Gretchen B. Caughman named Georgia Regents University Interim President

University System of Georgia (USG) Chancellor Hank Huckaby has named Dr. Gretchen B. Caughman as interim president of Georgia Regents University.

Caughman currently serves as executive vice president for academic affairs and provost at GRU. She was appointed to vice president and provost Jan. 2013. Prior to the consolidation of Augusta State University and Georgia Health Sciences University, she was appointed interim provost of the Medical College of Georgia in Sept. 2010 and became executive vice president for academic affairs and provost of Georgia Health Sciences University in June 2011. She is also a professor in the College of Dental Medicine, the Medical College of Georgia (Medicine) and the Graduate School at GRU.

She will begin her new assignment on July 1, following the departure of President Ricardo Azziz.

“I’m very pleased to name Dr. Caughman as interim president of GRU,” said Chancellor Hank Huckaby. “She has a wealth of experience and a deep commitment to the success of Georgia Regents. Her appointment will allow for a successful transition as GRU prepares for the next phase of its success as Georgia’s premiere health sciences institution.”

During her tenure as provost at GRU, the Office of Diversity and Inclusion was established, the Division of Institutional Effectiveness was created, the Institute of Public and Preventive Health and GRU Leadership Academy were launched, and the newly formed Georgia Regents University was accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges. She recently launched the GRU Cyber Institute and currently serves as chair of the University System of Georgia system-wide Cybersecurity Initiative Consortium.

Caughman has had a long career serving higher education in Augusta, Ga. She began her career at the Medical College of Georgia (now a part of GRU) in 1985 as an assistant professor of oral biology with appointments as assistant professor in the Schools of Dentistry and Graduate Studies in 1988.

She has also had appointments as associate professor in cellular biology and anatomy in the School of Medicine, associate dean of the School of Graduate Studies, associate dean of graduate studies in the School of Medicine and dean of the School of Graduate Studies.

Caughman received her undergraduate degree in biochemistry from Clemson University (South Carolina) and her Ph.D. in basic and clinical immunology and microbiology from the Medical University of South Carolina (Charleston). She completed a three-year National Cancer Institute Individual Postdoctoral Fellowship in herpesvirology at the University of Mississippi (Jackson).