David Golden was recently named professor of practice and Allen and Ruth Harris Chair of Excellence in Business.
Golden earned a bachelor’s degree and juris doctorate at Brigham Young University. He served as senior manager for Eastman for almost 25 years and most recently as senior vice president, chief legal and sustainability officer and corporate secretary.
Following recommendation from Eastman, he completed the Harvard Business School Advanced Management Program in 2012. From 2017 until 2020 he served on the ETSU Board of Trustees but stepped down in order to apply for the Allen and Ruth Harris Chair.
In his position as chair, Golden said he hopes to build bridges, establish more interdisciplinary focus in work, work on common problems that are facing the world and engage students to be part of the solution. He says he is driven by the importance of engaging in something larger than himself and making a difference.
“Working on something that’s important and larger than you with people who are like-minded, that’s a good day,” said Golden. “And I want to give more of those opportunities to students at ETSU.”
Golden estimates he has travelled to between 36 and 37 countries throughout his career.
“I’ve worked in a number of countries,” said Golden. “And what I found was if you get everybody in a room, at some point you’re going to find a common area of understanding and then, if you can understand where people are coming from, you can work toward a solution.”
Outside of work, Golden serves on a number of boards, including the Tennessee Registry of Election Finance Board of Directors, Music for All Board of Directors, MATE Inspiration for Innovation Board of Directors, Ballad Health Board of Directors and Howard H. Baker Center for Policy Board of Directors. He also enjoys kayaking, photography and travelling.
“I really like experiencing different cultures,” he said. “Part of the joy of life is learning, so learning different cultures and meeting different people.”
Golden encouraged students to make the most of their lives and work together to make a difference in the world.
“I would love for every student I interact with, that when it comes time to face your mortality, you look back and you go ‘I’m really happy about the choices I made,'” Golden said.
