Georgia Gwinnett Names Library For Founding President

LAWRENCEVILLE, GA — Georgia Gwinnett College's library has become the first building to be named on it young campus, honoring founding President Daniel J. Kaufman.

The Daniel J. Kaufman Library & Learning Center was officially dedicated on Friday.

"It’s not every day that a college is able to name a building after its founding president," said current GGC President Stas Preczewski said at the dedication. "And it is certainly rare that this is done during that person’s lifetime. Today, Dr. Kaufman and his family experienced the significance of the honor and the appreciation of the entire GGC community."

Kaufman became president of the then-unnamed college in 2005, and quickly organized a leadership team
charged with opening the institution one year later. In August of 2006, GGC welcomed 118 students.

Over the next several years, the college experienced dramatic growth, and today enrolls more than 12,000.

“He realized that the new college needed an intellectual center,” Gene Ruffin, GGC's dean of library services, said of Kaufman. "It needed an academic commons. It needed a heart."

At the dedication, Kaufman shared several stories of the college’s early days.

"What an honor. I cannot tell you what this means to me and my family," Kaufman said. "I have received
numerous awards in my professional life, but there is nothing I will treasure more."

He added: "GGC is just getting started. When it comes to the promise of Georgia Gwinnett College, you ain’t seen nothing yet!"

The University System of Georgia's Board of Regents approved the naming of the library earlier this year.

A decorative wall installed in front of the building bears its new name.

Kaufman’s official presidential portrait will hang in the library’s Quiet Reading Room. And indoor signage above the main entrance will remind library users of Kaufman’s signature message: "Go be great!"

Photos courtesy Georgia Gwinnett College