Biographical Information

President Underwood has led Mercer during a period of dynamic growth and development for the University. Since his arrival as Mercer's 18th President in 2006, enrollment has increased by approximately 20 percent to more than 8,200 students. Mercer has launched a second medical school campus (in Savannah), initiated a master's-level physician assistant program and a doctoral-level program in physical therapy, and added Ph.D. programs in Clinical Psychology, Nursing, Counseling, Educational Leadership, and Curriculum and Instruction.

Reflecting an increased emphasis on research, Mercer now meets the criteria established by the Carnegie Foundation for classification as a research-doctoral university. Over the past three years, the number of Ph.D. students has increased from fewer than 25 to more than 200, while the amount of annual externally funded research expenditures has grown to more than $25 million. In addition to increased levels of funding from the National Institutes of Health and the National Science Foundation, Mercer scientists have for the first time been funded as eminent cancer scientists by the Georgia Cancer Coalition, while other Mercer scientists are now receiving funding to support their research through the Georgia Research Alliance.

The University has intensified its longstanding commitment to service-learning and community engagement under President Underwood's leadership. During the spring of 2009, Mercer announced a $5 million grant from the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation to support continued revitalization of the College Hill Corridor between campus and downtown Macon. The groundbreaking Mercer On Mission program, launched in 2007, has been recognized by the Clinton Global Initiative as "an exemplary approach to addressing a specific global challenge." Mercer earned the highest federal recognition for community engagement by the Corporation for National and Community Service in 2009, and in 2008 became the only university in Georgia to receive the Carnegie Foundation's designation for "Curricular Engagement and Outreach and Partnerships."

Prior to joining Mercer, President Underwood served at Baylor University as Interim President and held the prestigious Leon Jaworski Chair at the Baylor School of Law. President Underwood is an accomplished educator and scholar. 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 for several years with a large law firm in Dallas. He also holds an undergraduate degree from Oklahoma Baptist University, where he met his spouse, Lesli. They have two children, Jessica and William.