Times staff report
George T. French, Jr., will step down as president of Miles College to become the president of Clark Atlanta University (CAU).
The Board of Trustees at CAU made the announcement in a press release on Wednesday.
French has served as president of Miles College since 2006.
“I am thankful and blessed to have the opportunity to lead another great institution and serve as the fifth president of Clark Atlanta University,” said French in a statement released by the university. “CAU has strong faculty, students and academics. I’m optimistic about the University’s next stage of growth and eager to build on the strong foundation CAU has established.”
French will assume the position on Sept. 1.
The Chair of the Board at Miles College, Teresa Jefferson-Snorton, expressed gratitude to French for his leadership.
“Dr. French’s visionary leadership has been a blessing to the Miles College family. We will miss his presence, insight and acumen on issues and strategies for higher education. We wish him the very best as he assumes the Presidency of Clark Atlanta University.”
The Miles College Board of Trustees will be meeting over the next several weeks to manage the leadership transition. An interim President will be named in August. A search for a permanent president will be conducted during the 2019-2020 academic year.
Gregory Morrison, chair of CAU’s Board of Trustees, said French was selected after a “thorough search process.”
“We’re very pleased to select Dr. French as CAU’s next president,” he said. “His development expertise and proven track record at Miles College underscores his ability to continue the strong momentum Clark Atlanta has built. I am confident he will work diligently to advance CAU’s mission and reputation as a premier learning and R2 research institution.”
Morrison said French received widespread support during his visit for Clark and received strong support from our campus community and alumni. “He also was uniformly endorsed by various constituent groups that have worked with him in his capacity as the president of Miles College and selected by unanimous decision by the CAU board,” Morrison said.
During French’s tenure at Miles the college exceeded capital campaign goals – besting previous fundraising records, achieved an unprecedented financial composite score to position the school for growth, increased student access to educational funding, and more than doubled the size of the existing campus with key land acquisitions.
A native of Louisville, Ky., French earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science with an emphasis in Policy Analysis from the University of Louisville. He was competitively accepted into the University of Richmond Law School and completed two years of studies before being recruited by Miles College to serve as the Director of Development. He completed his final year of law school at Miles Law School, earning a Juris Doctorate. French received his Ph.D. in Higher Education from Jackson State University.
Updated on 6/19/19 at 7:04 p.m. to include comment from Miles College
