Savannah business and civic leader Swann Seiler is the new president of the University of Georgia Alumni Association. Seiler, manager of corporate communications for Savannah Electric and a 1978 UGA graduate, is the first female president of the university’s 171-year-old alumni organization.
Other new association officers are vice president Thomas H. (Trey) Paris III of Gainesville; treasurer Tim Keadle of Lilburn; secretary Betty Hudson of McLean, Va.; and immediate past president Dink NeSmith of Athens.
The new officers took office July 1 and will serve two-year terms.
UGA’s alumni organization was founded in 1834, only 30 years after the university’s first commencement. It was known as the Georgia Alumni Society until 1996 when its name was changed to the University of Georgia Alumni Association.
The association serves about 230,000 alumni around the world through a broad range of programs, including educational seminars, student services, alumni tours and the state-of-the-art Atlanta Alumni Center.
Seiler, who holds a degree from the Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communication, oversees external and internal communications, media relations and advertising for Savannah Electric, a Southern Company subsidiary that serves more than 140,000 customers in southeast Georgia. A Savannah Electric employee for 23 years, she has held her current position since 1986.
She is an incorporator and trustee of the Arch Foundation for the University of Georgia and, as Alumni Association president, also serves as an ex officio trustee of the University of Georgia Foundation. She previously was vice president of the Alumni Association and is a past president of the Savannah Bulldog Club. In 2001 she received the first Southern Company University of Georgia Distinguished Alumni Award.
“The enthusiasm and energy Swann Seiler brings to this position are matched only by her dedication to UGA,” says Steve W. Wrigley, senior vice president for external affairs. “We very much look forward to working with her and the other new officers to continue the advancement of the Alumni Association and the university.”
“This is an exciting time for UGA and for the Alumni Association,” says Seiler. “I’m delighted to have the opportunity to help strengthen the association and its services to our alumni, and I’m especially pleased to be able to lead the association in increasing its support for the university’s important work in Georgia and the nation.”
