Former University of Georgia President Michael Adams has been hired as chancellor of Pepperdine University effective Aug. 1, the Malibu, CA school announced Thursday.
“I have great confidence that Mike will open doors of opportunity, giving us the advantage we need to become a preeminent, global, Christian university,” Pepperdine President Andrew K. Benton said in a news release. “Mike and Mary Adams are true and dependable friends who have never been far from the Pepperdine community.”
Adams served as vice president for university affairs at Pepperdine from 1982–1988, when he took a job as president of Centre College in Kentucky. He was UGA’s president from 1998–2013.
As Pepperdine’s chancellor, Adams will be responsible for leading “major initiatives” and fundraising. He set fundraising records at UGA (which have since been eclipsed by his successor, Jere Morehead).
When Adams announced his retirement in 2012, the Board of Regents gave him a severance package of $2.7 million over five years, as well as an office suite on campus, an assistant and the titles of regents professor and president emeritus.
Pepperdine’s news release implies that he will give up those titles. The Board of Regents did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Adams told reporters when he retired that he planned to travel for a year, then do some writing and a teach a political science class. Instead, he’s returning to higher education.
“I am honored and delighted at this stage in my career to have the opportunity to serve an organization that I care deeply about,” Adams said. “With President Benton’s leadership and the support of the administration, I look forward to once again being part of the Pepperdine community and adding value to this fine institution that boasts a legacy of excellence.”
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