Atlanta – Technical College System of Georgia Commissioner Ron Jackson has announced the creation of a ten-member search committee whose role will be to will help select the next president of Atlanta Technical College. 

The search is the result of the passing last August of the previous president of Atlanta Tech, Dr. Brenda Watts Jones.

“This search committee has the important responsibility to help us find an exceptional leader who has the kind of innovative thinking and student-centered philosophy that was the hallmark of Dr. Jones’ years with the college,” said Jackson.  “The right candidate must be an educator who can build upon Atlanta Tech’s excellent reputation as a college that prepares its students with the knowledge and skills that lead to long and rewarding careers.” 

The committee will be chaired by William “Bill” Pinto, the president of Hardin Construction Company in Atlanta. 

Other members of the committee are Hank Aaron, senior vice president, Atlanta Braves; Veronica Biggins, partner, HNCL Search, Atlanta; Al Byrd, chairman and CEO, Byrd Alliance Group, Atlanta; Hattie Dorsey, president and CEO, H.B. Dorsey and Associates, Atlanta; Cedric Johnson, senior vice president, First Bank of Georgia, Augusta; Harold Mitchell, retired, State Farm Insurance, Suwanee; Benita Ransom, commissioner, City of Atlanta Department of Human Resources; Arlane Robinson, owner, OCR Trucking Company, Marietta; and Michael Sullivan, attorney, Anderson, Tate and Carr, Lawrenceville.

Committee members Johnson and Sullivan are also members of the state board of the Technical College System of Georgia. 

The application, interview and selection process is expected to take four to six months, with the search committee referring three finalists to Jackson.  His choice for Atlanta Tech’s new president must then be approved by the full state board of the Technical College System of Georgia.

Dr. Josephine Reed-Taylor, the system’s assistant commissioner for adult literacy, will serve as the interim president of the college until the new president is named.

Atlanta Tech is located on Metropolitan Parkway in southwest Atlanta.  Last year, the college enrolled 5,446 students in diploma, degree and certificate classes.  Atlanta Tech graduated 998 students last year, and 98.2% of those graduates are employed or have chosen to further their education.  

Earlier this summer, Washington Monthly magazine chose Atlanta Tech as the nation’s best community college.

A total of 33 colleges make up the Technical College System of Georgia, which enrolled 144,820 students statewide in 2007.  The system also administers the state's adult literacy programs along with Georgia Quick Start, an economic development program dedicated to workforce training.

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