Georgia Regents Name Sonny Perdue Lone Finalist For Chancellor

ATLANTA, GA — Former Georgia Gov. Sonny Perdue was named the lone finalist for chancellor of the state's University System by the Georgia Board of Regents on Tuesday.

The board made the announcement in a release following its afternoon meeting.

Perdue served as the secretary of the U.S. Department of Agriculture during the Trump Administration and is the cousin of former U.S. Senator and gubernatorial candidate David Perdue.

Perdue is on the verge of becoming the University System of Georgia chancellor, which oversees 26 universities in the state, including the University of Georgia, Georgia Tech and Georgia State. USG also includes the Georgia Public Library Service, which operates 61 library systems throughout the state.

The Board of Regents is set to finalize Perdue's selection at a future board meeting in no sooner than two weeks, according to the release.

USG enrolled over 340,000 students in the Fall 2021 semester. Teresa MacCartney has been acting chancellor since July 2021.

Perdue's finalist announcement winds down a 13-month search for a new chancellor after Steve Wrigley announced his retirement in January of last year.

Perdue served as Georgia governor from 2003-'11, and his cousin, David, is currently running for the same position against Gov. Brian Kemp.

Kemp recently replaced four people on the 19-member board and has been supportive of Perdue's potential appointment to the position.

The board temporarily suspended the search for a new chancellor last spring when it appeared poised to name Perdue a finalist, according to the Associated Press. A student-led group called Students Against Sonny organized protests and a petition against the nomination.

Students Against Sonny and the Georgia Youth Justice Coalition released a statement Tuesday evening condemning the decision to appoint Perdue as chancellor. The statement accused Kemp and Perdue of waiting to move forward with the nomination until political tensions cooled off.

"Georgia's families deserved better then, and we deserve better now," the statement read. "Even as our state legislature bans books and history lessons from students kindergarten through college, Georgians firmly believe that politicians have no place in our classrooms."