Stuart McWhorter, former state commissioner of finance and administration and leader of the Unified-Command dealing with the coronavirus, is leaving the administration.
He plans to go back to the private sector and take on a senior advisory role at Clemson University at the end of May.
Governor Bill Lee said, “Stuart has been a tremendous asset to my administration, first as the commissioner of Finance and Administration, then in his role as director for our COVID-19 response through Unified-Command.
His ability to apply private-sector expertise to public-sector challenges has served our state well and I wish him the best in his new chapter with his alma mater’s entrepreneurship and innovation planning.”
The Unified-Command Group, comprised of the Tennessee Department of Health, the Tennessee Department of Military and the Tennessee Emergency Management Agency, has established working procedures for testing, procurement, hospital capacity contingency planning, data analysis and other core functions in the fight against COVID-19. The Unified-Command Group continues to coordinate with the Economic Recovery Group through planning and executing on the safe re-boot of Tennessee’s economy.
“The strong work of Unified-Command will continue as we address the ongoing COVID-19 public health crisis,” said Governor Lee. “This group has optimized our state’s response and we will keep this model in place for as long as needed.”