News        from ABAC

Michael D. Chason Director of Public Relations ABAC 30 -- 2802 Moore Highway Tifton, GA 31793-2601 Phone 229-391-5055 Fax 229-391-5056 mchason@abac.edu

IMMEDIATE MARCH 12, 2007

ABAC President David Bridges congratulates George T. Smith on receiving The Regents’ Hall of Fame Award.

ABAC ALUMNUS RECEIVES REGENTS’ HALL OF FAME AWARD

TIFTON—The leadership of the University System of Georgia gathered in Atlanta on March 3 when the USG Foundation presented “Regents’ Hall of Fame Awards” to four outstanding USG faculty members and three notable USG alumni for their significant contributions to public higher education in Georgia. Among those honored at the third annual Excellence Awards Celebration was ABAC alumnus George T. Smith (class of 1940).

Smith is the only Georgian ever to have won contested elections in all three branches of state government – legislative, executive and judicial. He served the people of Georgia as speaker of the House of Representatives, lieutenant governor, and chief justice of the Georgia Supreme Court. Smith started his career in public service while still a student at ABAC by serving as student government president. His dedication to ABAC continues in numerous ways including service on the ABAC Foundation Board of Trustees.

Another highlight of the event was the presentation of the “Eldridge McMillan Lifetime Achievement Award” to former U.S. Senator Zell Miller for his service to higher education in Georgia. The honor is named for the long-serving current member of the Board of Regents.

“This event applauds excellence and achievement within the University System,” said Regent Richard L. Tucker, who as chair of the USG Foundation, hosted the program. “The honorees all have contributed outstanding service to the University System of Georgia, their communities and the state of Georgia in the arena of public higher education, and we want to express our sincere appreciation of their work. This recognition is particularly appropriate this year as we celebrate the 75^th anniversary of the creation of the University System of Georgia”

Other alumni honored at the event were Dr. J. Harold Harrison, a graduate of the Medical College of Georgia, and F. Willis Hurst, a graduate of the University of West Georgia.

Faculty recipients of the “Regents’ Hall of Fame Awards” were Dr. Judy Awong-Taylor, an associate professor of biology at Armstrong Atlantic State University; Dr. Lyndasu Crowe, an assistant professor of biology at Darton College; Dr. Peter Lindsay, an associate professor of political science and philosophy at Georgia State University; and Dr. Randolph Smith, a professor of psychology and chair of the Department of Psychology at Kennesaw State University.

The evening’s honorees were selected after the Board of Regents solicited nominations for the awards from every campus in the University System. A panel of University System officials evaluated the faculty nominations, and an external panel named by the University System of Georgia Foundation evaluated alumni nominations. The faculty recipients each received a $5,000 check from the USG Foundation.

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