Buchanan Named Next President of Andrew College

“Dr. Buchanan’s credentials fit Andrew College’s needs exactly right,” said George Flowers, chairman of the Andrew College board of trustees. “She has the qualifications we seek in our next president. Her proven leadership record at United Methodist institutions across the nation assures a bright future for Andrew College.”

Buchanan, a retired captain in the United States Navy, brings nearly 40 years of higher education experience to Andrew College. Her professional background includes leadership roles at Iowa Wesleyan College and LaGrange College, both United Methodist-relation institutions, as well as Christian Church (Disciples of Christ)-related Midway College in Kentucky.

“Andrew College has been the shining beacon of culture, upward mobility and realization of human potential in Cuthbert since 1854,” Buchanan said. “With the great and exciting responsibility given to me today, I will work tirelessly to make sure we continue transforming first-generation students into global citizens, professionals and servant leaders.”

Senior faculty representative Karan Pittman expressed excitement in Buchanan’s selection, saying it “brings renewed promise, purpose and optimism to Andrew College’s mission and its relationship to the local community, Southwest Georgia and The United Methodist Church.”

Buchanan’s selection concludes an eight-month national search. Flowers expressed his appreciation to everyone involved in the search process, including a 17-member search committee led by board Vice-Chair Peter Daughtery and the Macon-based Myers McRae search firm.

Career Accomplishments

Buchanan’s portfolio spans accreditation, athletics, curriculum development, enrollment management, strategic planning and student services. Her most notable accomplishments include a research-based enrollment and marketing overhaul that resulted in record-breaking admissions, leading a transition from NAIA to NCAA Division III athletics, overseeing a dining hall redesign and renovation, co-leading a $65 million capital campaign, developing and teaching a required seminar for first-year students, and nine on-site reviews with regional accreditation agencies.

She also has widespread experience with the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges (SACSCOC), which will visit Andrew College in the fall of 2015 as part of a decennial recertification process.

Prior to her student services career, Buchanan was the director of athletics, a volleyball coach and a faculty member at Midway College in Midway, Ky.

Educational Background

Buchanan holds a bachelor’s degree from George Williams College in Downers Grove, Ill., a master’s degree from Eastern Kentucky University and a doctorate from Georgia State University. Her Stansbury Award-winning dissertation studied small American colleges in the 19th century. She is an honorary of Kappa Delta Pi, an international honor society in education, at both the graduate and undergraduate levels.

A lifelong historian, Buchanan has presented at the Southern History of Education Society multiple times. She coordinated and hosted the conference in 2009. Her work on two historically black colleges has been published in Garland Publishing’s “Essays of Twentieth-Century Southern Education” and presented to the American Educational Research Association.

About Andrew College

Andrew College is a small, private, two-year college related to The United Methodist Church. Its mission is to provide an academically challenging liberal arts curriculum within a nurturing community. Andrew College is one of nine United-Methodist related colleges and universities in Georgia. To discover more about Andrew, visit andrewcollege.edu or @AndrewCollege on Twitter.