Sharon Pryse

Sharon Pryse is the Chairman and CEO of The Trust Company of Knoxville. An Atlanta native, Sharon Jones Pryse attended the University of Tennessee and has never considered leaving Knoxville. After graduating with a finance degree, she began as a clerk in the Trust Department of Valley Fidelity Bank. While still in her twenties, she became the bank’s youngest Senior Vice President; then, at age thirty-five, founded The Trust Company. The business has grown over the last 30 years to provide wealth management, retirement plans and personal trust services through its three East Tennessee offices in Knoxville, Johnson City and Chattanooga. Today, The Trust Company manages more than $4 billion in assets and employs 85 people.
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Pryse’s long-standing community commitment includes social service, the arts, economic development, and education. She currently serves on the board of the University of Tennessee Health Systems and on the Dean’s Advisory Council for the Haslam College of Business. She also serves on the boards of the Knoxville Symphony, Zoo Knoxville, and YMCA of East Tennessee (former Chair), among others, and is Chair of the Friends of the Smokies. She has served as Chair of the Knoxville Chamber, Leadership Knoxville, and United Way boards, and has also chaired United Way’s annual fundraising campaign. Pryse supports the university that made Knoxville her home and has previously held a position on the University of Tennessee Board of Trustees and Board of Directors for the U.T. Foundation.
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Pryse is an avid traveler, yet always happily heads home to her garden on the Tennessee River. She is married to her husband, Joe, and has three step-children, five grandchildren, and three great-grandchildren.