Mercer University announced on Friday that President Willam D. Underwood will be stepping down to return to full time teaching at Mercer's Walter F. George School of Law in 2026.
Underwood will continue to lead the university until the Board of Trustees appoints his successor, according to a press release by the university. According to Board Chair Thomas P. Bishop, a committee will be appointed to begin a search for Mercer's next president.
Today, Underwood is the school's 18th president, where he began serving in the position. He is also just the third person to hold the office in more than six decades for the university, succeeding long-time President Kirby Godsey on July 1, 2006. Prior to his presidency in Macon, Underwood was the interim president of Baylor University and a professor at the Texas university's school of law.
Since arriving on campus in 19 years ago, Mercer has expanded its footprint across campus, Macon and the world at large. Campus infrastructure, from Cruz Plaza to Five Star Stadium, has been added while existing structures have been improved to help Mercer compete for incoming freshman classes. Additionally, Underwood oversaw the creation of a downtown arm of the university's School of Medicine, and he recently announced a future move for Mercer's School of Medicine.
The university's finances have also been bolstered, according to Friday's press release. Mercer's endowment has been increased to over $500 million through the years-long Aspire capital campaign, which the university announced at the 2023 Homecoming pep rally. Student enrollment has also swelled as Mercer increased its number of classrooms across the state, growing to a university-wide roster of 9,200 students.
Underwood's office did not say how long he had been planning on stepping down from his post, but the groundwork for his departure had to be approved by the Board of Trustees. Under the prior rules, Mercer's president was required to identify as Baptist, which Underwood determined could be a limiting factor in the search for the 19th president, according to the press release. This week, the Board of Trustees voted to amend the university's bylaws and articles of incorporation so that the next president need not be a member of the Baptist church to be considered, but instead must be a Christian.
The bylaws and articles of incorporation do maintain, however, that at least one member of each new trustee class must be a member of the Baptist clergy.
Additionally, the press release lists the following "historic Baptist values" as tenets of an ideal candidate: freedom of mind and spirit, the equal worth of all individuals and service to humankind.
Gabriel Kopp '26 is double majoring in Journalism and Law and Public Policy at Mercer University. He has written for The Cluster since he started at Mercer, and currently works as Editor-in-Chief. When he isn't working on a Washington Post crossword, he enjoys going for runs around Macon and reading The New York Times or the AJC while sipping coffee.
Megan Jackson ‘25 is a Journalism student with a goal of working in multimedia journalism. Megan currently acts as The Cluster's co-Editor-in-Chief. In her free time, she enjoys reading a good book or spending time with her sorority sisters.
