Cathy Cox, former Georgia Secretary of State and the current dean of Mercer’s School of Law, has been named as the sole finalist to become president of Georgia State and College University by the University System of Georgia.
Georgia College’s current president, Steve Dorman, announced in January that he plans to step down from his position in September. Dorman, the university’s eleventh president, has been leading Georgia College since 2012.
Cox, who was Georgia’s Secretary of State from 1999 to 2007, became the first woman in Georgia’s history to be elected to the position. During her time as Secretary of State, Cox instituted a universal electronic voting system, making Georgia the first state in the United States to do so, and moved the largest division of her office from Atlanta to Macon.
She additionally served two terms in the Georgia House of Representatives from 1993 to 1996 and ran for governor of Georgia in 2006.
“As someone who earned her undergraduate degrees through the University System of Georgia, I know how important it is to give students a strong foundation and the skills they need to help themselves and the state succeed,” Cox said in a press release from the University System of Georgia.
Cox attended Abraham Baldwin Agricultural University, where she graduated with an associate’s degree in agriculture, and the University of Georgia, where she obtained a bachelor’s degree in journalism.
She graduated from Mercer Law in 1986 and practiced law full-time for ten years prior to starting her political career. Cox spent ten years as the president of Young Harris College before becoming the dean of Mercer’s School of Law in 2017.
Georgia College and State University, located in Milledgeville, Georgia, had nearly 7,000 enrolled students last year and is considered the University System of Georgia’s primary liberal arts university.
“I am very excited for the chance to build upon Georgia College & State University’s reputation, and work with faculty and staff to create a world-class destination for the liberal arts right here in Georgia,” Cox said.
Samantha Homcy ‘23 is a junior at Mercer majoring in journalism and criminal justice. She has been working at The Cluster since her freshman year and served as Social Media Co-Manager during the spring 2021 semester. She is currently a practicum intern with WMAZ-TV. In her free time she enjoys music, community service, watching TV and finding new ways to get involved on Mercer’s campus.
