Office of the President

Office of the President

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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.

Office of the President
McCandless Hall

President’s Cabinet

Jonathan Craft
Jonathan Craft
Vice President for Financial Affairs
Office of Financial Affairs
Founders Hall, Room 110
Keith Ferguson Photo
Keith Ferguson, PhD
Vice President for University Advancement
Office of University Advancement
Grey House | 307 N Beaty St
Jackie Gooch Photo
Jackie Gooch
Chief of Staff
Office of the President
McCandless Hall, Room 308
Chris Latham Headshot
Chris Latham, MBA
Chief Marketing Officer/Associate Vice President
Office of Marketing and Communications
Smith House | 433 E Pryor St
Cedrick Nkulu
Chief Information Officer (CIO)
Office of Innovative Technology
Jeff Powers Photo
Jeff Powers
Chief Human Resources Officer/Assistant Vice President
Human Resources
Founders Hall

Past Presidents

Daniel Perrin Bestor1822-1832
Joseph Wood1832-1834
Rebecca Maclin Hobbs1834-1836 (Interim)
William Duncan1836-1839
Simpson Shepherd1840-1843
Richard Henderson Rivers1843-1849
Benjamin H. Hubbard1849-1852
Smith W. Moore1852-1853
Isham Randolph Finley1853-1855
George E. Naff1855-1858
Jane Hamilton Childs1858-1869
James W. Wright1869-1873
James K. Armstrong1873-1877
C. Lozo Smith1877-1883
William A. Rogers1883-1884
Elizabeth Coleman Thach1884-1885 (Interim)
Marcus Gerves Williams1885-1892
Howard Key1892-1893
Virgil Octavius Hawkins1893-1895
Zachariah Alfred Parker, Jr.1895-1898
H.W. Browder1898-1900
Hiram Glass Davis1900-1902
Edgar M. Glenn1902-1904
Mary Norman Moore1904-1916
Benjamin Bascom Glasgow1916-1925
Mary Moore McCoy1925-1930
Eugene Randolph Naylor1930-1949
Perry Benjamin James1949-1959
Virgil B. McCain1959-1965
Guy E. Snavely1965-1966
Frank N. Philpot1966-1969
Luther L. Gobbel1969-1970
Sidney E. Sandridge1970-1981
James R. Chasteen1981-1990
Jerry F. Bartlett1990-2008
Robert K. Glenn2008-2018
Ron Ingle2018-2019 (Interim)
Philip Way2019-2023
Catherine Wehlburg2023-Present