Raleigh Kirby Godsey

On June 21, 2014, Godsey delivered an address to the Mercer Law Student Bar Association at their annual summer retreat marking the kick-off of the law student organization's pivot towards innovative campus programming, substantive academic and student life reforms, and their commitment to inclusivity, transparency, and stronger partnerships with the Mercer and greater Macon communities.

In April 2006, near the end of his tenure, Mercer ended its affiliation with the Georgia Baptist Convention. Earlier, in November 2005, the convention voted to break ties with Mercer after a student gay-rights group held a "Coming Out Day" on the university campus. Godsey attempted to maintain the relationship by assuring the convention that Mercer does not advocate homosexuality, but allows discussion on the matter. Godsey had previously alienated the conservative convention by insisting on academic freedom for the university, and by making theological statements in his book When We Talk About God, Let's Be Honest that many Baptists considered heretical. The convention declined Godsey's overtures and voted to sever the 172-year relationship. Mercer remains affiliated with the more liberal Cooperative Baptist Fellowship.

Also in April 2006, Godsey, and current Mercer president William D. Underwood, assisted Jimmy Carter, former President of the United States, organize and host a gathering of Baptist World Alliance leaders at the Carter Center in Atlanta. Godsey and Underwood advocated academic freedom within Baptist higher education and showcased Mercer, now independent from the Georgia Baptist Convention, as the nation's premier independent Baptist university.

In April 2006, the Mercer University Board of Trustees voted to name the historic administration building on the Macon campus the R. Kirby Godsey Administration Building.

In May 2006, United States Senator Saxby Chambliss paid tribute to Godsey before the Senate. The tribute appears in the Congressional Record.

In 1998, 2000, 2002, and 2003, Godsey was named as one of the 100 most influential Georgians by Georgia Trend Magazine. In 2002, he was named the Council for Advancement and Support of Education (CASE) III Chief Executive Officer of the Year. The Macon Chamber of Commerce recognized him in 2003 as the Macon Citizen of the Year. In 2006, he was awarded the Salvation Army "Others" Award, the highest honor bestowed by that organization. Also in 2006, both houses of the Georgia legislature, the Georgia Senate and the Georgia House of Representatives, passed resolutions honoring Godsey for his contributions to higher education, Mercer, and the state.

Mercer had four colleges and schools when Godsey became president in 1979. During Godsey's tenure, Mercer established seven new colleges and schools; the Eugene W. Stetson School of Business and Economics, the School of Medicine, the School of Engineering, the Tift College of Education, the James and Carolyn McAfee School of Theology, the Townsend School of Music, the Georgia Baptist College of Nursing, and closed the Cecil B. Day College of Arts and Sciences in Atlanta. Mercer also established the Mercer University Press and the Mercer Engineering Research Center (MERC) as well as educational partnerships with Memorial Health University Center in Savannah and the Medical Center of Central Georgia in Macon, Piedmont Healthcare in Atlanta, and Robins Air Force Base in Warner Robins.

Raleigh Kirby Godsey, better known as R. Kirby Godsey, (born April 2, 1936) served as the seventeenth president of Mercer University, an independent, coeducational, private university, located in the U.S. state of Georgia, from July 1, 1979 to June 30, 2006 (27 years), longer than any of his predecessors. Godsey is now university chancellor, professor, and special advisor to his successor, William D. Underwood.