Atlanta — April 20, 2006

Regent Mansfield Jennings, chair of the Special Regents’ Committee for the presidential search at South Georgia College (SGC), and University System of Georgia Chancellor Erroll B. Davis Jr. today announced the names of the three finalists for the SGC presidency.

Regent Jennings said, “The finalists we are recommending to the full Board of Regents are well qualified to take on this important post. We are pleased with the outcomes of this search process.”

“We have a very strong group of finalists for this presidency,” Chancellor Davis stated. “I feel very confident of each candidate’s ability to provide outstanding leadership for South Georgia College.”

The finalists, in alphabetical order, are as follows:

Dr. Torri Lilly, provost and vice president of the Citrus County Campus of Central Florida Community College, in Lecanto, Fla. Lilly has served in her current position since 2004. From 2000 to 2004, she served as dean of workforce development on the Kent Campus of Florida Community College, in Jacksonville, Fla. Before that, she served as assistant provost and dean of the Community and Technical College at West Virginia State College, in Institute, W. Va., from 1991 to 2000.

Lilly also has taught doctoral-level courses in higher-education administration as an associate member of the graduate faculty at West Virginia University, in Morgantown, W. Va. From 1987 to 1992, she ran her own writing/publications/public relations firm, serving more than 300 clients in three states and the District of Columbia. Before and during this time, she also was a member of the English faculty at Beckley College in Beckley, W. Va., and at West Virginia State College.

Lilly holds undergraduate degrees from the College of West Virginia, in Beckley, and Concord College, in Athens, W. Va. She earned a Master of Arts in education administration from Marshall University, in Charleston, W. Va. and a Master of Arts in language and linguistics from Marshall University, in Huntington, W. Va. She also obtained an Ed.D. from West Virginia University.

Dr. Andrea L. Miller, provost and executive vice president for academic affairs, administration and planning at Southwest Tennessee Community College (STCC), in Memphis, Tenn. Miller has held the number-two position at the largest community college in Tennessee since 2005. Prior to her appointment to this position, Miller served for five years (2000-2005) as provost and executive vice president for academic and student affairs at STCC. She also served for two years (1998-2000) as interim vice president for academic and student affairs at Shelby State Community College, during which time she provided leadership for the consolidation of the academic and student affairs units of both Shelby State and State Technical Institute when the two colleges merged in 2000 to form STCC.

Miller held several posts at LeMoyne-Owen College, in Memphis, including vice president for academic affairs and dean of faculty from 1992 to1998, associate professor of biology from 1985 to 1989, assistant dean for curriculum and instruction from 1986 to 1988, and chair of the Biology Department from 1982 to 1984. She briefly left LeMoyne-Owen for the University of Nevada, in Reno, where she served as assistant dean in the College of Human and Community Sciences from 1990 to 1992. Miller also served as a post-doctoral fellow in the Department of Anatomy at the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine from 1980 to 1982.

Miller received her Ph.D. in cell and developmental biology from Atlanta University in 1980. She has spent summers engaged in biomedical research at the Marine Biological Laboratories in Woods Hole, Mass., and at Los Alamos National Laboratories in Los Alamos, N.M.

Dr. Amelia Reid Pearson, provost and dean of instruction at Central Alabama Community College (CACC), in Alexander City, Ala. Pearson, who has served as the college’s chief academic officer since 1999, has held a variety of administrative positions at CACC since 1990, including dean of students (1996-1999), associate dean of students (1994-1996), and chair of the Liberal Arts Division (1990-1994). During the latter period, she also served as chair of the Faculty Senate and led the college through its reaffirmation by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools. From1982 to 1994, she taught psychology at CACC.

Pearson began her career at Auburn University, where she rose from a position as a counselor and mental health therapist (1975-1976) to director of student programming (1978-1980) and pychometrist, counselor and coordinator in Career Development Services (1980-1982). During her tenure at Auburn, Pearson also served as a psychometric consultant to various school systems in Alabama, and as an adjunct instructor at Southern Union Junior College and Alexander City State Junior College, both in Alabama. She later spent eight years as a consultant to the Russell Corporation of Alexander City, Ala.

Pearson holds an Ed.D. in college student development and an M.Ed. in counseling from Auburn University, as well as an undergraduate degree in psychology from the University of Tennessee, in Knoxville.

The Board of Regents expects to name the next president of South Georgia College during a specially called meeting in early May.

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