Louise McBee standing on steps inside the Georgia State Capitol Building Rotunda.
Louise McBee was a native of Strawberry Plains, Tennessee. She earned a B.S. from East Tennessee State College in 1946, an M.A. from Columbia University in 1951, and a Ph.D. from The Ohio State University in 1961. Dr. McBee’s career began as a high school teacher in Marion, Virginia and continued at East Tennessee State, where she served as dean of women.
Beginning in 1963, she held several posts at the University of Georgia, including dean of women, associate dean of students, dean of students, assistant vice president for instruction, associate and senior associate vice president for academic affairs, and acting vice president for academic affairs.
Throughout her tenure at the university, Dr. McBee won the high regard of students, faculty, alumni, and friends of the institution for her openness, candor, and integrity, as well as for her consummate skill as a university administrator.
She retired in 1988 and embraced that phase of her life with vigor, serving in the Georgia General Assembly for six terms, including service as chair of the Higher Education Committee.
In recognition of her outstanding career, she received the Abraham Baldwin Award from the UGA Alumni Association and the Blue Key Service Award for distinguished service to the university and state in 1988. The University System of Georgia Board of Regents bestowed the Elridge McMillan Lifetime Achievement Award upon McBee in 2006. In 2014, she received the inaugural President’s Medal, and in 2018, her portrait was hung in the Administration Building for her many contributions to the University of Georgia.
In March 2021, Dr. McBee passed away, but her lifelong commitment to higher education continues through a transformational bequest to the UGA Foundation and the Institute of Higher Education. The McBee Endowment for Excellence and Engagement has enabled the McBee Institute to elevate the McBee Professorship to a Distinguished Professorship, endow the Louise McBee Lecture in Higher Education series, and fund the McBee Scholars Program, which supports outstanding graduate students in the McBee Institute. Beyond these significant contributions, the endowment will enable future initiatives befitting her legacy and her strong belief in the important work of the university.
On September 29, 2021, the University Cabinet voted to name the Louise McBee Institute of Higher Education in her honor.
