Office of the Chancellor

Prior to being named Chancellor in 2026, William D. Underwood, the Tommy Malone Distinguished Chair in Trial Advocacy in the School of Law, led Mercer during a period of dynamic growth and development as the University’s 18th president from 2006 through 2025. Enrollment increased by over 30 percent to more than 9,000 students, second and third medical school campuses were established in Savannah and Columbus, and doctoral programs in Physical Therapy, Clinical Psychology, Nursing, Counseling, Community Medicine, Biomedical Sciences, Educational Leadership, and Curriculum and Instruction were launched.

Reflecting an increased emphasis on research, Mercer during his tenure as president was reclassified as a research university with high levels of research activity (R2). The number of Ph.D. students increased sevenfold, while the amount of annual externally funded research expenditures grew to more than $50 million. Reflecting this growing emphasis on research, Mercer in 2014 was admitted to membership in the Georgia Research Alliance, a consortium of Georgia’s leading research universities. Mercer in 2022 was named among three universities nationally with exemplary undergraduate research program by the Council on Undergraduate Research.

Phi Beta Kappa, the nation’s oldest and most prestigious honor society, awarded Mercer a chapter in 2015, placing the University in a cohort of the nation’s most respected academic institutions. Mercer became a leading producer of Fulbright, Goldwater, and Gilman Scholars as well one of the five highest producers among Peace Corps prep sites.

Also during his tenure as president, Mercer resumed competition in intercollegiate football in 2013 after a 72-year hiatus. During the inaugural season, Mercer established a new NCAA Division I record for wins by a start-up program by going 10-2. Mercer was admitted to membership in one of the oldest and most prestigious intercollegiate athletic associations when it became a member of the Southern Conference in 2014.

Mercer in 2023 announced that it had successfully completed a $500 million capital campaign. The University’s endowment more than tripled during his tenure, from $162 million to $562 million, and the University operated with a budget surplus every year. Facilities projects totaling more than $400 million were completed, including among others an undergraduate science center, medical school campuses in Savannah and Columbus, a Pharmacy and Health Sciences Center in Atlanta, football and baseball stadiums and housing to accommodate more than 900 undergraduates and 150 graduate students. The University also made significant investments that contributed to a rapidly revitalizing Downtown Macon, including repurposing several abandoned historic facilities for University use, restoring and reopening the iconic Capricorn Sound Studios as Mercer Music at Capricorn, and acquiring the historic Capitol Theatre in 2025.

The 100 Black Men of Macon-Middle Georgia has presented Chancellor Underwood with the Sam Hart, Sr. Community Impact Award, the Greater Macon Chamber of Commerce has honored him with its Citizen of the Year Award, the Macon Telegraph named him as its Middle Georgian of the Year, Georgia Trend named him among the 100 Most Influential Georgians for 13 consecutive years, and James magazine has likewise regularly named him among the most influential Georgians. He was named in 2014 as recipient of the Leadership Character Award by the Greenleaf Center for Servant Leadership and served as a member of the NCAA Division I Presidential Advisory Group and as Chair of the Southern Conference President’s Council.

Prior to joining Mercer, Chancellor Underwood served at Baylor University as interim president and held the prestigious Leon Jaworski Chair at the Baylor School of Law. He was designated a Master Teacher at Baylor in recognition of extraordinary classroom teaching over an extended period. In 2008, the Baylor Alumni Association presented him with its W.R. White Distinguished Service Award.

An elected member of the American Law Institute and the American Bar Foundation, President Underwood was awarded the J.D. degree summa cum laude by the University of Illinois College of Law in 1985, where he graduated as class salutatorian and was an editor of the University of Illinois Law Review. Following graduation, he clerked for the Honorable Sam D. Johnson of the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, prior to practicing law with the Carrington, Coleman law firm in Dallas. He and his spouse Lesli have been married for 43 years. They are the proud parents of two children, Jessica, who is an attorney practicing trial law in Austin, Texas, and William, who is an Assistant Professor of Religious Studies at Oberlin College.

Contact the Chancellor

William D. Underwood
1501 Mercer University Drive
Macon, Georgia 31207