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Georgia Gwinnett College (GGC) President Dr. Jann L. Joseph has announced that Dr. Chavonda Mills has been named Senior Vice President of Academic and Student Affairs/Provost, effective April 1, 2025.

Mills stepped into that position on an interim basis in 2024 upon the retirement of Dr. George Low. Since then, she has worked with the college’s administration and faculty to establish a Distance Learning Taskforce, and fostered transparency and collaboration across the college’s Academic and Student Affairs divisions through strengthened faculty and campus-wide communication. She facilitated articulation agreements with three University of Georgia institutions so that GGC students earning degrees at the college can seamlessly continue their educational paths. Additionally, she created an AI Taskforce to explore the integration of artificial intelligence in academic and administrative functions. She also collaborated with campus partners to enhance the school’s residential student experiences with the integration of academic support services and library resources within campus housing and secured new full-time faculty positions at the college.

“Dr. Mills is an exceptional leader—not only on our campus but also through her engagement in the broader community, her service to USG, and her contributions to national organizations,” wrote Joseph in a letter to the GGC community. “Her impact extends well beyond our college, and she is widely recognized for her ability to foster collaboration, drive academic excellence, and champion student success at every level.”

As Senior Vice President of Academic and Student Affairs/Provost, Mills will continue to oversee GGC’s five academic schools, including Business, Education, Health Sciences, Liberal Arts, and Science and Technology, as well as the Daniel J. Kaufman Library and Learning Center. She will also lead areas that provide academic support and campus resources to students.

Mills will report directly to Joseph and serve on the president’s cabinet.

“I’m honored and excited to have been offered the opportunity to continue serving at GGC,” Mills said. “I made the decision to come to GGC based on its mission and the value it brings to students that we serve and the community where we’re located.”

Mills said her focus in the role will be student success, ensuring that GGC students are able to meet their academic goals and are well positioned to pursue graduate study or move into the workforce after they graduate.

Prior to assuming her interim position, Mills served as dean of GGC’s School of Science and Technology (SST) from 2021 to 2024, where among her many accomplishments, she led initiatives that contributed to a 6.2% increase in SST enrollment and an 8.1% overall college enrollment growth in fall 2023, successfully oversaw school’s compliance with SACSCOC standards as the college prepared and submitted its application for 10-year reaffirmation and worked to establish new programs of study, including fermentation science, cybersecurity and software development.

A Decatur native, Mills came to GGC via Georgia College and State University, where she spent 15 years in leadership roles.

She received numerous awards in her career, including several accolades from the American Chemical Society and was published in peer-reviewed journals. Mills has contributed to the national conversation regarding undergraduate and graduate STEM research, promoting diversity among STEM majors and her research surrounding the use of flavonoids to work in the fight against Alzheimer’s Disease, certain cancers and HIV. In fact, Mills and her colleague earned a patent for their research in 2012.

Mills earned bachelor’s degrees in chemical engineering and chemistry from Georgia Institute of Technology and Spelman College and a Ph.D. in Medicinal Chemistry from Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University.