The Mercer University Board of Trustees, meeting on the historic Penfield Campus in Greene County, today unanimously elected Penny L. Elkins, Ph.D., as the institution’s 19th president.

Dr. Elkins will succeed current Mercer President William D. Underwood, who has served as the University’s 18th president for almost two decades, on Jan. 1, 2026. She has been a member of Mercer’s faculty and senior administration for more than 25 years and currently serves as executive vice president and interim provost. She also is a tenured professor in Mercer’s Tift College of Education and holds the Fred L. Miles Endowed Chair of Educational Leadership at the University. 

She will be the first Mercer graduate to serve as president since Rufus Harris (1960-79) and the first Double Bear to serve since George Connell (1953-59). She will also be the first female president in the University’s 192-year history.

“To be called and entrusted to lead the institution that so profoundly shaped the trajectory of my life is deeply humbling. As a proud Double Bear, I can never fully repay what Mercer has given to me, but years ago I accepted the call and dedicated my life’s work to paying it forward — to the current and future students, to the extraordinarily talented faculty and staff who create the ‘Mercer Experience,’ and to the communities we serve,” said Dr. Elkins. “Leadership is a privilege and a sacred trust, and I embrace with gratitude both the opportunity and the responsibility to steward Mercer’s mission with integrity, vision and purpose. Now more than ever, our world needs more Mercerians.” 

Dr. Elkins was the unanimous choice of the 12-member Presidential Search Committee, which was chaired by current trustee and former board chair Richard A. (Doc) Schneider. Other members of the committee included Cathy Callaway Adams of Kennesaw, chair of the Executive Committee and incoming board chair; Robert F. (Bob) Hatcher of Macon, a Life Trustee and former board chair; the Rev. James C. (Jimmy) Elder Jr. of Columbus and a current trustee; David E. Hudson of Augusta, Life Trustee, former board chair and chair of the Presidential Search Committee that recommended Underwood in 2005; the Honorable W. Louis Sands of Albany and a current trustee; William A. (Tony) Moye of McDonough, a former board chair and current trustee; Amy Miller Wall of Shreveport, Louisiana, and a current trustee; Dr. Jennifer Nunn Tarbutton of Sandersville and a current trustee; David E. Linch of Atlanta and a current trustee; Carolyn Townsend McAfee Bruner of Macon, Life Trustee; and Thomas P. (Tom) Bishop, of Kennesaw, a current trustee and outgoing board chair, who served as an ex officio member of the committee. 

Across an over 30-year career, Dr. Elkins has served and led teams and organizations across many aspects of both P-12 and higher education. A highly regarded keynote speaker, she is a recognized expert on the topic of equipping leaders and developing effective teams to achieve success. 

In October 2023, Dr. Elkins was appointed executive vice president, and in February 2025, also assumed leadership for the Provost’s Office as interim provost. 

Prior to her appointment as executive vice president, Dr. Elkins for 12 years served as senior vice president for enrollment management. During that period, she led the University in achieving record-breaking enrollment growth, including an 80% increase in freshman enrollment and 47% growth in the total residential undergraduate student population, which is reflective of both the size of the entering first-year class and the number of students retained through graduation. During the same period of time, Mercer enrolled its most academically qualified entering classes in the University’s history.

In her current role, Dr. Elkins often leads cross-functional and interdisciplinary initiatives, including the University’s Center for Leadership, Ethics, and Service and the McDonald Center for the Advancement of Global Education. 

Prior to being named senior vice president for enrollment management in 2011, Dr. Elkins served as senior vice provost for strategic initiatives, vice president for the University’s Cecil B. Day Graduate and Professional Campus in Atlanta, and associate dean and department chair for both teacher education and educational leadership in the Tift College of Education. She led the establishment of the Department of Educational Leadership and the first doctoral program in the College of Education, the Ph.D. in Educational Leadership and Higher Education Leadership. A lifelong educator, Dr. Elkins began her career as a third-grade teacher and elementary school administrator. 

Dr. Elkins holds two degrees from Mercer, a bachelor’s degree summa cum laude, with majors in Christianity and education, and a master’s degree in education. She also holds an education specialist degree in education, administration and supervision from Georgia College & State University and a Ph.D. in educational leadership from Georgia State University.

In 2025, Dr. Elkins was the first female appointed to the Board of Trustees for the Lettie Pate Whitehead Foundation, serving as a strategic advisor on higher education issues. 

A past president of Georgia Women of Achievement, Dr. Elkins has also served as a consultant with schools, chambers of commerce, businesses and financial institutions in the areas of leadership development and curriculum planning. 

In 2009, Georgia’s then-governor, Sonny Perdue, appointed her to the Georgia Professional Standards Commission, the organization that oversees all educator certification for the state, as well as the approval of all professional education programs in Georgia. She served as chair of the Commission for the last four years of her six-year term. 

Her areas of academic research interest include cognition theory in leadership, transformational leadership, birth-to-five education and early learning development, women in leadership and community partnership development.

Dr. Elkins is married to Jason Elkins, an agency manager with Georgia Farm Bureau who has almost 20 years of experience in the insurance sector.

QUOTES

“I am confident that the University will thrive in the extremely capable hands of Dr. Penny L. Elkins. She will be an innovative, courageous and inspiring leader in carrying out Mercer University’s mission of preparing and equipping students for lives of discovery, empowerment, service and impact, and in the process, changing the world.”

Cathy Callaway Adams

Incoming Chair, Board of Trustees 

“Mercer has been blessed with strong visionary leadership. We have only had three presidents in the last seven decades. After thoughtful consideration, we chose Dr. Elkins because we believe she has the right experience and skills to continue Mercer’s dramatic growth, prepare the University for the challenges that will face higher education in the years to come and be our next long-term president.”

Thomas P. (Tom) Bishop

Outgoing Chair, Board of Trustees 

“Dr. Elkins has been a powerful advocate for the unique Mercer experience for more than 25 years. The Presidential Search Committee engaged with Mercer’s stakeholders – on every front – and asked them to tell us the qualities and traits they would like to see in Mercer’s next president. Our committee found that Dr. Elkins has all of them. I am honored to be part of the team that recommended Dr. Elkins to be the 19th president of Mercer University.” 

Richard A. (Doc) Schneider

Chair, Presidential Search Committee 

“The Board of Trustees has made the best choice imaginable in electing Dr. Penny Elkins to serve as the 19th president of Mercer University. I am overjoyed for Mercer. She will be an amazing president, given her exceptional and demonstrated leadership, relational and problem-solving talents. I can hardly wait to watch Mercer flourish in the coming years under her leadership.”

William D. Underwood

President