Gordon State College Foundation Appoints New Chair
By Karolina Philmon, GSC Marketing Manager
Alumnus of Gordon Junior College Robert L. Harris was named chair of the Gordon State College Foundation for the academic year effective July 1, 2022.
The GSC Foundation is a non-profit organization that supports the mission and strategic plan of the institution. The 30-member foundation board is primarily dedicated to raising scholarship funds to assist Gordon’s diverse student body with the cost of tuition and support for higher education.
As chair, Harris will be responsible for presiding over meetings, fundraising and working closely with the foundation’s executive director and GSC Vice President of Advancement, External Relations and Marketing, Montrese Adger Fuller.
“I look forward to working closely with Mr. Bob Harris. I am very confident that his leadership as he serves as the Gordon State College Foundation Board Chair will uphold the standard of excellence,” Adger Fuller said.
Harris attended Gordon Junior College as a joint-enrollment student while at Mary Persons High School in Forsyth from ’75-’76. He stayed at the college one year after graduating high school before transferring to the University of Georgia (UGA) in fall of ‘77 where he earned his Bachelor of Arts in political science. Harris attended Walter F. George School of Law at Mercer University in Macon obtaining his Doctor of Jurisprudence in May of ’83.
“Gordon provided me with my start in post-secondary education, and I am thankful and blessed to have the opportunity to serve and give back to this institution as the incoming chair of its Foundation,” Harris said.
From 1986 to present, Harris worked at a law firm that has had a few name changes. Currently, he is a partner with the law firm and it is known as Haygood, Lynch, Harris, Melton and Watson, LLP. His primary practice areas include real estate, wills-estate planning and estate work as well as entity formation.
As part of his civic duty, Harris joined the Forsyth-Monroe County Kiwanis Club in October of ’83. Soon after joining, he was put in the officer rotation for two years and served as secretary, treasurer, vice president and then president. Majority of his time as a member, Harris served
either as chairman and/or co-chairman of fundraising. His primary responsibility in that position included to plan and carry out a semi-annual Chicken-que in March and either September or October of each year. Additionally, Harris served as the liaison of the club with their key club chapter they sponsored at Mary Persons High School for the last 23 years.
Harris’ community involvement include being a member or serving as officer of the Monroe County Chamber of Commerce for seven years from ’85-’91 including the title of president for two years in ’89-’90. He is a part of the Monroe County Recreation Department where in ’01 he received the Sportsmanship Award from the Monroe County Baseball Committee and in ’08 he received the Triple Play Award from the Piedmont Regional Umpire Association. He is involved with Mary Persons Bulldogs Varsity Football team where he serves as a co-statistician since ’91.
Additional honors and awards Harris holds include being the president of the Monroe County Community Leadership Class of ’87, recipient of the Marion Dorner 12th Man Award by the Mary Persons High School Bulldogs Varsity Football team in ’09, Kiwanian of the Year from ’91-’92 then again in ’18-’19, and Monroe County Citizen of the Year for ’11 by the Forsyth-Monroe County Chamber of Commerce.