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.

Brooke Wichmann

Associate University Ombudsperson

Brooke is passionate about helping individuals and organizations strengthen relationships, improve communication, and resolve conflict at the lowest level possible. With over 15-years as a conflict management professional, she has extensive experience assisting with a wide variety of interpersonal, procedural, and organizational challenges and has developed a unique blend of skills in coaching, alternative dispute resolution, and communication. She holds the following certifications: Certified Organizational Ombuds Practitioner® (CO-OP), Professional Certified Coach (PCC), Brain-Based Coaching Certificate, Certified Professional Co-Active Coach (CPCC), Cinergy Certified Conflict Management Coach, Certified Workplace Mediator and Trainer, Crucial Conversations for Mastering Dialogue trainer, and Conflict Dynamics Profile administrator. Brooke also has in-depth training in non-violent communication and experience as a mediator and restorative justice facilitator. Prior to joining UT, she served as the Associate Director of Conflict Resolution Services at Colorado State University. Brooke obtained a Ph.D. in Education and Human Resource Studies, with a specialization in Organizational Learning, Performance, and Change, from Colorado State University. She has an M.A. in Peace Studies from the United Nations Mandated University for Peace and received her bachelor’s degree in Psychology from the University of West Georgia.

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 in higher education, adult literacy, and K-12 contexts to improve learner engagement and outcomes. 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 is pursuing both Qualitative Research and Adult Learning Graduate Certificates from the University of Tennessee. Focusing on implementation research, Duren explores experiences and support needs of educational professional developers, particularly in marginalized or developing educational contexts.

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.”