MACON, Ga. (ABP) — Baylor University administrator Larry Brumley has been named senior vice president and chief of staff at Mercer University — following incoming president Bill Underwood, also a former Baylor administrator, to the Georgia school.
Underwood, former law professor and interim president at Baylor, made Brumley his first administrative appointee at Mercer. Brumley, interim vice president for marketing and communications at Baylor, will join Mercer June 1.
Brumley, a 1982 Baylor graduate, previously served six years as associate vice president for university relations at Mercer. He joined the Baylor administration in 1997 as associate vice president for communications.
At the Macon, Ga., school, Brumley will be senior adviser to Underwood and will facilitate overall university operations and direction. He also will counsel Mercer's university relations office on marketing strategies and direct presidential initiatives with Baptist constituencies.
Both Baylor and Mercer recently have been through difficult transitions in their relationships with their Baptist constituents.
In November the Georgia Baptist Convention severed its historic relationship with Mercer.
Last year Baylor President Robert Sloan was forced to resign over disagreements with regents and alumni. Underwood served as interim president before Baylor elected John Lilley as president, disappointing some Baylor constituents hoping Underwood would be chosen.
Brumley served as spokesman for Baylor during those presidential transitions, as well as a scandal in its men's basketball program and a national championship for its women's basketball team. He implemented a national media-relations initiative for Baylor and played a significant role in the school's ongoing bid for the George W. Bush Presidential Library. He was the university's liaison to the White House for Bush's 2002 Economic Forum and 2005 trilateral meeting with Mexico, Canada and the U.S., both on the Baylor campus.
“Baylor has undergone tremendous change during this period, and communicating those changes and accomplishments to the university's diverse constituencies has been both challenging and rewarding,” Brumley said. “I believe Baylor has a bright future under the leadership of President John Lilley. I will miss Baylor, particularly the talented and dedicated colleagues I have been fortunate to serve alongside, but I look forward to the opportunity to work with Bill Underwood at this historic Georgia institution.”
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