Rayfield first woman to be named president of Columbus State

(AP) - The new president of Columbus State University will be the first woman to lead the campus.

The Board of Regents of the University System of Georgia announced Thursday that it has chosen Stuart Rayfield to succeed Christopher Markwood, who retired last year after seven years as president of the school of roughly 7,500 students.

Rayfield will start her new job July 1.

Rayfield is no stranger to Columbus State, where she spent a decade as a professor and administrator before leaving the campus in 2016. She returns after serving as the university system’s chancellor for leadership and development since 2018.

Rayfield also has prior experience as a campus president, having worked as an interim president at Gordon College and the University of West Georgia.

An Alabama native, Rayfield earned her doctorate in higher education administration from Vanderbilt University. She will be Columbus State’s sixth president since its founding in 1958.