C. Herman and Mary Virginia Terry College of Business
In 2012, we celebrated 100 years of business education at the University of Georgia. As the state’s flagship business school at the nation’s birthplace of public higher education, we’re proud our legacy has spanned 19 U.S. presidents, 11 UGA presidents, 12 deans, and more than 75,000 degrees.
The Terry Namesake
In October 1991, the College of Business Administration was renamed in honor of alumnus Herman Terry, and his wife, Mary Virginia. Mr. Terry (BSC ’39) held executive positions with several insurance firms, including president of Dependable Insurance Co., which he built into a major corporation. In 1990, the Terrys’ gift held the distinction of being the largest private gift in UGA history. That record gift, along with subsequent gifts, has endowed faculty chairs, summer research programs, student scholarships in the college as well as facility upgrades to the Terry Executive Education Center in Atlanta.
Mr. Terry, who passed away in 1998, was an emeritus trustee of the UGA Foundation and a 1986 recipient of the Terry College’s Distinguished Alumni Award. Mrs. Terry, a graduate of Valdosta State College, passed away in 2022. She was a major supporter of education, children’s charities, and the arts. She was a charter inductee of the college’s Pinnacle Society, and in 2008 she received the Dean’s Distinguished Service Award. An emeritus trustee of the UGA Arch Foundation, Mrs. Terry was recognized in 2009 for her outstanding service to the university with an Honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters — the highest recognition UGA can bestow. The Terrys’ financial support has had a transforming effect on the Terry College.
