Founders Hall Vertical Photo

Office of the President

Welcome to Athens State University, a truly unique Alabama institution of higher education.

You have chosen to become a member of our community, and we are glad to have you here. I want to take just a moment to talk about some of the things that set us apart from other colleges and universities.

First and foremost, we are Alabama’s oldest educational institution, founded in 1822. We have a long and rich heritage of serving Alabama, and we look forward to serving you. You will find a rich blend of modern and traditional methods of instruction, as we are thoroughly focused on taking care of the educational needs of our students. For some of you that will mean traditional one-on-one attention from our faculty, while others will find their schedule is better served by our online education programs. In either case, your education here will stand the test of time. Our faculty has a well-deserved reputation for excellence, as evidenced by our ongoing accreditation from a number of professional associations.

You will also find that we understand our responsibility to manage our resources very carefully. Our tuition rates continue to be the lowest in the state. When you combine the low cost of our services with the exceptional quality of our programs, you will find that we provide the greatest possible educational value in Alabama. We know that both your time and your financial resources are limited, which is why we do everything we can to be flexible and frugal to allow you to stretch both to the maximum.

Ultimately, the measure of any university is its students and their accomplishments. It is all about getting each student from where they are to where they want to be. As a result, we have a vested interest in your success. We hope that you will take full advantage of all that we have to offer.

We look forward to seeing what you accomplish, and we know that those accomplishments will be another reason we can continue to say that we are a great university.

Catherine Wehlburg Photo

Catherine Wehlburg, PhD

President

Past Presidents

Daniel Perrin Bestor
1822-1832
Joseph Wood
1832-1834
Rebecca Maclin Hobbs
1834-1836 (Interim)
William Duncan
1836-1839
Simpson Shepherd
1840-1843
Richard Henderson Rivers
1843-1849
Benjamin H. Hubbard
1849-1852
Smith W. Moore
1852-1853
Isham Randolph Finley
1853-1855
George E. Naff
1855-1858
Jane Hamilton Childs
1858-1869
James W. Wright
1869-1873
James K. Armstrong
1873-1877
C. Lozo Smith
1877-1883
William A. Rogers
1883-1884
Elizabeth Coleman Thach
1884-1885 (Interim)
Marcus Gerves Williams
1885-1892
Howard Key
1892-1893
Virgil Octavius Hawkins
1893-1895
Zachariah Alfred Parker, Jr.
1895-1898
H.W. Browder
1898-1900
Hiram Glass Davis
1900-1902
Edgar M. Glenn
1902-1904
Mary Norman Moore
1904-1916
Benjamin Bascom Glasgow
1916-1925
Mary Moore McCoy
1925-1930
Eugene Randolph Naylor
1930-1949
Perry Benjamin James
1949-1959
Virgil B. McCain
1959-1965
Guy E. Snavely
1965-1966
Frank N. Philpot
1966-1969
Luther L. Gobbel
1969-1970
Sidney E. Sandridge
1970-1981
James R. Chasteen
1981-1990
Jerry F. Bartlett
1990-2008
Robert K. Glenn
2008-2018
Ron Ingle
2018-2019 (Interim)
Philip Way
2019-2023
Catherine Wehlburg
2023-Present