Steve Wrigley, PhD

Steve Wrigley, PhD
 

Dr. Steve Wrigley retired as Chancellor of the University System of Georgia (USG) on July 1, 2021, capping a 36-year career in public service in the State of Georgia. He became the 13th  chancellor on January 1, 2017, and oversaw 26 public colleges and universities with a $9.4 billion annual budget, 48,000 faculty and staff and more than 341,000 students. The Georgia Public Library System and the Georgia Archives are also part of USG.

USG earned national recognition for its efforts in student success and in pursuing greater efficiency of operations. The number of students annually earning degrees increased 29 percent between 2011 and 2021. And from initiatives such as Affordable Learning Georgia, students save $23 million annually through the use of free or low-cost online textbooks. USG also pioneered campus consolidations, reducing the number of institutions from 35 to 26 between 2012 and 2018 while witnessing improvements in student performance and accruing administrative savings of more than $30 million that were re-directed to academic needs.

Prior to becoming chancellor, Wrigley served as executive vice chancellor of Administration for the University System of Georgia from June 2011 until his appointment as Chancellor. Wrigley formerly served as senior vice president for External Affairs, as well as vice president for Government Relations, at the University of Georgia.

Prior to his work at USG, Wrigley served in state government, including five years as chief of staff to former Georgia Gov. Zell Miller. He worked on a number of key issues including the creation of the state lottery and the groundbreaking HOPE Scholarship. In the past he served on the boards of The Nature Conservancy of Georgia and the Georgia Wildlife Federation. He currently serves on the board of the Athens Area Community Foundation.

Wrigley earned his undergraduate history degree from Georgia State University and his doctorate in history from Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois. He and his wife, Lynne, have two children and one grandchild.