Tennessee’s Power 100

The 2008 list is out.

A few of the East Tennesseans on the list this year:

Mike Hamilton
Athletics Director
UT-Knoxville
The sports executive who is more powerful than UT-K football coach Phil Fulmer, just not as high profile. Hamilton is the man who decides if Fulmer stays or goes each season, and/or what additional compensation Fulmer gets. Forbes magazine ranked the Volunteers the 6th most valuable college football team nationwide, with profits in excess of $17 million. (Forbes lists the team’s value in excess of $74 million. Athletic revenues, according to the U.S. Department of Education, were $95.4 million.) University athletic program currently working on the third largest capital campaign nationally (attempting to raise $210 million)—the largest in the South. Hamilton is a star for hiring men’s basketball coach Bruce Pearl, arguably the most popular man in Big Orange nation right now, who has taken the men’s basketball program to historic heights and created a new economic ripple across campus and city alike.

Susan Richardson Williams
Public Relations Executive
SRW & Associates
Like Graves, quasi-member of TVA board due to Congressional failure to re-appoint her when term expired. As such, despite President Bush’s re-nomination, Williams is not at current voting on TVA matters. Steered changes to the TVA land management policy halting land sales and swaps of TVA’s remaining 293,000 acres of protected shoreline with residential developers. Recently finished 12-year run on UT system’s board. Former state commissioner and state GOP party chairman. Managed Knoxville office of The Ingram Group, a statewide public relations firm, for eight years prior to launching her own practice in 2004.

Gary Wade
Tennessee Supreme Court Justice
The most successful Democrat to come out of Sevier County, possesses skills that make his power extend far beyond daily duties on the Tennessee Supreme Court panel. Former two-term Sevierville mayor’s nod is sought on most charitable and business projects in the community. Founder and former chief of Friends of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. President Bush’s recent Omnibus Bill contained the largest single-year operational increase in the park’s history, a $1.5 million boost to the park’s $17.2 million annual budget. Prolific opinion writer is the court’s go-to expert on criminal matters.

Thom Mason
Director
Oak Ridge National Lab
Former head of the Spallation Neutron Source who brought that $1.3 billion federal project in on time and budget, recently tabbed to replace departing ORNL head Jeff Wadsworth. Now leads arguably America’s most well-run, well-regarded national lab, the go-to lab for top federal projects ranging from neutron scattering to supercomputing. If science and technology is key to Tennessee’s future economic hopes (and its business identity), then this 40-ish, earring-wearing wunderkind is a face of that push.

Debra London
President & CEO
Mercy Health Partners
A rising force in Knox County following the recent merger of St. Mary’s and Baptist hospitals, which she now leads. Combined system will generate $600 million in net revenue, employ over 6,000, and boast approximately 800 physicians. Pre-merger, London’s St. Mary’s system was booming, including a $100 million renovation of one facility and construction of another. Parent group Catholic Healthcare Partners no doubt has big plans for London, who also serves on the Federal Reserve board.

Autry O.V. “Pete” DeBusk
Chairman & CEO
DeRoyal Industries
Powell-based businessman, entrepreneur, philanthropist and innovator who founded huge medical equipment and surgical supplies company that manufactures more than 6,000 products and employs more than 2,000 people. Harrogate-based Lincoln Memorial University graduate turned board chairman and primary thrust behind the school’s mission and success, including a new $24 million College of Osteopathic Medicine, the first such school accredited by the American Osteopathic Association in Tennessee and one of just 20 nationwide. Now planning LMU law school at Knoxville campus.

Bruce Hartmann
President & Publisher
Knoxville News Sentinel
The man behind Knoxville’s daily newspaper (and, through acquisitions and expansions he steered, its weekly alternative newspaper and business monthly), which recently took on the Knox County Commission in an Open Meetings Act (Sunshine Law) suit and won. After a jury trial, a chancellor ruled that 12 commission appointees that had been selected behind closed doors be removed from office and replaced in accordance with the Open Meetings Act—literally changing the face and fabric of local government. Managing editor Jack McElroy was the voice of the decision to take on Knox County government, but Hartmann gave the okay. Maintains a high level of involvement on local boards, with local projects ranging from downtown revitalization to Friends of the Smokies.

Pat Summitt
Lady Vols basketball coach
UT-Knoxville
All-time winningest coach in NCAA basketball history (men and women). Captured seventh national title last year. Cheatham County native who is currently coaching her 34th Lady Vols’ season, continuing her pursuit toward 1,000 wins (which she is expected to reach in 2009). In 2006, became the first women’s basketball coach to shatter the million-dollar ceiling when she was awarded a six-year contract extension that elevated her annual total compensation package to $1.125 million in 2006-2007 and reaches $1.5 million by the 2011-12-basketball season.

Bill Haslam
Mayor of Knoxville
Re-elected last year for the second term as Knoxville Mayor with virtually no opposition—a testament to his success in keeping the city in sound financial shape while tackling big-ticket items such as waterfront development and downtown revitalization. Former Pilot Corp. and Saks executive still unaffected by the trappings of political office and who is increasingly talked about as gubernatorial material. He and his family certainly have the personal wealth needed to do it.

Dolly Parton
Entertainer & Entrepreneur
Entertainment icon who is among the nation’s most recognized celebrities. Recently released Backwoods Barbie, her first mainstream country album in 17 years, and announced the launch of a world tour. Also a leading state tourism spokesperson and children’s literacy champion. Her Imagination Library, through which more than 330,000 kids receive free books monthly, covers all 95 Tennessee counties and is making significant headway in other states, Canada and (this year) Europe. Businesswoman behind Pigeon Forge’s Dollywood amusement park, Tennessee’s top tourist attraction, which had a record year in 2007, drawing more than 2.5 million visitors.