A History of Leadership: The Presidents of the University of Georgia

The University of Georgia (UGA), a public land-grant research university with its main campus in Athens, Georgia, holds the distinction of being the first state-chartered university in the United States. Its history is rich with tradition, academic achievement, and a commitment to service. Integral to this history are the individuals who have served as its presidents, guiding the institution through periods of growth, challenge, and transformation. This article explores the lineage of UGA presidents, highlighting their contributions and the eras they shaped.

Founding and Early Leadership

The seeds of the University of Georgia were sown in 1784 when Lyman Hall, then Governor of Georgia, successfully advocated for the allocation of 40,000 acres of land to establish a "college or seminary of learning." The charter, drafted by Abraham Baldwin, was approved by the Georgia General Assembly on January 27, 1785, marking a pivotal moment in American higher education. Baldwin's vision extended beyond classical education; he recognized the need for intellectual capacity to support agriculture and commerce in the burgeoning state.

Abraham Baldwin (1785-1801)

Abraham Baldwin, often credited as the founder of the University of Georgia, served without pay as UGA’s president until 1801, during the institution’s formative years. A graduate of Yale with a degree in Theology in 1772, he served as a chaplain in the Revolutionary Army during the War for Independence. Following the war, Baldwin studied law and was admitted to the Connecticut bar but, for reasons that are unknown, moved to Georgia. In 1784, he began practicing law in Augusta. He was elected to the state legislature and tasked by Governor Lyman Hall with devising an educational plan for Georgia. From this plan, the state issued a land grant to establish the University of Georgia (Franklin College) and chartered the school in 1785.

Baldwin played a significant role in working out a compromise over how to best apportion representation between the states. He is recognized as one of the architects of the Great Compromise that determined representation in the House and in the Senate and was one of only two Georgians to sign the Constitution.

Josiah Meigs (1801-1810)

Josiah Meigs became the school's president, as well as the first and only professor. After traveling the state to recruit a few students, Meigs opened the school with no building in the fall of 1801. The first school building patterned after Yale's Connecticut Hall was built the year later. Yale's early influence on the new university extended into the classical curriculum with emphasis on Latin and Greek.

Meigs steered the college’s curriculum in a progressive direction that included the study of classics, but also incorporated science. Later, Meigs’ also faced political collision with the University’s Board of Trustees during a time of economic and religious factionalism, which led to his resignation in 1810.

Robert Finley (1817)

Robert Finley was born in Princeton, NJ and attended the College of NJ (Princeton), graduating in 1787. He studied theology under John Witherspoon and became a Presbyterian minister. He is most well known for his founding role of the American Colonization Society.

Moses Waddel (1819-1829)

Moses Waddel became President of Franklin College (UGA) in 1829. By then he had become a well known educator, recognized for his establishment of Willington Academy in South Carolina since 1804. Some of his students included many notable southern politicians such as William H. Crawford, Augustus Baldwin Longstreet, George McDuffie, George Gilmer, Thomas W. Cobb, and John C. Calhoun. He stimulated the religious life of the campus and organized the first Presbyterian congregation in Athens. He resigned his presidency in 1829 due to an extended feud with the Baptists and Methodist factions at the college.

Alonzo Church (1829-1859)

Alonzo Church became professor of Mathematics at the University of Georgia in 1819 and then president in 1829. He was ordained a Presbyterian minister in 1824. After his long tenure as president he retired in 1862. During his presidency, Church navigated persistent challenges to the growth of the university. The community became increasingly concerned that the college was only dedicated to the wealthy elite of the state, while the conservative state legislature provided little financial support for maintaining or expanding higher education.

Church was the longest-serving president in UGA history.

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Andrew A. Lipscomb (1860-1874) as Chancellor

In 1860, the Board of Trustees aimed to modernize and reorganize the university. The Board changed the position of the President to Chancellor, for which they elected Andrew A. Lipscomb. Lipscomb tried to continue the expansion of the university during his tenure that lasted through the Civil War and Reconstruction until he retired in 1873. Lipscomb graduated from Georgetown Military Academy and became a Methodist minister at 19. In 1849, he left the ministry to found the Metropolitan Institute for Young Ladies in Montgomery, Alabama. He then served as president of the Tuskegee Female College before coming to the University of Georgia.

Henry Holcombe Tucker (1874-1878) as Chancellor

Tucker opposed succession during the Civil War. Following Lipscomb’s progressive direction for the university, Tucker aimed to return the curriculum to the old classical system of a traditional liberal arts college.

Patrick Hues Mell (1878-1888) as Chancellor

Patrick Hues Mell pursued a turn back to a conservative administrative direction that primarily served the educational interests of the political elite rather than meet the rising demand for more agricultural and technological opportunities.

The Turn of the Century and Expansion

The turn of the century brought many changes in the administration and organization of the university including the naming of a new chancellor in 1899.

Walter B. Hill (1899-1905)

Walter B. Hill became the first UGA alumnus to lead the university. A progressive leader, his six-year tenure, before his death from pneumonia, was marked with increased enrollment, expansion of the university's course offerings, and the addition of state funding through appropriation, for the first time bringing the university's annual income to over $100,000 in 1902.

Read also: Legacy of Fordham University

David C. Barrow (1906-1925)

Many of the university's schools and colleges were established during Barrow's tenure. The College of Education (1908), the Graduate School (1910), the School of Commerce (1912), the School of Journalism (1915), and the Division of Home Economics (1918) were all established during this period. In 1906, UGA also incorporated the College of Agriculture by bringing together A&M (agricultural and mechanical) courses.

Charles Snelling (1926-1932)

Steadman Sanford (1932-1935)

The University System of Georgia and Continued Growth

In 1932, the reorganization of the university's administrative structure continued through the establishment of the University System of Georgia (USG), which brought UGA along with several other public colleges in the state under the control of a single board of regents. The title of the university's lead administrator was changed from chancellor back to the original title of president.

Harmon Caldwell (1935-1948)

Throughout this period, UGA's enrollment grew every year with student population reaching 3,000 by 1937 and almost 4,000 by 1941. Through President Franklin D. Roosevelt's New Deal, UGA received a $2 million infusion of funding and an additional $1 million from the state legislature. The university used the new funds to make a number of improvements to the campus from 1936 to the early 1940s.

Jonathan Rogers (1949-1950)

Omer Clyde Aderhold (1950-1967)

Omer Clyde Aderhold started his 17-year-long stint as UGA president.

Modern Era and Recent Leadership

Fred Davison (1968-1986)

During his tenure, the school's research budget increased from $15.6 million to more than $90 million. UGA inaugurated the School of Environmental Design, was designated as a Sea Grant College, and built 15 new buildings on campus.

Charles Knapp (1987-1997)

Together with UGA alumnus and Georgia Governor Zell Miller, Knapp helped establish the state's HOPE Scholarship in 1993 with funds appropriated from the new state lottery. Knapp also was a founding member of the Georgia Research Alliance, and construction projects totaling more than $400 million were started during his administration, including the Biological Sciences Complex (1992), Ramsey Student Center for Physical Activities (1995), the Performing Arts Center, Hodgson Hall (1996), the music building (1996), the Georgia Museum of Art (1996), Dean Rusk Hall (1996), and the UGA Welcome Center (1996).

Michael F. Adams (1997-2013)

Adams began a strategic plan to grow the university's academic programs in the new century. In 2001, UGA inaugurated the College of Environment and Design and the School of Public and International Affairs, the first new schools to open since 1964. The strategic plan also chose medicine and health sciences as a major focus of growth and development.

Jere W. Morehead (2013-Present)

President Jere W. Morehead began his tenure as the 22nd University of Georgia president on July 1, 2013. Under his leadership, UGA has risen in the rankings of the best public colleges and universities and has completed a series of initiatives to enhance student learning and success, including a requirement for experiential learning for all undergraduates.

During President Morehead’s tenure, UGA has increased its research and development expenditures by over 75%. The University of Georgia ranks No. universities for the number of products brought to market based on its research, according to the annual survey by AUTM. UGA has ranked either first or second in this measure for nine consecutive years.

In keeping with his focus on student success, President Morehead launched the ALL Georgia Program to support students from rural areas and created the Double Dawgs program, which enables students to save time and money by earning an undergraduate and graduate degree in five years or less.

Notable Alumni

The University of Georgia has produced a diverse array of accomplished individuals who have made significant contributions in various fields.

Arts and Entertainment

Bill Anderson: Musician, songwriter, and television personality.
Jerry Fuchs: Indie rock drummer for Turing Machine, The Juan MacLean, !!!
Alex Kresovich: Music producer and songwriter.
Pat Mitchell: Media industry CEO, producer, professor, and author.
Parvati Shallow: Television host and personality, star of CBS's Around the World For Free, and winner of Survivor: Micronesia.
Ernie Johnson Jr.: (A.B.J.) Sportscaster.
Alice Stewart: Political commentator for CNN, Emmy Award winner, Communications Director for presidential campaigns, a Harvard Fellow at the John F. Kennedy School of Government.

Business and Philanthropy

Frank Hanna III: Entrepreneur, philanthropist, and merchant banker.
Julius Curtis Lewis Jr.: President of J.C. Lewis Enterprises.
Hala Moddelmog: President of Church's Chicken and Susan G. Komen for the Cure.

Politics and Law

Eugene R. Black Sr.: Governor of the Federal Reserve Board.
Daisy Hurst Floyd: Law professor, dean of the Walter F. George School of Law at Mercer University.
Henry W. Grady: Journalist and orator.
William Tapley Bennett Jr.: U.S. Ambassador.
Dina Titus: U.S. Representative.
Ellis Arnall: Governor of Georgia.
William Yates Atkinson: Governor of Georgia.
Roy Barnes: Governor of Georgia.
John Barrow: U.S. Representative.
Robert Benham: Justice of the Supreme Court of Georgia.
Cecile Bledsoe: Arkansas State Senator.
Charles H. Bronson: Florida Commissioner of Agriculture.
Garland T. Byrd: Lieutenant Governor of Mississippi.
Albert Sidney Camp: U.S. Representative.
John Archibald Campbell: Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States.
Saxby Chambliss: U.S. Senator.
Joyce Chandler: Georgia State Representative.
Howell Cobb: Speaker of the House of Representatives and Governor of Georgia.
Cathy Cox: Dean of Mercer University School of Law and former Secretary of State of Georgia.
Ander Crenshaw: U.S. Representative.
Benjamin Cromwell Franklin: Attorney General of the Republic of Texas.
William Crosby Dawson: U.S. Senator.
Nancy Denson: Mayor of Athens-Clarke County, Georgia.
Norman S. Fletcher: Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Georgia.
Alva Garey: Associate Justice of the Oklahoma Supreme Court.
John B. Gordon: Confederate General and U.S. Senator.
Phil Gramm: U.S. Senator.
Tom Graves: U.S. Representative.
Marjorie Taylor Greene: U.S. Representative.
Joe Frank Harris: Governor of Georgia.
Nathaniel E. Harris: Governor of Georgia.
Sampson Willis Harris: U.S. Representative.
Edith E. House: Florida State Representative.
Mike Hubbard: Speaker of the Alabama House of Representatives.
Hank Huckaby: Chancellor of the University System of Georgia.
Herschel Vespasian Johnson: U.S. Senator and Governor of Georgia.
James Johnson: Governor of Georgia.
Brian P. Kemp: Governor of Georgia.
Jack Kingston: U.S. Representative.
Henderson Lovelace Lanham: U.S. Representative.
Nancy Mace: U.S. Representative.
Juanita Marsh: Georgia State Representative.
John Milledge: U.S. Senator and Governor of Georgia.
Zell Miller: Governor of Georgia and U.S. Senator.
Brooks Pennington Jr.: Georgia State Representative.
Sonny Perdue: Governor of Georgia and U.S. Secretary of Agriculture.
Ralph Reed: Political consultant and activist.
Fred B. Rooney: U.S. Representative.
Richard Russell Jr.: Governor of Georgia and U.S. Senator.
Carl Sanders: Governor of Georgia.
John Marshall Slaton: Governor of Georgia.
Alexander Stephens: Vice President of the Confederate States of America.
Eugene Talmadge: Governor of Georgia.
Herman Talmadge: Governor of Georgia and U.S. Senator.
Mark Taylor: Lieutenant Governor of Georgia.
Meldrim Thomson: Governor of New Hampshire.
Melvin E. Thompson: Governor of Georgia.
Ernest Vandiver: Governor of Georgia.

Athletics

Shandon Anderson: Basketball player.
Boss Bailey: Football player.
Champ Bailey: Football player.
Chip Beck: Golfer.
Gordon Beckham: Baseball player.
Kendrell Bell: Football player.
Kim Black: Swimmer.
Mitchell Boggs: Baseball player.
Justin Bolli: Golfer.
Kara Braxton: Basketball player.
Bill Brown: Basketball player.
Reggie Brown: Football player.
Kevin Butler: Football player.
Kentavious Caldwell-Pope: Basketball player.
Quincy Carter: Football player.
Spud Chandler: Baseball player.
Nick Chubb: Football player.
Paul Claxton: Golfer.
Bob Clemens: Football player.
Erik Compton: Golfer.
Lisa Coole: Golfer.
Brandon Coutu: Football player.
Terrell Davis: Football player.
Van Davis: Football player.
Todd Duffee: Mixed martial artist.
Kris Durham: Football player.
Pat Dye: Football coach.
Anthony Edwards: Basketball player.
Teresa Edwards: Basketball player.
Gene Ellenson: Football player.
Harris English: Golfer.
Vern Fleming: Basketball player.
Missy Franklin: Swimmer.
Robert Geathers: Football player.
Vicki Goetze: Golfer.
Goldberg: Wrestler and football player.
Charles Grant: Football player.
A. J. Green: Football player.
David Greene: Football player.
Forrest Griffin: Mixed martial artist.
András Haklits: Hammer thrower.
Bill Hartman: Football player and coach.
Andre Hastings: Football player.
Len Hauss: Football player.
Jarvis Hayes: Basketball player.
Verron Haynes: Football player.
Garrison Hearst: Football player.
Russell Henley: Golfer.
Claude Hipps: Football player.
Terry Hoage: Football player.
Reese Hoffa: Shot putter.
Dennis Hughes: Football player.
Ryuji Imada: Golfer.
John Isner: Tennis player.
Andy Johnson: Football player.
Buckshot Jones: NASCAR driver.
Daryll Jones: Football player.
Jumaine Jones: Basketball player.
Jeff Keppinger: Baseball player.
Alec Kessler: Basketball player.
Chris Kirk: Golfer.
Kristy Kowal: Swimmer.
Billy Kratzert: Golfer.
Franklin Langham: Golfer.
Tommy Lyons: Football player.
Mike Macdonald: Football coach.
Mohamed Massaquoi: Football player.
Randy McMichael: Football player.
Bob McWhorter: Football player.
Adam Meadows: Football player.
Shannon Mitchell: Football player.
Knowshon Moreno: Football player.
Buster Mott: Football player.
Reid Patterson: Football player.
Mikael Pernfors: Tennis player.
David Pollack: Football player.
Larry Rakestraw: Football player.
John Rauch: Football player and coach.
Nolen Richardson: Baseball player.
Saudia Roundtree: Basketball player.
Freddy Sale: Baseball player.
Theron Sapp: Football player.
Jake Scott: Football player.
Richard Seymour: Football player.
D.J. Shockley: Football player.
Frank Sinkwich: Football player.
Vernon Smith: Football player.
Matthew Stafford: Football player.
Matt Stinchcomb: Football player.
Jon Stinchcomb: Football player.
Hudson Swafford: Golfer.
Sheila Taormina: Olympic athlete (swimming, triathlon, modern pentathlon).
Fran Tarkenton: Football player.
Christi Thomas: Basketball player.
Odell Thurman: Football player.
Forrest Towns: Olympic track and field athlete.
Charley Trippi: Football player.
Maicel Uibo: Track and field athlete.
Hines Ward: Football player.
Danny Ware: Football player.
Bubba Watson: Golfer.
Don Wells: Football player.
John Whire: Football player.
Gene White: Football player.
Jermaine Wiggins: Football player.
Damien Wilkins: Basketball player.
Dominique Wilkins: Basketball player.

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