December 4, 2013- Albany, GA- Albany Technical College will hold fall commencement exercises on Thursday, December 5, 2013, at 7pm, at the Albany Civic Center. A reception will be held from 5:15pm to 6:45pm in the Meeting Room at the Civic Center prior to the ceremony.
Over 170 are slated to receive associate degrees; over 500 diplomas; and almost 300 technical certificates of credit. In addition, over 130 graduates will receive their General Education Diplomas (GED®). Almost 100 students will be graduating with honors with such recognitions as highest scores on the GED®; Presidential Scholar; Honors with Distinction; National Technical Honor Society; Georgia Occupational Award of Leadership (GOAL); Student Government Association; Phi Beta Lambda; and Skills USA.
Keynote speaker for the ceremony will be Cynthia C. George, owner of Artesian Consulting, LLC, and current Chair of the Albany Chamber Board of Directors. A native of Leesburg, George has more than 25 years of healthcare leadership experience in Marketing and Planning for Southwest Georgia's largest healthcare facility, Phoebe Putney Health System. From 2006 to 2011, she served as Vice President of Strategy and Government Affairs, overseeing the System's strategic planning and business development, corporate giving, public affairs, and government affairs.
Prior to assuming this position at Phoebe, George served as Vice President of Marketing and Planning. Serving in this role since 1997, she was responsible for public relations, advertising, membership programs, physician recruitment and planning. Under her leadership, the Marketing division helped earn the organization the prestigious Foster McGaw Prize in 2003 for excellence in community health. George has also been instrumental in the creation and development of Phoebe's Community Vision Program for corporate giving.
When George joined Phoebe in 1986, she developed and led a new Women's Centre. In 1991, she was named Assistance Vice President of Marketing. Prior to her tenure with Phoebe, George hosted a public affairs television program on WALB-TV and served as Marketing Director for the Albany Mall. She was the first woman elected to the County Commission in Lee County and served two terms in public office from 1992 to 2000. She is also a graduate of both Leadership Lee and Leadership Albany and served as President of the Lee County Chamber of Commerce and as a member of the Lee Utility Authority.
Currently, George is the owner of a public affairs and public relations consulting business, Artesian Consulting, LLC, located in Albany, and serves as the Chair of the Albany Chamber Board and is the cofounder of Strive2Thrive, an anti-poverty initiative. She also serves on the Economic Development Commission and is a member of the Dougherty County Rotary Club. She holds a bachelor's degree in Public Relations from Georgia Southern University.
Among the graduates this fall is AAmir Greene, who has served as this year's Georgia Occupational Award of Leadership (GOAL) student for both Albany Tech and the Technical College System of Georgia (TCSG). Greene will receive his associate's degree in Telecommunications Engineering Technology and plans to further his education in pursuit of his bachelor's degree with Southern Polytechnic State University. A retired Marine, Greene has also served at Albany Tech as the President of the Student Government Association (SGA). He is scheduled to address the Georgia General Assembly in Atlanta in January as part of his service as the spokesperson for technical education in Georgia for TCSG.
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