To Dr. L. Anthony Wise Jr., encouraging student success is the most important part of his job.
Wise has been president of Pellissippi State Community College since 2011, overseeing the College’s participation in KnoxAchieves, tnAchieves and now Tennessee Promise. He welcomed President Barack Obama, Vice President Joe Biden and Dr. Jill Biden to campus in January 2015 for the unveiling of America’s College Promise.
Wise’s tenure has been marked by his devotion to students, and for good reason. From 2007 to 2011, he served as vice president of the College’s Learning Division, after three years as the department head of Liberal Arts and nine teaching history.
When he was a faculty member, Wise was instrumental in the development of the College’s Foundations of Excellence initiative, which outlined strategies for student success. Today, he continues to encourage student engagement through high-impact practices like service-learning, study abroad and experiential learning.
Wise earned a Ph.D. in history in 1997 from the University of Tennessee, a master’s degree in United States history in 1993 from Wake Forest University and a bachelor’s degree in history and business economics in 1990 from Wofford College.
Wise serves on the boards of the National Alliance of Community and Technical Colleges, the Southern Regional Education Board, the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges, and the Tennessee Valley Corridor Community College Consortium. He was honored to participate in Tennessee Board of Regents Academic Leadership Institute (2006), the Global Academy for Leadership and Development (2008), Leadership Knoxville (2013), and East Tennessee Regional Leadership (2014).
Locally, he’s served on boards of the Great Schools Partnership, Project GRAD, Knoxville-Knox County Community Action Committee’s Workforce Connections, Knoxville Chamber, Knoxville Opera and the Knoxville Symphony.
Wise is married to Lynn and has three children. The family spends their spare time pursuing their passions of soccer, dance and music.
