Cox selected new president of YHC

Cathy Cox

The Young Harris College board of trustees chairman, Paul D. Beckham, announced that former Georgia Secretary of State Cathy Cox has been named the 21st president of Young Harris College.

"Cathy Cox is a dynamic public servant whose vision and talent are ideal for the challenges facing higher education," Beckham noted. "She is a high profile, popular public figure and has run a large and complex organization. She is a perfect fit for the present and future at Young Harris College. She has a track record of support- ing higher education and is a strong and thoughtful leader."

Cox is an attorney and has held the Carl Sanders Chair of Political Leadership at the University of Georgia School of Law since leaving the office of secretary of state earlier this year. She served 14 years in state government positions, the last eight as secretary of state.

"I am delighted with the opportunity to become president of Young Harris College," Cox said. "Education is a passion of mine, and this is a chance to make a real difference with young people at the point in their lives when education can make the biggest impact on their futures. Young Harris College has so much going for it - a great reputation, strong faculty and staff, dedicated alumni, and of course a beautiful campus in the north Georgia mountains. I look forward to working with the entire college community to insure a future for Young Harris College that exceeds the strength of its venerable past."

Cox is a native of Bainbridge, Ga., and has an associate degree from Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College, graduated Summa Cum Laude from the Henry Grady School of Journalism at the University of Georgia, and earned her law degree Magna Cum Laude from Mercer University, where she was editor of the Mercer Law Review. She is married to Mark Dehler, also an attorney.

Among her achievements, she was selected Georgia Woman of the Year in 2000 by the Georgia Commission on Women, and is the only secretary of state ever selected as "Public Official of the Year" by Governing magazine (2002). She was a trustee of Mercer University and is an emeritus trustee of Wesleyan College.

Cox is well known in Georgia, having made more than 1,000 speeches to groups throughout the state during her legislative and executive branch tenure.