if UT-Battelle wins the contract.
“I’m delighted that President (J. Wade) Gilley is making it possible for him to work with me in Oak Ridge.”
Stair joined UT in 1994 after serving as the senior policy advisor to Gov. Ned McWherter. A Kingsport native, Stair earned the bachelor’s degree from Mars Hill College and the master’s degree from Pennsylvania State University.