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Cleere announces 2011 retirement After 15 years at the helm of Piedmont College, President Ray Cleere will retire in June 2011, and the search is on for a new president who will have big shoes to fill. During his time as president, Dr. Cleere has overseen the growth of Piedmont from a small, 850-student, four-year, liberal arts college to a comprehensive institution of 2,700 students on two campuses in Demorest and Athens. During his tenure, the college has constructed nine new buildings in Demorest, including five dormitories to dramatically increase the number of residential students. Almost every building on campus has also undergone a complete renovation, as have the athletic facilities and overall landscaping. The Athens Campus, which began in a former residence, has now grown to include a sprawling campus near downtown. On the academic side, the college has expanded its curriculum in almost every area, including the addition of master’s, specialist, and doctoral programs in education, and three master of business administration (MBA) programs. The college also opened the Daniel School of Nursing, which offers bachelor of science in nursing (BSN) degrees. Piedmont currently offers 44 different undergraduate majors. “I did not intend to stay quite so long, but it seems like there was always a new project right around the corner that I wanted to see through,” Cleere said. “The board of trustees saw to it that we stayed busy.” Cleere said that soon after he started, the board set a goal to increase enrollment to 2,000 students, a number the college reached in 2003. It also set as an overall goal to make Piedmont “one of the best small colleges in the Southeast.” “I think in many areas we have reached that goal,” Cleere said. “Certainly our school of education is one of the best. We produce more teachers than any other private college in Georgia besides Mercer; and our teachers, including those with undergraduate or advanced degrees, are sought after around the state. It is always interesting to see how many of our alumni are counted among local school systems’ teachers of the year.” “The same can be said for our school of arts and sciences,” Cleere said. “Our students excel in many areas, including graduate school. The school of business is producing successful MBAs in fields ranging from finance to health care, and for the past three years, our school of nursing graduates have had a 100-percent passing rate on their certification tests.” Cleere said the additions of Stewart Hall for math and science and the Swanson Center for mass communications and theatre provide students with up-to-date facilities, including the latest computer technology. All of the college’s athletic facilities have been rebuilt, including the additions of the Johnny Mize Center, Loudermilk baseball stadium, the outdoor Walker Fields and the Burgen Tennis Courts. “We have a lot of areas where we can still improve, but I would put our campus and facilities up against any of the small colleges in the Southeast, and really they compare well with many larger in-
President Ray Cleere speaks to graduates at Baccalaureate services in 2010.
stitutions, Cleere said. “To date, we have invested more than $90 million in buildings and infrastructure in Demorest.” The Athens Campus was another $12 million investment, he said. Cleere said he is most proud that all of these improvements have been made while holding down the cost of tuition. The college has not raised tuition in three years and currently only one or two four-year private colleges in the state have lower tuition than Piedmont. “None of this would have been possible without our extremely loyal donors, many of whom serve on the board of trustees,” he said. “Not every college is lucky enough to have trustees who are that committed to the success of the college and its students.” Before coming to Piedmont, Cleere served as commissioner of higher education in Mississippi, and he previously served as vice chancellor for academic affairs for the University System of Georgia. He also served as vice president and dean of faculties at Valdosta State College. He began his career in education as a teacher and counselor in the Atlanta City Schools. Piedmont has not been the only beneficiary of Cleere’s time while president. He is an active member and former president of the Habersham County Chamber of Commerce. He also was the driving force for the establishment of radio station WPPR, which provided northeast Georgia with Georgia Public Radio broadcasts for the first time beginning in 1995. Retirement will probably not find him sitting at home, and until then, Cleere will be busy with the latest project on campus, a complete renovation of the downtown Demorest Art Gallery and the addition of a new fine arts classroom building adjacent to the Martens Center. But rest assured, the next president can expect that there will probably be another project right around the corner when that one is done.
For an interview with President Cleere on the state of the college, see Page 14.
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