Robert L. Potts, The University of North Alabama (1990-2004)

Creator

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Source Collection

University of North Alabama Archives and Special Collections, University Collection-University Portraits, Individual: Presidents, LaGrange-Present, Collier Library 

Identifier

UPI: 6.15/ UPI: 6.44

Description

Robert L. Potts received his Juris Doctorate degree from the University of Alabama. He then obtained his Master of Laws degree from Havard University. He served as attorney for the University of North Alabama from 1973-1983. He practiced law for a while and in 1984, Potts began his career in higher education when he accepted the role of General Counsel at the University of Alabama System. He resigned from this position in December 1989. He was appointed interim president of The University of North Alabama on November 14, 1989. In 1990, he became the eighteenth president of the University of North Alabama. During his administration, President Potts created the UNA Foundation as well as the Presidential Mentoring Academy. He resigned as the president of UNA in 2004 to take the position of Chancellor of the North Dakota University System. He served in this position just under three years and then resigned in 2006 and was appointed the first Chancellor of the Jonesboro campus of Arkansas State University. He concluded his career in higher education in 2011 as the interim president of the Arkansas State University System. In retirement, he served as a member of the President's Cabinet, a program he created during his administration at UNA. In 2020, he received the Lifetime Achievement Award from the University of North Alabama Alumni Association. He passed away October 28, 2022.

*He taught and lectures at Boston University and the University of Alabama. *

Date Created

1-30-2026

Date

No date

Rights

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