Louise McBee Endowed Professorship Established at the Institute

To honor state Representative Louise McBee, who has decided not to seek re-election to the Georgia General Assembly, the state Board of Regents of the University System of Georgia has approved the establishment of an endowed professorship to be housed at the Institute of Higher Education. The Louise McBee Professorship comes with a senior faculty line provided by the university, and offers a rare opportunity to conduct a national search for an accomplished senior scholar and teacher from among the disciplines relating to higher education. The McBee Professorship is a fitting tribute to Louise McBee, who has had a distinguished career and a profound impact on higher education both at the University of Georgia and statewide.

During her more than 25 years at the University of Georgia—as 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 —McBee had a profound influence on the university, bringing to bear not only her leadership acumen and keen vision for the institution, but also her warmth and engaging presence on campus. After her retirement from university administration, she brought the same skills and experience to the General Assembly for over a decade as a champion of higher education. In the House, McBee chaired the Higher Education Committee and, just last year, co-chaired the commission that examined and  secured a robust future for Georgia’s groundbreaking and popular HOPE scholarships, that provide full tuition support at Georgia’s public institutions of higher education for Georgia students who achieve a B or higher grade point average in high school.

The McBee Professorship at the Institute will complement the annual Louise McBee Lecture, which for the past fifteen years has brought to campus such distinguished higher education leaders as Lee Shulman, president of the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching, Katherine Lyall, former president of the University of Wisconsin System, and Geoffrey Thomas, president of Kellogg College, The University of  Oxford. The McBee Professorship will be formally celebrated on the occasion of the 2004 McBee Lecture in December.