Release Date: Tuesday, August 22, 2000

Jeff Humphreys Promoted to Director of UGA's Selig Center for Economic Growth from Assistant Director

ATHENS, Ga. — Jeffrey M. Humphreys, who for a decade has been one of the most quoted experts on economic trends in Georgia and the Southeast, has been promoted to director of the Selig Center for Economic Growth in the University of Georgia's Terry College of Business.

Since 1989, Humphreys has held a faculty appointment as the college's director of economic forecasting, based in the Selig Center. In 1996, he was given the additional administrative title of assistant director of the Selig Center.

"As our economic forecasting director, Jeff has added significant value to our business and government communities in Georgia through his studies and reports," said Dean P. George Benson. "In the process, he has brought important national recognition to the University of Georgia and the Terry College. Jeff has earned the opportunity to put his own mark on the Selig Center and to make it an even more influential and accessible resource for Georgia's business community and public officials."

The Selig Center was established in 1990 in memory of Atlanta entrepreneur Simon S. Selig Jr., a 1935 UGA graduate, by his son, Steve Selig, and daughter, Cathy Selig, both of Atlanta. "Jeff Humphreys is well-respected locally and nationally for his views on economic trends," said Steve Selig, a 1965 Terry graduate. "My family and I are delighted at his promotion."

The economic forecasting center is responsible for the college's annual economic outlook, but also produces studies commissioned by state agencies and the private sector. Humphreys also is known for a series of studies that he began publishing in the early 1990s on minority buying power - the newest update of that series will be released in September.

Humphreys conducted the official economic impact studies for the 1996 Summer Olympic Games and the 1994 Super Bowl in Atlanta, and he writes a bimonthly column on "The State of the Economy" that appears in Georgia Trend magazine.

"One of my goals is to take our existing series of studies - such as the annual forecast and the buying power studies - and localize those even more," Humphreys said, "providing the people who use our studies with more categories, more geographic breakdowns and more detail."

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