Penny Elkins has been named president of Mercer University and will assume that post Jan. 1 upon the retirement of William Underwood.
Elkins has been a member of Mercer’s faculty and senior administration for more than 25 years and currently serves as executive vice president and interim provost. She also is a tenured professor in Mercer’s Tift College of Education and holds the Fred L. Miles Endowed Chair of Educational Leadership at the University.
Bill Underwood
Underwood was named Mercer’s 18th president in 2006 and has presided over a period of rapid growth in enrollment and academic programs. Mercer is a Baptist heritage school that is fully autonomous in governance.
Elkins was elected president in a meeting of the board of trustees Nov. 14. She will be the first Mercer graduate to serve as president since Rufus Harris (1960-79) and the first female president in the university’s 192-year history.
Currently, only two other Baptist-affiliated universities in America have female presidents — Baylor University (Linda Livingstone) and Wayland Baptist University (Donna Hedgepath).
“To be called and entrusted to lead the institution that so profoundly shaped the trajectory of my life is deeply humbling,” Elkins said. “As a proud Double Bear, I can never fully repay what Mercer has given to me, but years ago I accepted the call and dedicated my life’s work to paying it forward — to the current and future students, to the extraordinarily talented faculty and staff who create the ‘Mercer Experience,’ and to the communities we serve.”
Across a 30-year career, Elkins has become a recognized expert on the topic of equipping leaders and developing effective teams to achieve success.
She began her career as a third-grade teacher and elementary administrator, then was named to the Mercer faculty as associate dean and department chair for both teacher education and educational leadership in the Tift College of Education. She then was named senior vice provost for strategic initiatives and vice president for the University’s Cecil B. Day Graduate and Professional Campus in Atlanta. She also served 12 years as senior vice president for enrollment management. In October 2023, she became executive vice president and earlier this year was named interim provost.
Elkins holds two degrees from Mercer, a bachelor’s degree with majors in Christianity and education, and a master’s degree in education. She also holds an education specialist degree in education, administration and supervision from Georgia College and State University and a Ph.D. in educational leadership from Georgia State University.