Photo: Jere Morehead.
Photo: Jere Morehead.
By Tom Jackson
President Michael F. Adams has appointed Jere W. Morehead acting executive director of legal affairs, effective March 23. Morehead, an associate professor of legal studies in the Terry College of Business, has been on the UGA faculty 12 years.
Needs assessment
Morehead has been asked to assess the needs of the office and recommend a structure for the future of legal-affairs services at the university. Adams says he expects the legal-affairs director will continue to report directly to the president, but will no longer carry the title of vice president. He has set a target date of Jan. 1, 1999, to have a permanent executive director in place.
"This time frame will allow Professor Morehead and me time to review the role of legal affairs within our new administrative organization and will allow some senior officers not yet on board an opportunity to participate in the review and provide input," Adams says.
The Office of Legal Affairs was created by former President Charles B. Knapp in January 1989. Bryndis W. Roberts, whose departure from the post was announced earlier this month, served as the university's first and only vice president for legal affairs. She has explained that she is leaving the position and re-entering the private sector to have more time for her children and her community activities.
Former VP now consultant
She will continue with UGA through February 1999 in a consulting capacity on pending legal matters for which she has been the primary liaison with the State Attorney General's office.
Since the Feb. 13 announcement that Roberts would relinquish day-to-day supervision of the office, Assistant Vice President Kimberly Ballard has served as acting vice president. Ballard had previously accepted a position as special assistant to the president for legal affairs at Valdosta State University. At President Adams's request, she delayed her departure for Valdosta until an acting director had been named.
"My sincere appreciation goes to Kimberly Ballard for her service to the university over several years, and particularly for her willingness to delay departure for her new opportunity in Valdosta in order to provide leadership during the transition here," Adams says.
Morehead received the juris doctor degree from UGA in 1980. In addition to his faculty appointment in the Terry College, he has served as an adjunct associate professor of law at UGA and a visiting associate professor of business law at the University of Michigan. From 1980 to 1986, he was an assistant United States attorney in the U.S. Department of Justice, handling a variety of civil and criminal cases. He also served as a special assistant U.S. attorney in 198687, after joining the UGA faculty.
"Jere Morehead brings to this task a unique combination of training and experience in the areas of student, academic and legal affairs," Adams says. "Having worked with Jere early on in his roles as chair of the Task Force on the Quality of the Undergraduate Experience and as parliamentarian for University Council, I recognized his qualifications for this task and appreciate his willingness to serve in this important, albeit temporary, appointment."
C. Ronald Ellington, law professor and former law school dean, says Morehead is "a tremendously capable person. He is a fast learner, with the ability to see the big picture and the gritty details of problems. I know him well and have the utmost confidence in his good judgment."
J. Don Edwards, professor of accounting and interim dean of the Terry College of Business, calls Morehead "an outstanding member of our faculty--an excellent teacher and researcher who has coached our moot court teams to national awards. He is a person of integrity, has an excellent work ethic and will continue to be of service to the university in this important capacity."
Morehead has received numerous honors for superior teaching, including the prestigious Richard B. Russell Undergraduate Teaching Award in 1995. He was faculty adviser to the UGA Moot Court Team from 1986 to 1995. Under his leadership, the team won 14 regional championships, five national championships and the Jessup International Moot Court Championship in 1990.
