Chief Executive Officer

Jerome A. Grant has served as our Chief Executive Officer and as a director on our Board since November 2019. Mr. Grant joined us as Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer in November 2017. Prior to joining us, Mr. Grant served as Senior Vice President, Chief Services Officer with McGraw-Hill Corporation, a learning science company, from June 2015 to April 2017. Prior to joining McGraw-Hill, Mr. Grant spent more than 14 years in executive leadership roles at Pearson Education, Inc., an educational publishing and services company, including President of Business and Technology, Chief Learning Officer, Vice President – Digital Products and Vice President – Technology Strategy. Mr. Grant received a Bachelor of Business Administration degree in Labor Relations and Marketing from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee.

Executive Vice President, Chief Financial Officer

Bruce brings over 30 years of experience in the technology sector to his executive leadership roles. Before joining UTI, Bruce most recently served as Chief Financial Officer for Vacasa, North America’s largest short-term rental property management and hospitality company, leveraging purpose-built technology platforms to “bring vacations home” for over 35,000 property owners and 3 million guests annually. Bruce was instrumental in driving financial strategy and operational excellence, successfully leading the company to its first year of profitability in 2023. Before Vacasa, Bruce served as CFO of Kiavi (formerly LendingHome), one of the nation’s largest lenders to real estate investors, where he led the company through a period of rapid and profitable growth and drove the company’s IPO readiness initiatives. Bruce grew his career over 27 years at Intel Corporation, where he served in various finance leadership roles including most recently as Vice President and CFO of the Enterprise Data Center business and Intel Capital. Additionally, Bruce has served on the board of directors for Cirrus Secure since August 2021 and Urban Light since July 2017.

Executive Vice President, Chief Operating Officer

Todd A. Hitchcock leads the company’s day-to-day operations and the strategy and transformation team, strengthening the alignment of the corporate strategy with operational performance across the divisions.  He has worked with Universal Technical Institute, Inc. since 2018, when he began consulting on various projects before transitioning to in-house positions. A widely respected thought leader in education, Todd has 30 years’ experience leading organizations through transformative change.  He has held multiple senior leadership positions at global companies including Pearson, where he was Chief Operating Officer for Pearson Embanet and Senior Vice President for Pearson Learning Solutions; he also led Florida Virtual School’s Global Services division. One of the nation’s earliest pioneers in online learning, Todd has served on the boards of both the United States Distance Learning Association (USDLA) and iNACOL (now known as the Aurora Institute).  He holds Bachelors degrees in Business Administration and Education from the University of New Brunswick, and credentials in academic administration from the University of Toronto and York University.

Executive Vice President, Chief Legal Officer

Christopher E. Kevane joined Universal Technical Institute, Inc. in 2020 and brings more than 20 years of legal and executive experience representing both publicly traded and private equity-backed organizations. Previously, he was Chief Legal Officer for Centauri Health Solutions, one of Inc. Magazine’s fastest growing private healthcare IT services companies. Earlier in his career, he served as the senior legal officer for Rural/Metro Corporation and practiced with the international law firm of Squire Patton Boggs where he focused on capital markets initiatives. He holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Finance and a Juris Doctor degree from Arizona State University.

Executive Vice President, Chief Academic Officer

Prior to his current appointment as Chief Academic Officer, Sherrell E. Smith served the company in multiple leadership roles since 1986, including Executive Vice President of Campus Operations and Services; Executive Vice President of Admissions and Operations; Senior Vice President of Operations; and as a campus president.  His past experience includes advising a private equity firm on acquisition opportunities in the education sector, and as Chief Executive Officer of the American Institute of Technology. Sherrell received a Bachelor of Science degree in Management from Arizona State University.

Senior Vice President, Chief Accounting Officer

Ms. Kline has served as the company’s Chief Accounting Officer since December 2023. She was also appointed Interim Chief Financial Officer, serving in this role from September 2024 to March 2025. Previously, Ms. Kline joined the company in February 2020, initially filling the position of Vice President, Corporate Controller. 

Prior to joining the Company, Ms. Kline served as the Director of Financial Reporting at Nuverra Environmental Solutions from July 2015 to February 2020 and was named the Principal Accounting Officer from November 2019 through February 2020, and as the Director of Accounting and Reporting at PetSmart, Inc. from October 2007 to July 2015. Ms. Kline started her career with Deloitte & Touche LLP. Ms. Kline is a Certified Public Accountant. Ms. Kline earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Accounting and Finance from the University of Arizona.

Senior Vice President, Chief Human Resources Officer

Carolyn Frank joined Universal Technical Institute, Inc. in 2024, bringing more than 20 years of experience in building and managing human resource organizations across industries. Most recently, she served as Chief Human Resources Officer and Executive Vice President at Finance of America, and as Chief Human Resources Officer and Senior Vice President at Guild Mortgage Company.  Carolyn is recognized as a national leader in her profession, having been honored as one of the Top 100 Women in Business by the National Women's Conference in 2022, and as HR Executive of the Year by the San Diego HR Forum in 2018.  She holds a Master of Arts in Human Resource Management from National University and a Bachelor of Arts in Speech-Communications from Baldwin Wallace University.

Chief Information Officer

Adrienne DeTray brings over 20 years of executive leadership in digital and AI transformation across the education and healthcare sectors. As Chief Information Officer at Universal Technical Institute, she is focused on strengthening our digital posture through a unified tech and digital operating model—reimagining IT as a transformation engine that embeds digital at the core, simplifies operations, and drives innovation, strategy execution, and excellence. Prior to UTI, Adrienne served as CIO at Adtalem Global Education, where she led a company-wide shift to a product- and experience-led organization, introducing generative AI and modernizing core platforms to support growth and improve student outcomes. She also held senior technology roles at CommonSpirit Health and Catholic Health Initiatives, where she combined technical expertise with a clinical background as a registered nurse to deliver human-centered digital solutions. Adrienne is known for building agile, product-minded teams anchored in trust, impact, and innovation—making the technology and digital ecosystem a driver of value and a destination for top talent.

Division President, Universal Technical Institute

Tracy Lorenz brings over 25 years of higher education experience to the position of Division President of Universal Technical Institute, the transportation, skilled trades and energy divisions of Universal Technical Institute, Inc. Prior to joining the company as division president, Tracy served as the President and Chief Executive Officer of Triumph Higher Education and held multiple leadership roles at Apollo Education Group, including President of Western International University. She has a Bachelor of Science in Accounting and Business/Management and a Master of Strategic Management, both from Indiana University-Kelley School of Business.

Division President, Concorde Career Colleges

Kevin Prehn was appointed Division President of Concorde Career Colleges in 2023, after holding several leadership positions at the company including Chief Operating Officer. Prior to joining Concorde, Kevin served as Regional Vice President of Operations at Education Corporation of America; Regional Vice President of Operations at Kaplan Higher Education; and Regional Operations Manager at Score Educational Centers. He holds a Master of Business Administration from Purdue Global and a Bachelor of Arts in communication from University of California San Diego.