Elridge McMillan, regent emeritus of the Board of Regents of the University System of Georgia, Atlanta Metropolitan State College scholar-in-residence, and president emeritus of the Southern Education Foundation, will be honored as an outstanding community citizen by Atlanta Metropolitan State College. He will be recognized for his incredible record of leadership, service, and generosity which has made a lasting difference in metropolitan Atlanta and beyond.

The annual Celebration of Leadership Awards is AMSC’s signature fundraising event to support need-based continuation scholarships and financial assistance for Atlanta Metropolitan State College students. Students receiving funds raised at COL are typically students within a semester of graduating and in need of financial assistance to continue their education. Funds needed can often be as little as $250.

As the first African-American president of the Atlanta-based Southern Education Foundation, McMillan led the foundation to take an active role in promoting equity and quality in education in the South, primarily for blacks and marginalized citizens. McMillan co-chaired SEF’s Panel on Educational Opportunity and Post-Secondary Desegregation.  In 1995, the panel issued a major report: Redeeming the American Promise, which garnered extensive national attention.

The first African-American chair (1986-1987) of the Board of Regents of the University System of Georgia, McMillan was the longest-serving member of the board having served for more than 34 years since his initial appointment in February 1975.

As a former trustee of Clark Atlanta University (his alma mater), he co-chaired the Trustee Committee which was responsible for the consolidation of Clark College and Atlanta University (1987-1989). McMillan was also appointed to the Center for Civil and Human Rights Global Advisory Board and is a past member of the University System of Georgia Foundation Board.

McMillan is a recipient of the Black Georgian of the Year Award from the State Committee on the Life and History of Black Georgians. The Atlanta NAACP awarded its W.E.B. DuBois Education Award to McMillan on an unprecedented three occasions. He also was awarded the Atlanta Urban League’s Distinguished Community Service Award; the Association of Governing Boards’ Distinguished Award for Trusteeship; the University of Georgia’s Blue Key Honor Society Award; Trailblazer Award for Education from Antioch North Baptist Church; and the Unsung Hero Award from Warren United Methodist Church. He is also the recipient of the University System of Georgia Foundation’s first Lifetime Achievement Award, which has been officially named The Elridge McMillan Lifetime Achievement Award. In January 2010, he was named Regent Emeritus of the University System of Georgia, being the first Regent to have that designation.

Atlanta Metropolitan College established The Elridge W. McMillan Legacy Leadership Award, 2009. 

Georgia Gwinnett College created Regent’ Elridge W. McMillan Scholarship Fund, 2009. In April 2012, the Board of Regents approved Atlanta Metropolitan State College’s request to name a new building in his honor: The Elridge W. McMillan Academic Sciences Building.

Fellow honorees include:

Rev. Kenneth Alexander, co-pastor, Antioch Baptist Church North,

Vernon Keenan, director, Georgia Bureau of Investigation,

Erika Shields, chief, City of Atlanta Police Department, and

Willie A. Watkins, chief executive officer, Willie A. Watkins Funeral Home, Inc.

For special recognition of their contributions to education, the AMSC Game-Changer Award will be given to Veronica Adadevoh, State Farm agency owner, and the AMSC Champion of Education Award will be given Dr. Morcease Beasley, superintendent of Clayton County Public Schools.

The COL Awards is an awards dinner with program, held during Founders Week, Sept. 24-29, 2018, is on Sept. 27 at 7:15 pm in the Edwin A. Thompson, Sr. Student Center Charles F. Easely Pavilion. For more information, call AMSC Strategic Marketing & Advancement at 404.756.4666 or email Keel Rickenbacker at [email protected].