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Columns::August 18, 2003
Another round of budget cuts begins for state government
Forty freshmen enter with major scholarship awards
Money in the bank
Priority purchase period begins for employees, students
Twenty-eight undergraduates work on research projects with faculty mentors
Taking up residence
Campus News
University names Griffin Doyle as its first director of federal relations
By Larry B. Dendy
ldendy@uga.edu
J. Griffin Doyle, associate vice president for economic and community development at UGA, will become the university’s first
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J. Griffin Doyle
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director of federal relations following approval by the University System Board of Regents.
The university has created the position to serve as a liaison with federal legislators and government agencies and to help the university obtain more federal funding.
Doyle, who has more than 20 years’ experience working in Georgia government, industry and education organizations, will help represent UGA’s interests in Washington and work with Georgia’s U.S. senators and representatives to secure federal support for research, public service and other programs at UGA.
He will report to Steve Wrigley, senior vice president for external affairs, and will be paid with money that is already in UGA’s budget for the position of vice president for government relations, which will not be filled.
“It’s important that we be more intentional in our dealings with the Georgia congressional delegation and with others who are critical in the federal budget process,” says Wrigley. “Federal support is vital to the university’s success, and this position is an important step in ensuring that we obtain the funding to meet the university’s greatest needs.”
Doyle will help bolster what is already a strong record of federal support for UGA, Wrigley says, noting a $10 million congressional allocation for the Paul C. Coverdell Center for the Biomedical and Health Sciences in 2001 and more than $6.5 million in agricultural appropriations over the last two years. UGA also received $1.5 million last year from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration for a barrier island research and education center on Sapelo Island and has received more than $1 million in the last two years from the U.S. departments of Labor and Health and Human Services for the Center for Leadership in Education and Applied Research in Mass Destruction Defense.
But Doyle’s job will entail more than just helping channel federal dollars to UGA, Wrigley says.
He will be a resource for the state’s congressional delegation on federal legislation and policy concerning higher education and will be involved in such matters as reauthorization of federal programs at UGA, such as the Sea Grant Program.
“The University of Georgia is assuming an increasingly prominent role on the national scene, not only in matters of scientific research but also as a leader on national education policy issues,” Doyle says. “I’m pleased to represent the university in this arena, and look forward to working with the administration, faculty, staff and students to further strengthen our presence on the national level.”
Doyle, who holds a law degree and a bachelor’s degree in history from UGA, was an administrative assistant to former Gov. George Busbee and served as assistant commissioner of the Georgia Department of Community Affairs.
He was president of the Georgia Public Policy Foundation from 1993 to 1997 and also worked for two years as a regional public affairs director for the Fort Howard Paper Co.
He joined UGA in 1997 as director of the Regional Economic Development Partnership and served from 1998 to 2001 as associate director of UGA’s Carl Vinson Institute of Government.
He took his current position, which is under the university’s vice president for public service and outreach, in 2001 and has worked on a number of economic and community development initiatives around the state.
He started the university’s Balanced Growth Initiative, which helps local governments formulate policies on growth and development, and he involved UGA faculty in creating Georgia’s Greenspace Initiative, which has enabled local governments to preserve thousands of acres of open land in their communities. |
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