{"691192":{"#nid":"691192","#data":{"type":"news","title":"One Conversation at a Time: Remembering Georgia Persons","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EDuring the early years of the Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter School of Public Policy, it was common to find Georgia Persons and a couple of colleagues sitting on a bench outside D.M. Smith, chatting. \u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cWe would talk, not just about public policy, but about life,\u201d said \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/spp.gatech.edu\/people\/person\/cheryl-leggon\u0022\u003ECheryl Leggon\u003C\/a\u003E, a retired associate professor in the Carter School.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EAccording to those who knew her well, those small exchanges outside D.M. Smith reflected the way Persons, a professor in the Carter School, moved through the world. She built friendships and drew whole organizations together, one conversation at a time. Over more than 30 years, those connections became the bedrock of her remarkable career and legacy.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EFollowing her passing in July, her colleagues and friends reflected on the lasting impact of those relationships.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Ch3\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EBuilding Communities\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/h3\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cGeorgia was committed to bringing together scholars in her field,\u201d said \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/iac.gatech.edu\/people\/person\/willie-pearson\u0022\u003EWillie Pearson Jr.\u003C\/a\u003E, a retired Regents\u2019 Professor in the School of History and Sociology.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EShe specialized in connecting policy and political science scholars to make a positive difference in the lives of others. Persons played an active role in founding the National Conference of Black Political Scientists and edited the\u003Cem\u003E National Political Science Review\u003C\/em\u003E, the Conference\u2019s refereed scholarly journal, for ten years \u2014 an unusual distinction in scholarship and service.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EPersons\u2019 talent for bringing people together also extended beyond colleagues in her discipline. She served all of Georgia Tech\u2019s faculty as an \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/faculty.gatech.edu\/advance-professors\u0022\u003EADVANCE Professor\u003C\/a\u003E and was active in the Atlanta University Center Consortium, which promotes collaboration and public service among its historically Black colleges and universities member institutions.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cAs one of the Carter School\u2019s founding faculty members, Georgia encouraged others to engage with contemporary social policy issues and with the larger community,\u201d said \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/iac.gatech.edu\/people\/person\/aaron-levine\u0022\u003EAaron Levine\u003C\/a\u003E, interim chair of the Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter School of Public Policy. \u201cThe School wouldn\u2019t be where it is today without her.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Ch3\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EWidening the Doors\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/h3\u003E\u003Cp\u003EPersons\u2019 talent for building communities and supporting others began during her undergraduate years at Southern University in Louisiana, where she studied under eminent scholar Jewel Limar Prestage, the first Black woman in the United States to earn a Ph.D. in political science. Throughout her career, Persons followed her mentor\u2019s example, encouraging those who were pursuing academic paths in political science and other fields.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EAfter receiving a bachelor\u2019s degree in political science at Southern, Persons earned a Ph.D. in Political Science from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, specializing in American government and politics, urban politics and policy, and political development.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cShe earned her Ph.D. at MIT at a time when there were far too few African Americans \u2014 and even fewer African American women \u2014 pursuing graduate work in such spaces. That achievement alone speaks to her determination, discipline, and exceptional capacity,\u201d said \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/iac.gatech.edu\/people\/person\/kaye-husbands-fealing\u0022\u003EKaye Husbands Fealing\u003C\/a\u003E, a professor in the Carter School and former dean of the Ivan Allen College of Liberal Arts.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cBut Georgia did not simply enter those rooms; she helped widen the doors for others,\u201d she added.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EAs a teacher and mentor, Persons changed lives.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cYour laid-back yet academically enriching teaching style is unique among the faculty, motivating me to take any course in which your name is associated,\u201d Husbands Fealing quoted one of her students as saying. \u201cIt is under [your] insights that I am inspired to pursue a career in Public Policy.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EPersons was also known for weaving personal experience into her teaching and research in ways that students found meaningful and inspiring.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cGeorgia did more than teach courses. She opened intellectual pathways. She helped students see history more clearly, policy more critically, and their own futures more expansively,\u201d said Husbands Fealing.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Ch3\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EScholarship with Human Consequence\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/h3\u003E\u003Cp\u003EAt Georgia Tech, Persons published widely on African American politics, American national government, national institutional processes, health policy, and health disparities. She was awarded the highly competitive Ford Foundation Fellowship and was named an American Political Science Association Fellow.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cGeorgia had a gift for looking honestly at history \u2014 not as a fixed account of the past, but as a living record of struggle, resilience, exclusion, and possibility,\u201d said Husbands Fealing.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ERecently, Persons conducted research on health policy and healthcare safety nets. She was also consulting for the Fulton-Dekalb Hospital Authority. Her work focused not only on the problems with the healthcare system, but also on its potential and possible futures.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cGeorgia\u2019s scholarship mattered because it was never detached from human consequence,\u201d said Husbands Fealing. \u201cShe studied institutions not as abstractions, but as forces that shape opportunity, dignity, health, leadership, and democratic belonging.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Ch3\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EAn Enduring Legacy\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/h3\u003E\u003Cp\u003EAcross her decades at Georgia Tech, the qualities colleagues remember the most about Georgia Persons are the same ones reflected in those conversations outside D.M. Smith: her warmth, generosity, and remarkable ability to bring people together.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EAssociate Professor \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/iac.gatech.edu\/people\/person\/hansklein\u0022\u003EHans Klein\u003C\/a\u003E recalled that in his first semester at Georgia Tech, Persons saw him in the hallway and joked that she thought he was one of the undergraduates. They laughed, and that good-humored warmth remained a hallmark of their relationship. (As recalled to Kaye Husbands Fealing.)\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cI had the privilege of knowing and working with her for many years and have many memories of our long association. Georgia was a unique colleague, and will be greatly missed,\u201d said Professor \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/spp.gatech.edu\/people\/person\/a02d1ef3-23b1-5853-8cbf-efb1bb000062\u0022\u003EPhilip Shapira\u003C\/a\u003E.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cGenerations of students and faculty benefited from her wisdom and experience,\u201d said Dean\u2019s Distinguished Professor \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/iac.gatech.edu\/people\/person\/mary-frank-fox\u0022\u003EMary Frank Fox\u003C\/a\u003E. \u201cI will miss Georgia \u2014 ever, always.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":"","format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EGeorgia Persons, a professor in the Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter School of Public Policy, passed away in July. Her friends and colleagues reflect on her remarkable legacy.\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Georgia Persons, a professor in the Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter School of Public Policy, passed away in July. Her friends and colleagues reflect on her remarkable legacy."}],"uid":"35777","created_gmt":"2026-07-21 15:32:16","changed_gmt":"2026-07-21 15:37:00","author":"Stephanie Kadel","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","location":"Atlanta, GA","dateline":{"date":"2026-07-21T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2026-07-21T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"680634":{"id":"680634","type":"image","title":"Professor Georgia Persons in the Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter School of Public Policy passed in July.","body":"\u003Cp\u003EProfessor Georgia Persons in the Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter School of Public Policy passed in July.\u003C\/p\u003E","created":"1784647949","gmt_created":"2026-07-21 15:32:29","changed":"1784647949","gmt_changed":"2026-07-21 15:32:29","alt":"a headshot photo of Professor Georgia Persons","file":{"fid":"264923","name":"Georgia-Persons-2-.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/2026\/07\/21\/Georgia-Persons-2-.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/2026\/07\/21\/Georgia-Persons-2-.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":610030,"path_740":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/2026\/07\/21\/Georgia-Persons-2-.jpg?itok=2FgQ3fYP"}}},"media_ids":["680634"],"groups":[{"id":"1281","name":"Ivan Allen College of Liberal Arts"},{"id":"1289","name":"School of Public Policy"}],"categories":[],"keywords":[],"core_research_areas":[],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:stephanie.kadel@gatech.edu\u0022\u003EStephanie N. Kadel\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr\u003ECommunications Program Manager\u003Cbr\u003EIvan Allen College of Liberal Arts\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":[],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}}}