Communications

External Affairs Division

NeSmith Named Vice Chair of the Board of Regents of the University System of Georgia

Atlanta — November 10, 2011

William H. NeSmith Jr. thumbnail
William H. NeSmith Jr.

The Board of Regents, the 18-member governing body for the University System of Georgia, elected Regent William “Dink” H. NeSmith Jr. to a one-year term as the Board’s Vice Chair at their November 9 meeting.

NeSmith, currently serves as vice-chair, following his election in June to a six-month term. This shorter term came as a result of the regents’ approval of a bylaws change to shift the terms of the chair and vice chair to follow the calendar year instead of the state’s fiscal year. The new format will take effect January 1, 2012.

“I am pleased to be able to continue working with the Board Chair Tarbutton and Chancellor Huckaby as we endeavor to create a more educated Georgia,” says NeSmith.

NeSmith is co-owner and president of Athens-based Community Newspapers, Inc., which publishes several dozen newspapers in Georgia, Florida and the Carolinas. A native of Jesup, he is a 1970 graduate of The University of Georgia (UGA) and chairman of the Richard B. Russell Foundation. He is past president of UGA’s Alumni Association.

NeSmith served eight years on Gov. Perdue’s 20-member Commission for a New Georgia. He is on the board of directors of Athens First Bank and Trust, Southern Mutual Insurance Company, Pattillo Construction Company and the Georgia Chapter of The Nature Conservancy. NeSmith is past president of the Georgia Press Association and former chairman of Leadership Georgia. He is an emeritus member of the UGA Athletic Association’s board of directors and the UGA Foundation’s Board of Trustees.

During the FY 2011, NeSmith has served as the Board’s chairman of the academic affairs committee, vice chairman of MCG Health Systems, Inc. (d/b/a Georgia Health Sciences Health System) and vice chairman of the University System of Georgia Foundation.

He and his wife, Pam, have three children and live in Athens.

Regent Thomas Hopkins, Jr. chaired the committee that developed nominations for board officers for the coming year. Committee members were Regents Doreen Poitevint and Robert Hatcher.

The Board of Regents is a constitutional body that governs and manages the University System of Georgia, comprised of 35 public colleges and universities, Skidaway Institute of Oceanography and the Georgia Public Library Service; more than 311,000 students, and approximately 40,000 faculty and staff.

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