Torri Lilly Steps Down; Virginia Carson Named Interim President of South Georgia College
Atlanta — February 26, 2008
Dr. Torri Lilly
University System of Georgia Chief Operating Officer Rob Watts announced today that Dr. Torri Lilly has decided to step down from the presidency of South Georgia College (SGC) in Douglas to accept an administrative assignment reporting to him. Watts has appointed Dr. Virginia Carson, currently vice president for academic affairs at Georgia Highlands College (GHC) in Rome, to serve as interim president of South Georgia College, effective March 1, 2008.
“We appreciate Dr. Lilly’s leadership of the college since she took office in June 2006, particularly with respect to the campus’ impressive enrollment growth, and we look forward to working with her in a new capacity in the coming months,” Watts said. “We are extremely fortunate to be able to call on Dr. Carson’s strong leadership skills during this transition,” Watts said. “South Georgia College will be in good hands.”
Carson, a Macon native, was named to her current position at Georgia Highlands College in 2001. She previously served as dean of academic services for Georgia Perimeter College’s (GPC) Clarkston, Ga., campus from 2000 to 2001. She spent the 1999-2000 academic year as a fellow of the American Council on Education (ACE) at Northern Virginia Community College, in Annandale, Va., under the direction of President Belle S. Wheelan, who is now president of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS) Commission on Colleges. Previously, Carson served as chair of the Department of Mathematics, Computer Science & Engineering, also on GPC’s Clarkston campus. Her years as a math professor at GPC (formerly DeKalb College) extend back to 1982.
Carson is president-elect of the National Association of Community College Teacher Education Programs (NACCTEP). She also represents Georgia on the executive council of the SACS Commission on Colleges and is state chair of the Georgia SACS commissioners. Carson is a member of the American Mathematical Association of Two-Year Colleges (AMATYC) and edited The AMATYC Review, a semi-annual refereed mathematics journal, from 1998 to 2003.
Carson holds an undergraduate degree from the University of Georgia, and a M.Ed. and Ph.D., all in mathematics education, from Georgia State University.
Plans regarding the search for a permanent presidential appointee at South Georgia College will be forthcoming at a later date.
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