Campus News

Jenkins, board of regents vice chairman and UGA alumnus, succumbs to cancer

A. Felton Jenkins Jr., vice chairman of the Board of Regents of the University System of Georgia, died Jan. 1, 2011 after a short battle with brain cancer.

Jenkins, 69, was a retired senior law partner with King & Spalding. He earned a bachelor’s degree in political science and a law degree from UGA in 1963 and 1965, respectively.

He served as chair of the Georgia Justice Project, president of the Atlanta chapter of the American Cancer Society and chairman of the Madison-Morgan Cultural Center. Jenkins also has served on the Georgia Agricultural Exposition Authority, the Georgia Appellate Judicial Selection Commission, the Georgia Judicial Process Review Commission and the Georgia Joint Study Commission on Revenue Structure. He was on the board of directors of the Georgia Sports Hall of Fame, the Decatur First Bank Group and Dundee Mills Inc.

Throughout his career, Jenkins actively supported UGA as chair of the School of Law’s Board of Visitors, secretary of the UGA Foundation and a member of the UGA Strategic Planning Group.

“Felton Jenkins was, first and foremost, extraordinarily loyal to his alma mater, the University of Georgia,” said UGA President Michael F. Adams. “He was focused on the quality of the academic programs here. In his role as a Regent, he was equally focused on the quality of the experience for the system’s students and insuring that they had adequate and appropriate academic opportunities.”

A memorial service for Jenkins was held Jan. 5 in his hometown of Madison.