University System Chancellor Sonny Perdue officially takes up new role
File Photo
By Dave Williams
Capitol Beat News Service
ATLANTA — Sonny Perdue has been a Georgia state senator, governor and U.S. secretary of agriculture.
But not until Friday did the long-time public servant officially take on “maybe the most impactful job I’ve ever had” when he was formally invested as the 14th chancellor of the University System of Georgia.
“We touch the lives of people where it really counts and help them add value to themselves,” Perdue said during an investiture ceremony inside the chambers of the state House of Representatives that coincided with his 50th wedding anniversary.
“He focuses on the details; he’s data driven,” said Teresa MacCartney, the university system’s executive vice chancellor of administration, who served as acting chancellor last year and early this year after Wrigley left. “He always wants to know how we can do better.”
Albany State University President Marion Fedrick attended and participated in the investiture. She carried the ASU Mace as the official mace-bearer for the ceremony as Perdue was formally invested as the 14th chancellor of the University System of Georgia. Regent Harold Reynolds, chairman of the Board of Regents, presided over the inaugural ceremonies. Additional speakers included Gov. Brian Kemp, Georgia House of Representatives Speaker David Ralston, and Harold Melton, former justice and former chief justice of the Supreme Court of Georgia.
Perdue took the opportunity at Friday’s ceremony to put in a plug for the system’s new website, Georgia Degrees Pay, which launched last month, part of his commitment to transparency through sharing data with the public.
“It shows the value of a Georgia degree and a college diploma,” he said. “We’re not hiding anything. … We want to earn the public’s trust.”
Perdue also promised to push to build back student enrollment in the system, which declined slightly last fall after seven straight years of growth, and to improve student retention rates at the various campuses.
Reynolds presented Perdue with a medallion symbolic of his new role and responsibilities.
“We trust Sonny will carry out this great obligation with dignity and humility,” Reynolds said.
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