Lisa C. Yamagata-Lynch

Bio

Dr. Lisa Yamagata-Lynch is the Director for the Office of Ombuds Services at the University of Tennessee (UT), Knoxville. She founded the office in May 2019 to serve graduate students, staff and faculty. During the first couple years, Lisa cultivated positive and sustained collaborative relationships with other university leaders to design and build comprehensive ombuds practice that met both constituent and organizational needs at UT. Lisa was promoted to Director in 2021, when the Chancellor's Office approved expanding the office and hiring a second ombudsperson. Lisa now supervises the second ombuds, an educational program coordinator, and a graduate research assistant. 

Lisa is a Certified Organizational Ombuds Practitioner® (CO-OP®). She is also a certified trainer in Crucial Conversations for Mastering Dialogue, Crucial Accountability, and Crucial Influence. She served as a co-chair and chair of the International Ombuds Association (IOA) Professional Development Committee and is a recipient of the 2024 IOA President's Award. Lisa was elected on the IOA Board of Directors for the 2024-2027 term, and was appointed to the CO-OP Certification Board. She is regularly invited to speak about starting an ombuds office, ombuds confidentiality and data management, and ombuds data analysis and annual reporting.

Lisa is a tenured professor at UT, and engaged in research with a record of over 30 peer-reviewed journal publications. In 2010, she published her book Activity Systems Analysis Methods for Understanding Complex Learning Environments, which is highly cited by scholars from several different fields who engage in qualitative research about human performances and organizational systems. In 2012, this book won the Association for Educational Communication and Technology (AECT) Research and Theory Division Annual Book Award. Lisa taught courses related to systemic change, qualitative research, and design thinking. As an academic leader, Lisa has experience in developing and growing revenue generating online programs. She also has significant experience in leading academic program accreditation. Lisa has served in several leadership roles as a program coordinator, director of graduate studies, and as a departmental associate head. Lisa received her doctoral degree from Indiana University with a double major in Educational Psychology and Instructional Systems Technology, and a minor in Library Information Science.