Berry College selects new president
One of North Georgia’s largest private colleges will soon have a new president.
Berry College announced Monday that Sandeep Mazumder, dean of Baylor University’s Hankamer School of Business, will become its next president in July. The current president, Stephen Briggs, is retiring at the end of the 2024-25 school year. Briggs has been Berry’s president since 2006.
The London-born Mazumder served as chair of the Department of Economics at Wake Forest University in North Carolina from 2017 to 2021. He began his teaching career there in 2009.
Mazumder’s research and teaching interests include macroeconomics, monetary economics, international monetary economics and time-series econometrics. He’s published more than 30 articles in journals in his career.
Board chair Rick Gilbert said in a statement that Mazumder “understands the challenge of balancing business-mindedness, healthy academic debate, international understanding, technological innovation and a good-neighbor mindset. It takes a special person to lead a residential college, and we believe Mazumder will immerse himself fully into the flourishing of our community.”
Berry, located about 90 miles northwest of Atlanta, has about 2,200 students. Mazumder said he was drawn to Berry College because of its emphasis instilled by its namesake Martha Berry.
“I adore Martha Berry’s philosophy of teaching students ‘not to be ministered unto, but to minister’ and intend to continue to champion that sentiment,” he said in a statement.
About the Author
Eric Stirgus joined The Atlanta Journal-Constitution in 2001. He is the newsroom's education editor. Born and raised in Brooklyn, N.Y., Eric is active in the Atlanta Association of Black Journalists and the Education Writers Association and enjoys mentoring aspiring journalists.
