The Board of Regents of the University System of Georgia named Dr. Michael P. “Mike” Shannon president of the University of North Georgia (UNG), effective July 1. He will replace Dr. Bonita Jacobs, who has led UNG since 2011 and will retire this month. UNG partnered with CarterBaldwin Executive Search firm in the presidential search process.
Shannon, a retired U.S. Army officer, currently serves as interim executive vice president for Administration and Finance and interim chief business officer at Georgia Institute of Technology (Georgia Tech).
Commissioned through Army ROTC, Shannon served as an officer in the U.S. Army for 20 years, retiring in 2015 with the rank of lieutenant colonel. After operational Army service as an Infantry and Signal Corps officer with assignments in the 82d Airborne Division, the 35th Signal Brigade (18th Airborne Corps) and the 2nd Infantry Division, he was selected to serve as a U.S. Army Nuclear and Counterproliferation officer.
For over 10 years, Shannon provided leadership and technical and operational expertise to the U.S. Department of Defense as an expert in nuclear technology issues and later held leadership assignments with the Defense Threat Reduction Agency. Shannon also served at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point during two different leadership assignments, as an instructor and later as an assistant professor in the Department of Physics and Nuclear Engineering. At West Point, he was actively engaged in teaching and research along with several activities in support of cadet and Army officer development.
In his role as a member of Georgia Tech’s executive leadership team, Shannon has been responsible for strategic leadership and operations including administrative functions such as human resources, finance and budget, information technology, facilities and infrastructure, capital planning, campus security and emergency response. He has also led several initiatives designed to build a student-centered focus in Administration and Finance and ensure Georgia Tech is an employer of first choice for veterans of the U.S. armed forces. He has served in numerous faculty, leadership, and advisory roles, including as a research faculty member and principal investigator in the Advanced Concepts Laboratory at the Georgia Tech Research Institute.
Shannon holds a bachelor’s degree in aerospace engineering and a master’s in aeronautical science from Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University. He also holds a master’s in health physics as well as a PhD in nuclear and radiological engineering from Georgia Tech.
Click here to read UNG’s full announcement.
About the University of North Georgia
The University of North Georgia is part of the University System of Georgia and is designated as a State Leadership Institution and The Military College of Georgia. With about 20,000 students, the University of North Georgia is one of the state’s largest public universities.
Positioned in the fastest-growing region of the state, UNG comprises five campuses united by a single mission focused on academic excellence and academic and co-curricular programs that develop students into leaders for a diverse and global society.
