Atlanta — November 3, 2004

Three finalists for the presidency of North Georgia College & State University were announced today by the Board of Regents and University System of Georgia Chancellor Thomas C. Meredith.

The finalists were identified via a five-month search process, during which candidates met with a campus-based search committee and the Regents Special Search Committee.

“As one of the nation’s six senior military colleges, North Georgia’s dual mission of liberal arts and leadership education calls for a president with unique abilities,” said Meredith. “Any one of these three finalists are eminently qualified to lead this important institution at this point in its history.”

The three finalists are:

• Dr. Guy Bailey, provost and executive vice president at the University of Texas at San Antonio (UTSA). Bailey has 25 years of higher education experience in the U.S. and abroad. He served in a variety of administrative positions since joining UTSA in 1997, culminating in his current appointment in 2002. From 1992 to 2002, he served as provost and vice president for Academic Affairs. Previously, Bailey was interim provost and vice president for Academic Affairs from 1998 to1999, and dean of graduate studies and associate vice president of research from 1997 to 1998. Bailey was dean of Liberal Arts at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas from 1995 to 1997 and professor and chair of the department of English at the University of Memphis, in Memphis, Tenn. from 1993 to 1995. The year 1993 found Bailey abroad, teaching as a professor for a seminar on American Sociolinguistics at the University of Regensburg, in Regensburg, Germany. Bailey’s earlier higher education background includes teaching posts at Emory University, in Atlanta; Texas A&M University, in College Station; and Oklahoma State University, in Stillwater. A specialist in linguistics, Bailey received both a B.A. in English and a M.A. in English linguistics from the University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa; he earned his doctorate in English linguistics from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. Bailey also conducted postdoctoral work at the City University of New York, Stanford University, Calif., and Emory University.

• Dr. Kendall A. Blanchard, professor of business and anthropology, Fort Lewis College, Durango, Colo. In addition to his current teaching duties at Fort Lewis College, Blanchard also served as the College’s president from 1999 to 2002. He held several teaching and administrative posts at other institutions prior to joining Fort Lewis, including professorship of anthropology and vice chancellor for Academic Affairs at the University of Tennessee–Martin, from1995 to 1999. Blanchard also served as professor of anthropology and dean of the College of Arts and Sciences at Lamar University in Beaumont, Texas from 1991 to 1995. He joined Lamar from Emporia State University, in Emporia, Kan., where he had served as professor of anthropology and dean of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences from 1987 to 1991. Earlier, Blanchard taught and served as chair of the Department of Sociology, Anthropology and Social Work at Middle Tennessee State University, in Murfreesboro, from 1978 to 1987. He has taught at other colleges and universities in the U.S. and abroad, including Tartu University in Tartu, Estonia. Blanchard earned a B.A. in English, history and philosophy from Olivet Nazarene College, in Kankakee, Ill.; a M. Div. in religion studies in anthropology from Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tenn.; and both a M.A. in general anthropology and a Ph.D. in cultural anthropology from Southern Methodist University, in Dallas. He did postdoctoral work at Johns Hopkins University, in Baltimore.

• Dr. David L. Potter, commissioner of Higher Education for the Mississippi Institutions of Higher Learning. Potter has served in his current position as the chief executive officer for the Board of Trustees overseeing the eight public universities in Mississippi since 2003. Prior to his current appointment, Potter served as president of Delta State University, in Cleveland, Miss., from 1999 to 2003. He held a number of teaching and administrative positions at George Mason University, in Fairfax, Va., from 1987 to 1999, including provost and executive vice president for Academic Affairs, vice president and dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, vice president for Executive Affairs, executive assistant to the president, and adjunct faculty in the department of sociology and anthropology. Potter also gained extensive administrative experience at the State Council of Higher Education for Virginia, serving in a number of posts between 1981 and 1986 for this state coordinating agency for higher education. He also has held administrative and teaching posts at Syracuse University, in Syracuse, N.Y.; Denison University, in Granville, Ohio; and Silliman University, in Dumaguete, Philippines. He earned his B.A. cum laude in history from Amherst College, in Mass., and both his M.A. and Ph.D. in social science from Syracuse University.

The Board of Regents is expected to act on the North Georgia College & State University presidential appointment during its Nov. 17 meeting.

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