STAFF
DR. CHRIS KLENCK TEAM PHYSICIAN
EIGHTH Year AT TENNESSEE PURDUE ‘95 Dr. Chris Klenck is in his eighth season as the head team physician on the UT Sports Medicine Staff. Klenck came to Knoxville in November 2006 following a primary care sports medicine fellowship at Indiana University Medical Center. He had served the Indianapolis hospital since June 2001 in the positions of Internal Medicine/ Pediatrics Intern, resident and chief resident. During fellowship training, Klenck was an assistant team physician for the Indianapolis Colts preseason training camps and assisted at Purdue University, his alma mater. He worked the NFL Scouting Combines in Indianapolis, has NCAA championships experience and served as a team physician in the Indiana high school ranks. Additionally, Klenck has earned board certifications
in Internal Medicine, Pediatrics and Primary Care Sports Medicine. In January 2013, he was named the Sports Medicine Person of the Year by the Tennessee Athletic Trainers’ Society. An Evansville, Ind., native, Klenck earned his doctor of pharmacy degree from Purdue before completing his doctor of medicine degree at Indiana University School of Medicine. He is a member of the American Academy of Pediatrics, American College of Physicians, American Medical Society for Sports Medicine and American College of Sports Medicine. Klenck is married to the former Laura Botto of Dayton, Ohio. They are the parents of three children: Jacob, Ben and Ella.
DONNA THOMAS
SENIOR ASSOCIATE ATHLETICS DIRECTOR
23rd Year AT TENNESSEE tennessee ‘82 Senior Associate Athletics Director Donna Thomas has worked with the University of Tennessee Athletics Department for 22 years. She serves as UT’s Senior Woman Administator and is responsible of oversight of the women’s basketball program. Thomas spent the 2011-12 school year as the interim director of the Thornton Athletics Student Life Center. In that role, Thomas restructured and reorganized the Thornton Center staff, added new programming and services for the student-athletes, and began updating the facility. She spent a great deal of time speaking to groups across campus to learn more about academic programs while sharing insight on the requirements for students who represent Tennessee in twenty sports. While at UT, Thomas has been responsible for numerous aspects of the former women’s athletics department, some of which included oversight of facility construction and renovation, management of the Lady Vols’ portion of the adidas contract, development and implementation of department policies and procedures, and oversight of the scheduling of competition for all sports. She also was the department liaison to the campus, serving as a member of multiple campus committees. In July of 2011, Thomas completed a two-year term as co-chair of UT Knoxville’s Council on Diversity and Interculturalism. She recently served as a member of the search committee for the Assistant Dean and Director of
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Undergraduate Admissions, and she was the department liaison to the Thornton Center for Academics and Student Life. At the request of UT Knoxville Chancellor Jimmy G. Cheek, Thomas served as a member of the campus’s Task Force on Civility and Community and was an integral member of the committee for the Celebration of African American Achievement. Off campus, Thomas has served as the chair of the NCAA Division I Track and Field Committee and directed multiple championship events for the SEC and the NCAA and serves as the university’s senior woman administrator with the SEC. Thomas first joined the UT staff as the undergraduate head manager of the Lady Volunteer basketball team from 1978 to 1982, while working toward her bachelor’s degree in secondary physical education. She then returned to UT in 1990 as a graduate assistant in athletic administration and earned her master’s degree in recreation and athletic administration. During her time away from UT, Thomas served as the director of recreation ministries for Christ United Methodist Church in Memphis from 1982 to 1990. At CUMC, she managed the athletic and activity program of the 5,000-member church; her responsibilities included program development and planning for ages two through senior adult.
Tennessee women’s BASKETBALL RECORD BOOK » 2013-14