Dr. Steven Gentile currently serves as the Executive Director at the Tennessee Higher Education Commission (THEC), where he has had a transformative journey from his initial role as Assistant Director of Fiscal Policy to his prior role as Chief Policy and Strategy Officer. Before joining THEC, Steven served as the Assistant Dean of Admission and Financial Aid at his alma mater, Davidson College, in North Carolina.

In addition to his THEC responsibilities, Steven finds great joy in engaging with students in the classroom when he teaches education policy at Vanderbilt University. His hands-on work in designing courses, preparing lectures and seminars, and assessing and developing education policy students strengthens his ability to affect change through higher education policy.

He also engages in higher education research with current and former colleagues, investigating the effects of initiatives like Tennessee Promise on student debt, changes in federal PLUS loan regulations on HBCU enrollment, and the role of lottery earmarks in appropriation volatility.

Steven received his Doctor of Education in Higher Education Leadership and Policy from Vanderbilt University (2019), a Master of Education from Vanderbilt (2014), and a Bachelor of Arts in Economics from Davidson College (2006). He currently serves as a Complete College America Fellow and is also an alumnus of Leadership Tennessee NEXT, Nashville Emerging Leaders, and the Tennessee Higher Education Innovation and Leadership Fellows program.

In his free time, he and his wife, Solvig, enjoy raising their spirited school-age children in the close-knit East Nashville community.