Dr. Betty Siegel - Board of Directors Member

Betty Lentz Siegel, Ph.D., president at Kennesaw State University since 1981, is the first woman to head an institution in the 34-unit University System of Georgia, and the longest serving female college or university president in the United States. Under her administration, the university has evolved from a four-year college with 4,000 students and 15 baccalaureate degree programs to a university with enrollment exceeding 18,000 students and 55 undergraduate degree programs.

As a lecturer and motivational speaker, Dr. Siegel has delivered keynote addresses at conferences around the world on leadership, education, and the concerns of women. She also has served as a consultant to many business and civic groups.

Dr. Siegel served on five corporate boards; NSI, Inc., Atlanta Gas Light, Inc., Equifax, Inc., Accordia of the South, and Georgia International Life Insurance. Currently, she serves on many community service boards including Arby’s Foundation, Inc.; Atlanta Ballet; Boy Scouts of Atlanta; CDC Foundation Advisory Board; Georgia Substance Abuse Council; Junior Achievement of Georgia; Georgia Commission on the Holocaust, Metro-Atlanta Chapter of The American Red Cross, Northside Hospital Foundation; The National Museum of Patriotism, Possible Woman Foundation, Inc.; US Association of Disabled Athletes; and WellStar Health Foundation. In addition, she is a member of the Atlanta Kiwanis Club, American Cancer Society - Cobb Chapter, Cobb Executive Women, Georgia Executive Women’s Network, and the International Women’s Forum.

In 1999 she was inducted into the Junior Achievement Business Hall of Fame, and later selected as one of Atlanta magazine’s “20 Women Making a Mark on Atlanta.” Honors include being named repeatedly among the Atlanta Business Chronicle’s “Cobb County Who’s Who” and “Most Influential Atlantans.” Georgia Trend magazine has named her to its list of the “100 Most Influential Georgians” – nine consecutive years. Georgia Trend also cited her in the 20th Anniversary Edition in its list of “20 Years, 20 Leaders.” Most recently she was presented with the Women in Business Lifetime Achievement Award, and Business to Business magazine selected her as a “Diva for Life.”

Dr. Siegel earned her Ph.D. from Florida State University, a M. Ed. from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, a B.A. from Wake Forest University, and an Associate of Arts from Cumberland College. She is a resident of Marietta.