When Dr. Penny L. Elkins visited Mercer’s Macon campus for the first time after graduating high school, she discovered a community she knew would support, accept and challenge her. As a faculty member and senior administrator for more than 25 years and now the University’s 19th president, she has remained ambitious and eager for Mercer, seeing each new opportunity as a chance to move the University forward in its goals.
“I have always believed in people around me,” Dr. Elkins said. “I wanted to edify them. I wanted to support them. I wanted to encourage them. I wanted to challenge them to make them even better than they thought they could be. I think it was that spark from my father. He was always compelling me to do more, to be better, but to serve others in that.”
Dr. Elkins, a first-generation college student from Columbus, was accepted to Princeton University but chose to attend Mercer instead. She started out as a political science major on the pre-law track but changed to education after taking a class with Dr. Bobby Jones, who pointed out her passion for children.
“Dr. Bobby Jones played a very significant role in my life,” Dr. Elkins said. “He poured into me, just like many of my mentors did. He really wanted me to be fulfilled in whatever I did, and he saw something that was already within me.”
Dr. Elkins went on to earn a bachelor’s degree in Christianity and education and then a master’s degree in education at Mercer. She also holds an education specialist degree in education, administration and supervision and a Ph.D. in educational leadership.
Throughout her career in education, Dr. Elkins has said yes to challenging new opportunities. She taught third grade at Jessie Rice Elementary School in Macon for three years before being asked to serve as the assistant principal at L.H. Williams Elementary. A few years later, she was recruited to Georgia College & State University to help lead the new field-based teacher education program. She became department chair of elementary and middle grades education.
Five years later, she returned home to her alma mater. Dr. Elkins said she knew early into her employment at Mercer that she wanted to remain there long term and give her all to the University, regardless of her role.
“I told (former Mercer President) Bill Underwood years ago that I made a decision – and that decision was firm – that I was going to stay here all of the days that the Lord will give me,” she said. “And I meant it with all my heart. I have made a commitment to make this place even better than it was for me and than it is today for the students.”
Dr. Elkins has served as associate dean and department chair for both teacher education and educational leadership in the College of Education, vice president for the Cecil B. Day Graduate and Professional Campus in Atlanta, senior vice provost for strategic initiatives, senior vice president of enrollment management, and executive vice president and interim provost. She is a tenured professor in the College of Education and holds the Fred L. Miles Endowed Chair of Educational Leadership at the University.
“I never aspired to go into higher education. I only ever aspired to really do my best work with what was in front of me,” she said. “I’m still going to school, every single day. I’m a lifelong learner. This is an educational journey for me. I believe that in leadership we never arrive as a leader.
“I believe that part of my personal preparation and calling is this ability to lead and to hopefully inspire people to want to be successful so that you can then impact the people around you to make them better, whether that’s your community or our bigger world that we get to change here at Mercer.”
Dr. Elkins is humbled to be leading the University that once helped her discover who she was and become a better version of herself. As her tenure as president gets under way, she is “casting vision” for Mercer’s future and looks forward to marking the University’s 200 years of educational excellence in 2033.
Community input has been a priority to her as she works to develop strategies for her main focus areas, which are enlarging student impact, expanding Mercer’s academic enterprise and reach, and amplifying Mercer’s story.
