ATLANTA – Dr. Richard V. Swindle, one of Mercer University's longest serving administrators and currently senior vice president for Atlanta, will retire from the University, effective June 30.
“Few individuals have had greater positive impact on the Mercer community over the past several decades than Richard Swindle,” said Mercer President William D. Underwood. “He is a devoted and thoughtful leader who is beloved and admired throughout our community. He has been among my most trusted and valued advisers and counselors. I am grateful for his service, for his friendship, and for the fact that he will remain engaged with Mercer in his retirement.”
Dr. Swindle joined Mercer in 1979 as director of admissions for the Atlanta campus, and he has served the University since with the exception of a seven-year period from 1997 to 2003, when he was senior vice president for advancement at Franklin College in Franklin, Indiana. During his 30-year tenure at Mercer, Dr. Swindle has held numerous leadership positions, including special assistant to the president and senior vice president for University advancement. Also, he holds the rank of professor in Mercer's Tift College of Education.
Dr. Swindle will continue to be engaged with Mercer. He will have an office on the Atlanta campus, teach as needed in the Tift College of Education, and will be writing a history of the Atlanta campus.
“I consider Mercer my career home, and I am very grateful for the incredible experiences I have had at this remarkable institution,” Dr. Swindle said. “I cannot imagine being at an institution which could offer more diverse and interesting opportunities and challenges, and I am pleased that I will continue to be associated with the University. I am especially gratified that I will be writing a history of the Atlanta campus, which is a very special part of Mercer to me.”
“Few individuals within the university have been more broadly involved in the administrative and educational leadership of the University than Richard Swindle. Richard is a master administrator,” said Mercer Chancellor Dr. R. Kirby Godsey, who was Mercer's president when Dr. Swindle joined the University in 1979. “He has been an able and effective teacher, but his tenure will likely be defined by the character of his engagement with a diverse range of administrative responsibilities. Richard has been a close and insightful counselor to college and university presidents. He engaged the hearts and minds and resources of donors and potential donors, and he guided the affairs of Mercer's Atlanta campus with consistent wisdom and good judgment. Richard Swindle should be in the 'Hall of Fame' of university administrators.”
Dr. Swindle grew up in Birmingham, Alabama, and holds a bachelor's degree from Samford University, a master's degree from the University of Montevallo, and a Doctor of Philosophy degree from Emory University.
He and his wife, Dorothy, have two grown children, Anna and Susan. Dr. Swindle and his wife are members of Smoke Rise Baptist Church in Stone Mountain.
