After seven years of service, UT Vice President of Public and Government Relations Hank Dye will step down July 11.

Dye discussed the possibility of retirement with President Joe DiPietro at the beginning of the year and has made the call to step down.

Through email, DiPietro informed staff and faculty in June that Dye would be retiring this month.

Dye has worked for the University of Tennessee since April 1, 2005 and was responsible for overall communications, marketing and branding activity for government relations at the state and federal levels.

Dye is part of the system administration and oversees the Knoxville, Chattanooga, Martin, Tullahoma and Memphis campuses.

A 1963 journalism graduate, Dye wore many hats at UT. He served as a member of the Athletics Board, the National Alumni Association Board of Governors, and the College of Communications Board of Visitors.

Part of the reason he came back to work for UT was that he loves the university.

"He's been a person who cares and has been involved and had a very successful career prior to coming here," Assistant Vice President and Director of Communications Gina Stafford said. "He had actually intended to retire before, but the university needed him and he's come here for seven years."

"A whole lot of what's had him here is that he just loves the university and has since he was an undergraduate," she said.

Originally, Dye's goal was to only be working for UT a couple years, just until they were back on their feet again.

But after a couple president changes and administration switches, Dye thought best to stay on and help ease the transition from one administration to the next.

Through that transition, Dye was vital in helping to develop the strategic plan that is now in place, and will set the tone for the next 10 years.

In his tenure at UT, Dye sat under three presidents, and through the transitions he felt like he was able to add some stability within the transition.

"There were three good individuals, and I had a great deal of respect for all three of them and enjoyed many facets of working with all three of them," Dye said.

"When you go through times of change like that, there's always adjustments to be made, but I don't look back on it with any great difficulty. They were all three good men, and I enjoyed working with all three of them."

Last October, Dye and his wife Margaret moved to Townsend, Tenn., where the mountains are green and the trails are steep.

Dye loves to hike and said when he gets done relaxing for thirty days, he's going to start doing some more outdoor activities that he loves.

"I loved to hike and I will do a lot more hiking now," he said. "After I spend about thirty days doing absolutely nothing, I will get a little engaged in fly fishing, and probably find a couple of things related to the Great Smoky Mountain National Park that I might volunteer for and get engaged that way. I won't totally sit still after the thirty days."

Dye has worked as a part of the system administration, and doesn't necessarily get to see all the day-to-day activities that go on at the various campuses.

However, he loves the fact that he's worked in a place that is surrounded by young and smart people.

"The thing that has been really good from my standpoint is when you're here you are around young people and you are around smart people, and I find that very invigorating," he said. "I think that's something that has added a little joy to this seven years and I've enjoyed it very much and I'll miss it."