MACON – Mercer University alumna, television personality, author and former prosecutor Nancy Grace will deliver the University's 2017 Founders' Day address Feb. 8, 10 a.m., in Willingham Auditorium on the Macon campus.
Each year on Founders' Day, a prominent Mercerian returns to campus to share how the University has influenced his or her life. The Heritage Life Committee of the Student Government Association (SGA) coordinates the annual convocation, which first took place at Mercer in 1891.
“When searching for a speaker for Founders' Day 2017, we knew that we would have to find someone who would not only exceed our expectations, but also break the mold for what Founders' Day had been,” said Reed Jones, chair of SGA's Heritage Life Committee.
“Last year, Chancellor (R. Kirby) Godsey recounted his time as the longest-serving president of the University and did an exceptional job. This year, we chose Nancy Grace for several reasons. She has a unique outlook on Mercer because she experienced the University in the classroom as an undergrad as well as at the Walter F. George School of Law, grew up near our beloved University and has become one of our leaders as a member of the Board of Trustees.”
Grace earned her bachelor's degree from Mercer's College of Liberal Arts in 1981 and Juris Doctor from Mercer Law School in 1984. She currently serves on the University's Board of Trustees and is a 2012 recipient of Mercer's Distinguished Alumna Award.
An outspoken, tireless advocate for victims' rights and one of television's most respected legal analysts, Grace was the powerful force behind CNN Headline News' top-rated show “Nancy Grace.”
A former prosecutor with an unparalleled record of success, Grace has appeared on “The Oprah Winfrey Show,” “The View,” “The Today Show,” “Good Morning America,” “Dr. Phil” and “Larry King Live,” among other television programs, dispensing her firebrand take on the modern justice system.
She is the New York Times-bestselling author of four books and the executive producer of an ongoing series of Hallmark Movies and Mysteries films based on the characters from her novels. In 2011, Grace was named one of the most impactful and powerful women in entertainment by leading industry trade magazines Variety and The Hollywood Reporter.
Grace, her husband and their twins reside in Atlanta and New York City with their rescue pets, a dog and a cat.
