FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Wednesday, April 25, 2012

Contact:  Robert Preston, Jr.,
              912.260.4276
              robert.preston@sgsc.edu

SGC’s 83rd Commencement Set for May 3

South Georgia College has announced its 83rd Commencement Exercises, which will take place on Thursday, May 3, at 9 a.m. As a part of graduation, West College Park Drive will be closed from 7 a.m. until noon. The ceremony will take place on the lawn in front of Peterson Hall.

Willis J. Potts Jr., who was appointed in March 2006 by then-Gov. Sonny Perdue to represent the Eleventh Congressional district on the University System of Georgia Board of Regents, will serve as the speaker for the commencement exercises. Potts retired in June 2004 as the vice president and general manager of Temple-Inland Corporation, based in Rome, following a 35-year career in the international pulp and paper industry. He began his career as an engineer at the Union Camp Corporation’s Savannah pulp and paper mill in 1969.

Over the course of his career, Potts served as chairman of the Paper Industry Management Association and chairman of the Technical Association of the Pulp and Paper Industry, both international in scope. Potts also is active with the Floyd County March of Dimes, Mercy Senior Care in Rome, the Greater Rome Chamber of Commerce; and, the mentoring program Communities in Schools (Rome-Floyd).

Potts earned a bachelor’s degree in industrial engineering with highest honors from the Georgia Institute of Technology and completed the University of Virginia’s Executive Program. In 2008, he was named to Georgia Tech’s Academy of Distinguished Engineering Alumni and, in 2009 he received the Dean Griffin Community Service Award from Georgia Tech’s Alumni Association. Potts and his wife, Glenda, are the parents of three adult children.

The public is invited to attend. Visitors are encouraged to enter the college from the Peterson Avenue entrance. SGC Public Safety will assist with parking. For a map to view campus, visit http://www.sgc.edu/discover/visitor/campus_map.html.

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About South Georgia College

South Georgia College (www.sgc.edu) was founded in 1906 and is located in Douglas, Ga. The college's environment gives students exceptional opportunities for interdisciplinary study and close collaboration with faculty. With over 20 majors and transfer opportunities, South Georgia College provides the finest education possible to the citizens of its service area.