ATHENS, Ga.
– Thomas H. Jackson Jr., who has directed the University
of Georgia’s media relations and
public affairs efforts since 1988, has been named vice president for public
affairs, according to an announcement by Steve W. Wrigley, senior vice
president for external affairs. The
appointment is effective March 1, pending approval by the Board of Regents of
the University System of Georgia.
“Tom Jackson is in his 18th year in the university’s senior
administration, and over those years his efforts have been key in helping build
and promote UGA’s increasing national stature,” Wrigley said. “This appointment recognizes significant
achievement in the role he already holds within the university’s leadership,
and that such a role appropriately is at the level of vice president in a leading
national public research university such as UGA.”
Jackson has
served on the president’s Cabinet since 1988, having the longest continuous
service among current members, and has been the institution’s primary media
spokesperson throughout that time. He is
responsible for institutional public relations strategies and has
administrative responsibility for news media relations, photography and video
production, public radio station WUGA, publications, the visitors center, and
open records compliance. These units
have been recognized with numerous national awards of excellence under Jackson’s
leadership.
“Tom Jackson has been a key member of the administrative
team and it’s good to be able to promote from within,” said President Michael
F. Adams. “This title change is
representative of the important role that public affairs plays in advancing the
university’s mission.”
The public affairs program is integrated with other external
affairs units in development, alumni relations and government relations. Under Jackson’s
tenure, the public affairs unit has transitioned to a national reach in
communications while moving to electronic, Web-based and video communications
vehicles. The university’s more than
230,000 alumni and friends now receive communications from the institution on a
regular basis, covering the broad range of university functions from academic
programs to the current capital campaign, the Archway to Excellence.
Jackson earned a
bachelor’s degree in history from UGA in 1973 and recently has pursued advanced
degrees. In 2004, he completed the
master’s degree in public administration from UGA and now is enrolled in the
Ph.D. program in higher education administration. He first joined the university staff in 1974
as broadcast editor in the office of public relations. He returned in 1988 as director of public
information, rising through the positions of executive director of university
communications and associate vice president for public affairs. He completed the management development
program in higher education at Harvard
University in 1994.
In addition to the two stints at UGA, he has been a news
reporter and Athens bureau chief 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.
Jackson has been
involved in professional development, including serving eight years on the
board of the Georgia Education Advancement Council and three terms as its
treasurer
He and his wife Sharon, a longtime Oconee
County schoolteacher, have two
grown sons and a granddaughter. A
lifelong Georgian born in Atlanta, Jackson
grew up in LaGrange, Manchester and
Columbus.
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Note to editors:
Photo available at http://www.ugaphoto.alumni.uga.edu/news/14836-s001.jpg.
