Page 26 - MGA Today: Middle Georgia State University

Middle Georgia State University Foundation
Honors Bob Hatcher and Emory Gordy

2015 Legacy of Leadership Award Robert F. Hatcher Sr. is the recipient of the 2015 Legacy
Robert F. Hatcher Sr. of Leadership Award. JESSICA WHITLEY

The word “visionary” is perhaps overused a lifetime of service, a true legacy of leadership,
these days, but Bob Hatcher is a constant for the people and places of Middle Georgia.
reminder that some people really do live up
to the label. Established by the Middle Georgia State
University Foundation, the Legacy of Leadership
One of Georgia’s most successful businessmen Award recognizes an individual, persons or group
and a highly visible civic leader, Hatcher has long who has given exemplary service to the University
focused much of his considerable energy on what and the Foundation. The Legacy of Leadership
is now Middle Georgia State University. Award is the highest honor the Middle Georgia
State Foundation bestows. Recipients of the award
He served the former Macon State College are selected by a committee made up of the
Foundation as a trustee for eight years before chairman of the Foundation Board of Trustees,
then-Gov. Sonny Perdue appointed him to the the president of Middle Georgia State and the
Board of Regents of the University System of Foundation’s executive director.
Georgia. Among the direct results of his work on
those boards was the elevation of Middle Georgia
State to university status in July 2015.

“From the time I’ve known him, he’s talked
about the importance of Middle Georgia State to
the region,” said Kathryn Dennis, president of the
Community Foundation of Central Georgia. “He
is a linchpin in (the institution’s) growth. Bob
Hatcher and leadership are synonymous.”

Hatcher, president and CEO of MidCountry
Financial Corp., has been extensively involved in
numerous civic organizations and initiatives. The
governor appointed him co-chairman of the
Commission for a New Georgia. He is a past
member and past chairman for the Community
Foundation of Central Georgia. He is chairman of
the 21st Century Partnership Foundation and sits
on the boards of the Georgia Chamber of
Commerce, the Georgia Research Alliance and the
U.S. Ski Team Foundation.

In addition, Hatcher is an honorary Lifetime
Member of the Greater Macon Chamber of
Commerce, which named him its 2005 Citizen of
the Year. Each of these represents just a portion of

26 MIDDLE GEORGIA STATE UNIVERSITY