INTERIM PRESIDENT NAMED GORDON STATE COLLEGE

University System of Georgia Chancellor Steve Wrigley has named Dr. Stuart Rayfield interim president of Gordon State College.

Rayfield has been serving as the interim president of Bainbridge State College since June 1, 2016. She will assume her post at Gordon State on January 1, 2018, replacing President Max Burns who has previously announced his plans to retire, effective December 31, 2017.

“Dr. Rayfield has done an outstanding job leading Bainbridge State through a period of significant change over the past year and a half,” said Chancellor Wrigley. “As we move forward with the consolidation of Bainbridge State College and Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College, I am grateful to Dr. Rayfield for her willingness to shift her focus, qualifications and expertise to the deserving students, faculty and extended community at Gordon State College.”

Prior to her role as interim president at Bainbridge State, Dr. Rayfield served as the Frank D. Brown Distinguished Chair in Servant Leadership, associate professor and director of the Servant Leadership Program at Columbus State University.

Rayfield previously served as interim associate provost for Undergraduate Education at Columbus State in 2015. In this role, her areas of responsibility included the Academic Center for Excellence, dual enrollment, Faculty Center for the Enhancement of Teaching and Learning, and co-leadership of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges accreditation reaffirmation.

She has previously served as an instructional designer at TSYS and student affairs consultant at Auburn University in Alabama. Prior to her service at Auburn University, she held positions at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tenn., Middle Tennessee State University in Murfreesboro and the University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa.

Rayfield earned a doctorate in leadership, policy and organizations from Vanderbilt University, a master’s in higher education administration, student affairs from the University of Alabama and a bachelor’s degree in political science from Rhodes College in Memphis, Tenn.