« Back to Issue Issue 6 - Buffalo Index | 08/27/2012

Board member Morehead ‘All Dog’ now

by Murray Poole

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Jere Morehead

Jere Morehead spent many of his growingup
years in that sunshine state to our south
where an ugly gator, not a lovable bulldog, is the
mascot of choice but after moving in his teen
years to Atlanta and then matriculating first at
Georgia State and then the University of Georgia
law school, Morehead now pronounces
himself “all Georgian.”

And in his role today as the senior vicepresident
for academic affairs and provost of
UGA, as well as being a 14-year member of the
Board of Directors of the Georgia Athletic Association,
Morehead indeed has his hands
wrapped around all things Bulldog and bleeds
red and black with the most loyal of Georgia
supporters.

“I grew up in Lakeland, Fla. and came to
Georgia when my father was transferred with
Western Union, and then my associations with
the University of Georgia were developed when
I was a law student at the university,” recalled
Morehead. “I’ve been a Georgian since I was a
teenager. I went to high school for one year at
Southwest DeKalb and graduated early and
then after college at Georgia State, I came to the
University of Georgia law school. I was 20 years
old when I enrolled in law school. And I graduated
from the UGA law school in 1980 and
then served for six years as an assistant United
States attorney with the Department of Justice
before returning to UGA as a faculty member in
1986.

“I did not play competitive sports growing
up, I’m afraid to say, although I’m a huge fan of
Georgia sports and have always attended many
different sports team competitions over the
years. So it was a real treat for me to be selected
to the athletic board by President Adams in
1998.”

Morehead has served the university in a
number of leadership positions since joining the
UGA faculty. He was named vice-president for
instruction in 2007 after serving on an interim
basis in 2006. He was named Meigs Professor of
Legal Studies in the Terry College of Business in
2004. He served as vice provost for academic
affairs from 2004-06 and as associate provost
and director of the Honors Program from 1999-
2004. He was acting executive director for the
Office of Legal Affairs from 1998-99. In 2009,
Morehead was chosen by UGA President
Michael Adams from among four finalists identified
in a national search to fill the role of
provost, the second-highest position in the university’s
administration.

“I was appointed in the fall of ’09 but I didn’t
actually take office until January of 2010, as
provost,” Morehead pointed out.

In the following question-and-answer session
with Bulldawg Illustrated, Jere Morehead
talks more about his background and his role
on the Georgia athletic board.

What is your occupation?
I serve as the senior vice president for academic
affairs and provost at the University of
Georgia and the Meigs Professor of Legal Studies
in the Terry College of Business. The provost
is the chief academic officer of the institution.
The deans of the schools and colleges as well as
several vice- presidents report to the provost.
The vice-president for research, the vice-president
for instruction, the vice-president for public
service and outreach and the vice-president
for student affairs report to my office as well as
the deans of the schools and colleges.

How many years have you served on
the UGA athletic board?
I’ve been serving on the athletic board since
1998, for 14 years now. And then in 2003, President
Adams appointed me as the Faculty Athletics
Representative and I served in that role for
seven years, until I became university provost.
David Shipley, who’s a law professor and former
dean of the law school, followed me as the Faculty
Athletics Representative but as provost I
serve as vice-chairman of the athletic board.

Where did you grow up and what
made it special?
I think of myself as a Georgian. I spent
many of my formative years in Lakeland, Fla.
My family moved to West Palm Beach Fla. for a
few years then Daytona Beach and then, ultimately,
ended up in Atlanta when I was a
teenager. All of these places certainly provided a
lot of great memories.

What has been the most exciting part
for you serving on UGA’s athletic board?
For me personally the most exciting part
has been to see the growing strength of our
teams, not only athletically but academically. In
the last several years we have made great strides
in the number of our student-athletes graduating
as well as succeeding in the classroom. If you
look at all of the measurements that are used to
evaluate athletic programs Georgia is near the
top in terms of its success with student-athletes
in the classroom. So I think it’s the combination
of seeing our student-athletes succeed athletically
as well as earn their college degrees that
makes me proud.

What has been the most exciting aspect
of your career?
I’ve had the distinct honor, except for serving
as a visiting professor at the University of
Michigan several years ago, of spending my academic
career at this institution, and I’ve had the
opportunity to serve the institution in a variety
of roles, from being a faculty member to serving
as director of the honors program to serving as
vice-president for instruction and to my current
position as university provost. Certainly, the opportunity
to impact the campus for the better as
provost has been very exciting, and I have appreciated
the opportunity to serve the university
in this role.

What do you think are the biggest
challenges for Georgia athletics in the near
future?
We have to remain focused on insuring
that our students make good progress toward
their degrees as well as succeeding on the athletic
field so I think the greatest challenge is insuring
that we maintain the balance that we
currently have between academics and athletics.
I believe the current leadership of our athletic
administration has done an outstanding job
in maintaining that balance and I congratulate
them on the success that they’ve had, both on
the field and in the classroom.

How has the knowledge from your
occupation helped in the betterment of
UGA athletics?
As provost I meet with the senior athletic
officials every month and we review all of the
issues that are confronting them relating to the
academic life of our student-athletes. And we
use that meeting as a problem-solving opportunity
to look for ways for our student-athletes
to succeed in the classroom. So I would say my
greatest contribution is working with our athletic
officials to put in place the programs and
the support mechanisms that are necessary for
our student-athletes to be successful in their academic
pursuits.

Your favorite UGA sports moment?
Well, certainly, there are many that I could
identify. Winning the SEC championship in
2002 after such a long period without being a
championship team was a special moment. I
thought the Auburn blackout game (2007) a
few years ago was a special memory for any
Georgia fan but I have to tell you, for me, attending
some of our swimming and diving
events when we first did the NCAA and seeing
the success of some of our teams there has been
quite special. And I always enjoy the NCAA
men’s and women’s tennis tournament when it
comes to Athens and have many great memories
from watching our teams compete in that
event. So there are a lot of special memories and
I could go on for some time listing them.