Chris Lehman has been hired as Chief Human Resources Officer at the University of Vermont, bringing 25 years of HR leadership experience to the state’s flagship land-grant university.

Lehman was most recently CHRO for OTC Industrial Technologies, a $1 billion engineered equipment distribution and service company headquartered in Ohio. He lived in Williston, VT, from 2000 to 2005 while working as HR Manager for Belden Wire in Essex Junction.

Lehman has led HR teams in a variety of manufacturing and industrial settings, with extensive experience engaging with diverse workforces.

“I am delighted to announce the hiring of such a capable and talented HR leader to this important position at our university,” said UVM President Suresh Garimella. “Chris leads with a strong emphasis on people, from recruitment to talent development and retention. In several of his prior roles, he has successfully transformed human resources departments to meet the strategic needs of diverse and complex organizations and is eager to explore approaches that will work well at UVM.”

Lehman holds an MBA, with honors, from the University of Notre Dame and a BS from Manchester College in Indiana. The native of Roanoke, VA, has been married to wife Jennifer for 31 years, and the couple has four children. His recreational interests include golf, hiking, running, and sports. 

Lehman will begin in his new role Monday, August 28. He will serve as a member of UVM’s senior leadership team.

“This is a fantastic opportunity for me to lead a talented team of people in a special place,” Lehman said. “I look forward very much to getting started.”

About the University of Vermont

Since 1791, the University of Vermont has worked to move humankind forward. UVM’s strengths align with the most pressing needs of our time: the health of our societies and the health of our environment. Our size—large enough to offer a breadth of ideas, resources, and opportunities, yet intimate enough to enable close faculty-student mentorship across all levels of study—allows us to pursue these interconnected issues through cross-disciplinary research and collaboration. Providing an unparalleled educational experience for our students, and ensuring their success, are at the core of what we do. As one of the nation’s first land grant universities, UVM advances Vermont and the broader society through the discovery and application of new knowledge.

UVM is derived from the Latin Universitas Viridis Montis (in English, University of the Green Mountains).