Lisa Yamagata-Lynch

University Ombudsperson and Director

Lisa is a Certified Organizational Ombudsman Practitioner® (CO-OP) and a certified trainer in Crucial Conversations and Crucial Accountability. Additionally, she is a trained Tennessee Rule 31 General Civil and Family Mediator. Lisa joined UT as a faculty in 2011 and currently holds the rank of Professor within the College of Education, Health, and Human Sciences. In her faculty role she served as Associate Department Head and Director of Graduate Studies. In 2019 she was appointed as the university’s ombudsperson and charged with establishing a newly envisioned Ombuds Services Office serving graduate students, staff, and faculty. In 2021, Lisa was promoted to director and expanded office staff to include an Associate Ombudsperson. Since then staff has expanded to include a full-time educational programming coordinator and a graduate research assistant position. Recently, Lisa received the International Ombudsman Association (IOA) President’s Award for her commitment to serving the Ombuds field. In addition, she was elected to serve on the IOA Board of Directors in April 2024, and she also serves on the Board of Certification for CO-OP. Lisa received her doctoral degree in Educational Psychology as well as Instructional Systems Technology from Indiana University, Bloomington. She received her bachelor’s degree in Psychology from 聖心女子大学—The University of Sacred Heart in Tokyo, Japan.

Nellie Haddad

Associate University Ombudsperson

Nellie is a Certified Organizational Ombudsman Practitioner® (CO-OP) and a certified mediator. She has been in higher education for most of her career, though most recently, she has come from the US Patent and Trademark Office as a Senior Associate Ombudsperson. Nellie received her doctoral degree in English Literature from the University of California Berkeley, her Master’s degree in International Relations from the University of South Carolina, and in Conflict Resolution and Mediation from Champlain College in Burlington, Vermont. She grew up in Canada and California. She adores her dogs, misses her cat, and always thinks another pet is a good idea.

Duren Thompson

Educational Program Coordinator

Duren has led design, marketing, facilitation, and evaluation of education and outreach programming for the UT Ombuds since Aug, 2022. An instructional designer focused on systems-change initiatives, Duren has twenty-five+ years’ experience supporting educators, staff, and students to improve engagement and outcomes in higher education, adult literacy, and K-12 contexts. Duren holds both an MS in Education for Instructional Technology and an MS in Education–Special Education from UT, as well as a Certificate in Online Teaching and Learning. She is a certified trainer in Crucial Conversations for Mastering Dialogue, a certified administrator of the Conflict Dynamics Profile (CDP), and holds a certificate in Cognitive Coaching Foundations from the Thinking Collaborative.

Prior to her work with the UT Ombuds, she designed, lead, and supported grant-funded educator professional development as a content expert in a wide variety of research-based topics focused on respectful, inclusive, engaging, and technology-enhanced learning experiences delivered via in-person, hybrid, and online modalities. An advocate for extended, job-embedded, and evidenced-based professional development, Duren explores the experiences and support needs of educational professional developers, particularly in marginalized or developing educational contexts.

Ame Houston

Educational Program Support Specialist

Ame joined the UTK Ombuds Office in 2025 to serve as the Educational Program Support Specialist, a new role created to support the office’s expanding outreach and programming. Her background is in administrative support and web development and she is currently in the final stretch of her Bachelor’s in Software Engineering. Her work is guided by values of accessibility, empathy, and meeting people where they are, with a focus on creating systems and resources that are both thoughtful and user-friendly.

Outside of her role at UTK, Ame is a working artist with a dedicated studio practice – her work can be found on display across Knoxville and other parts of the Southeast.

Shovon Alam

Graduate Research Assistant

Shovon (ne Mohammad Rahanur) joined the Office of Ombuds Services in August of 2023 to help build and implement an Ombuds research plan focused on both academic publication and continuous quality improvement. His research focuses on applying theoretical frameworks to the ombuds field, specifically examining the role of organizational ombuds in driving systemic change within academic settings.

Shovon is currently a doctoral candidate in Nutrition Sciences, enrolled in the Implementation Science in Community Nutrition program. Shovon graduated with a BS (Honors) in Nutrition and Food Science from Dhaka University, Bangladesh, and completed his MSc in Nutrition and Biomedicine from the Technical University of Munich (TUM), Germany. His hobby is to have fun times with his three-year-old daughter. He finds inspiration in a simple yet powerful quote from Nobel Peace laureate Dr. Muhammad Yunus: “Once we know where we want to go, getting there will be so much easier.”