By Amanda Respess

G eorgia College & State University President Cathy Cox received the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Supreme Court of Georgia on April 15 during the 25th Annual Justice Robert Benham Awards for Community Service.

The Lifetime Achievement Award is the highest recognition given by the Chief Justice’s Commission on Professionalism, which organizes the annual Justice Robert Benham Awards.

The Benham Awards recognize the commitment of Georgia lawyers and judges to volunteerism, encourage lawyers and judges to be involved in community service, and raise the public image of lawyers and judges.

Recipients of The Lifetime Achievement award not only meet Benham Award requirements, but also demonstrate “an extraordinarily long and distinguished commitment to volunteer participating in the community throughout his or her legal career,” according to the Supreme Court of Georgia.

President Cox graduated magna cum laude from Mercer Law School, then practiced law in her hometown of Bainbridge and in Atlanta for 10 years, during which time she was elected to the Georgia House of Representatives. Cox subsequently broke new ground in her election as Georgia’s 25th Secretary of State in 1998, becoming the first woman in Georgia’s history to serve in this Constitutional office.

Following terms as President of Young Harris College and Dean of Mercer Law School, Cox became the 12th president of Georgia College & State University October 1, 2021.