Campus News

$2.5M gift to create distinguished chair in real estate at UGA

UGA has received a $2.5 million gift from the estate of Roy Adams Dorsey to establish the Roy Adams Dorsey Distinguished Chair in Real Estate in the Terry College of Business, pending approval by the Board of Regents of the University System of Georgia.

The check was presented to UGA President Jere W. Morehead at a recent ceremony in Atlanta by the executors of the Dorsey estate. The university gratefully acknowledges the role of UGA Foundation Emeritus Trustee Bob Edge, an attorney with Alston & Bird in Atlanta, who served as the attorney for the estate.

“The University of Georgia is pleased to receive such a generous gift,” Morehead said. “It will no doubt transform real estate education for UGA students. Roy Dorsey’s legacy will continue through the countless future real estate professionals who will benefit from this chaired professorship, and we are deeply grateful.”

Dorsey, who died in 2012, was the founder and president of Dorsey-Alston Realtors, a company that specializes in luxury real estate in the Atlanta metropolitan area, where he worked for his entire business career. The company, founded in 1947, is part of Who’s Who in Luxury Real Estate.

“We are incredibly honored to accept this gift to endow the Roy Adams Dorsey Distinguished Chair in Real Estate,” said Benjamin C. Ayers, dean of the Terry College of Business and holder of the Earl Davis Chair in Taxation. “This distinguished chair will play an important role in the education of tomorrow’s business leaders and will help ensure that generations of Terry College students receive the very best education that equips them with the skills to be successful and contribute positively to their communities.”

Dorsey and his two brothers attended UGA. His father Cam D. Dorsey, a 1903 UGA alumnus, helped establish the UGA Foundation in 1937.

Dorsey also attended the Darlington School, Episcopal High School and the University of Virginia. He served in World War II as a military intelligence officer. He was an active participant in Atlanta civic endeavors including serving as president of Goodwill Industries and a trustee of the Piedmont Hospital Foundation.