PhD, 2008 Tom Jackson retired in 2017 as Heritage Communications Executive within the chancellor’s office at the University System of Georgia. Among several initiatives to further the mission of the University System through leveraging its history and traditions, Tom began work on a history of the University System of Georgia since the turn of the century, and served as executive director of the Georgia World War I Centennial Commission. Prior to taking that position in August 2015, Tom spent 27 years in the senior administration of the University of Georgia, the last nine years as Vice President for Public Affairs. He was responsible for institutional public relations strategies and served as UGA’s institutional spokesperson, supervised the news service and media relations, publications, video productions, photography, public television and radio, open records compliance and the visitors center. His national leadership in the field included service on the executive committee of the Council on Strategic Communications of the Association of Public and Land-Grant Universities. Tom previously was a news reporter for WXIA-TV, the NBC affiliate in Atlanta; a correspondent for the Atlanta Constitution; and general manager, news director and program director of radio stations in Athens and LaGrange, where he won the state Associated Press Pacemaker Award three times. Outside of his job duties, Tom has been elected to four terms in the General Conference of the United Methodist Church, the denomination's worldwide governing body. He is an active lay member of Athens First United Methodist Church, where he has served as a delegate to the North Georgia Annual Conference for many years. Since 1974 he has been the “Voice of the Redcoats” – stadium public address announcer for the University of Georgia Redcoat Band – a volunteer avocation that continues well into his retirement years. He holds an associate's degree in history from Oxford College of Emory University, which named him a distinguished alumnus in 1989, and three UGA degrees: a bachelor's in history, a master's in public administration, and a Ph.D. in higher education administration. He and his wife, Sherry, live in Oconee County and have two sons and five grandchildren.
