The Haslam Leadership Scholars (HALS) program at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, provides selected scholars the unparalleled opportunity to cultivate leadership skills and inspire positive change in Tennessee and beyond.
Founded in 2008 through the Haslam family’s generous gift, Haslam Leadership Scholars receive an endowed scholarship covering tuition, fees, housing and support for professional endeavors.
For these students, a UT education is the base of what their future holds. Meet three Haslam Leadership Scholars forging their own paths.
Dylan Stewart
Dylan Stewart
Dylan Stewart, a recent physics graduate and neutron sciences researcher at Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), surprised himself when he chose UT after growing up in Knoxville.
The Knoxville native wanted—and still wants—to explore his passions wherever they lead him. As a Haslam Leadership Scholar, he gained globalized world experience while continuing to discover pockets of Knoxville with every step he takes.
“Learning another language in a totally different cultural context opens my worldview up and makes me a well-rounded person. I’m so in love with multicultural contexts because I have had a lot of cool opportunities that revealed to me how the world is connected,” said Stewart.
Stewart added an Asian Studies major during his third year and found his two concentrations are not so far removed after all.
He found a natural synthesis of nuclear physics and international affairs through a combination of nonproliferation advocacy and work to support the world’s sustainable energy supply through nuclear energy.
Stewart studies neutron beta decay and how the magnetic field impacts proton travel through detectors at ORNL’s Spallation Neutron Science. A physics faculty member initially introduced him to the faculty where he regularly collaborates with researchers and leading nuclear energy experts. Here, he’s connected with neutron experts who encourage his self-guided contributions to the field.
Stewart graduated in May 2026 and intends to continue his research post-graduation. Upon concluding his HALS experience, he’s confident he’ll be a strong leader wherever he goes next, all thanks to his cohort’s friendship.
“The community I’ve been surrounded with has a lot of brilliant, amazing leaders in each of their own fields. I would have never gotten the opportunity to meet them because we are on such different paths. Having that community has enabled me to excel in my future,” he said.
Dylan’s cohort established the “2022 Haslam Leadership Scholars Legacy Scholarship Endowment” so future students may have fulfilling opportunities like those the cohort experienced through the HALS program.
Ava Foley
Ava Foley
Sometimes, one’s motivations compound after a lifetime of experiences. That is exactly what happened for political science and public affairs senior Ava Foley, who is one of four students partaking in UT’s first study abroad experience in Jordan.
Before moving to the Nashville suburbs, Foley spent her early childhood in Brooklyn where her parents worked in the music industry and second chance education. There, she witnessed her united community launch successful sustained advocacy that showed her the power of organizing and of government to do good. She carried that core belief all the way to UT to pursue a career rooted in service.
“I have seen the impact the government can have on people, both good and bad, and I understand how powerful of a medium it is to help people and to improve the lived experiences of not only my community members, but people across the country,” Foley said.
Foley watched her mother lead with compassion and the desire to make a positive impact, inspiring her to live her life altruistically by serving others. She learned exactly how she could turn her love for politics into a career when she got involved with advocacy in high school, eventually leading to government and public administration internships that would shape her political career thus far.
Foley knew she wanted to be a Haslam Leadership Scholar long before she applied. Her goal is to foster equality in justice, which could follow any number of careers, and the program’s leadership curriculum met her need for an education that pushed beyond natural career pathways.
The Haslam family, the University Honors team, university leadership and faculty welcomed Foley and her family with open arms when they arrived for Haslam Selection Weekend the spring before her first year.
“This school values me. They value my education. They want me to succeed,” Foley remembered thinking that weekend. “They care about my professional development and want to turn me into a leader.”
Her cohort’s education abroad to Rwanda and Kenya renewed a deeply instilled principle that’s been with Foley her whole life: Understanding an experience abstractly holds great value, yet going somewhere to learn from lived experiences is on an entirely different level.
That is why Foley wants to meet people all over the world and learn how she can serve them to make a positive impact. Her acceptance to the Jordan education abroad trip, where she’ll go into refugee camps and connect with UN ambassadors, is a testament to the intentionality behind her leadership.
“I’m interested in how I can learn from the people we’re speaking to and become more empathetic in light of them,” she said.
Winter Biel
Winter Biel
Finance junior Winter Biel pours herself into her volunteerism, community engagement and education, planting the beginnings of a career rooted in relationships.
Community was the determining factor in her decision to attend UT, and Biel knew she would inherit the foundations of a close-knit cohort when she accepted the offer to become a Haslam Leadership Scholar two years ago.
Outside of HALS, Biel directs membership for Tennessee Capital Markets Society, where she stoked her investment banking interest by competing in the Balyasny Asset Management Stock Pitch Competition last fall. Tennessee Capital Markets Society’s programming provides finance students with experiential learning to remain competitive candidates before key internship placements open.
She secured two investment banking internships for the upcoming summers after completing an investment banking and private equity internship in Nashville. This summer, Biel joins Victory Park Capital Advisors as a Private Credit Summer Analyst at in Chicago. She is the first UT student to obtain an Investment Banking Summer Analyst position at Bank of America, which will commence summer 2027.
After her cohort’s education abroad in Vietnam and Cambodia, Biel is even more determined to lead with a listening ear and a methodical eye.
“As I look ahead to the world I’ll enter after these next few summers and after graduation, I don’t just see systems or markets, instead, I see the people within them. I think that perspective will not only make me more effective, but also more intentional in the kind of impact I want to have,” said Biel.
The Haslam Leadership Scholars program develops holistic leadership skills in business, engineering, agriculture, public policy and hospitality students through enriched cohort experiences, a specialized curriculum and internship search support.
Biel builds her career in finance so she can make strategic decisions to influence growth for others. She cites her scholarship as a foundational piece of her achieved aspirations.
“The program has reframed the way that I think about leadership. It is something much bigger than individual success—it is the impact you leave on the people you’re surrounded with and the legacy you leave in the communities you’re a part of,” Biel shared. “It is about giving back to others because I have been poured into by so many.”