Mercer University’s Board of Trustees approved two new graduate programs, installed nine members and elected officers during its annual Homecoming meeting.
 
A new Master of Theological Studies will be offered through Mercer’s McAfee School of Theology on the University’s Cecil B. Day Graduate and Professional Campus in Atlanta beginning next fall. The 49-hour, two-year program will allow students to craft their own course of study, in consultation with their faculty supervisor. It will prepare students for future advanced and specialized work in religion and theology through teaching and research, church leadership, or community and global ministry. The course of study allows students to concentrate in one of four broad areas: Bible, history/theology, ethics, and practical theology.
 
The College of Health Professions will begin offering the Master of Athletic Training degree on the Macon campus, beginning in June 2018. It will be a six-semester, 70-credit-hour professional program that will prepare students for national certification in athletic training. The College will seek accreditation for the program through the Commission on Accreditation of Athletic Training Education. Clinical experiences with the Mercer athletics program will be a component of the degree.
 
New trustees who began their five-year terms at the conclusion of today’s meeting include Curtis G. Anderson, retired investment banker from Savannah; Barbara (Babs) Baugh, president of the John and Eula Mae Baugh Foundation in San Antonio, Texas; James C. Elder Jr., pastor of First Baptist Church in Columbus; Benjamin W. (Benjy) Griffith III, president and owner of Southern Pine Plantations Inc. in Macon; J. Curtis Lewis III, partner with Hunter & Lewis LLP law firm and a businessman in Savannah; David Linch, managing director of Linch Capital in Atlanta; William Anthony (Tony) Moye, founder of Moye’s Pharmacy in McDonough; J. Reg Murphy, retired vice chairman of the National Geographic Society from Sea Island; and Richard A. (Doc) Schneider, senior partner with the Atlanta law firm of King & Spalding LLP. Elder, Griffith, Linch, Moye, Murphy and Schneider are Mercer alumni.
 
Trustees who rotated off the board and were recognized for their service include Neville Callam of Falls Church, Virginia; Holly McCorkle Jones of Jacksonville, Florida; Claude M. Kicklighter of McLean, Virginia; Thomas W. Malone of North Palm Beach, Florida; M. Diane Owens of Lilburn; Miller Peterson Robinson of Columbus; Raymond M. (Thad) Warren of Atlanta; and Jerry S. Wilson of Ponte Vedra, Florida.
 
President Jimmy Carter, who completed a regular term on the board, was unanimously elected a Life Trustee of the University.
 
Atlanta physician Dr. Spencer B. King III, a 1959 graduate of Mercer’s College of Liberal Arts, was elected chair of the board. Cathy Callaway Adams, an executive of the Federal Home Loan Bank of Atlanta and a 1981 graduate of Tift College, was elected chair of the board’s executive committee.