农业+生活方式

领导一生

发布于2023年3月13日12:00 AM

桑尼·珀杜为社区服务的诸多方式之一, 国家与民族, he feels that his current position as chancellor of the University System of Georgia may be his most impactful role yet. 

That’s a big statement for a man who served as the 31st Secretary of the U.S. 农业部(USDA)从2017年到2021年. 他还担任了两届乔治亚州州长, 2003年至2011年, and was a member of the Georgia Senate from 1991 to 2001 where he chaired the Senate Higher Education Committee and eventually became Senate President Pro Tem.

“When I finished my term as Secretary of Agriculture, I came back home and signed in to LinkedIn. 我的简介上写着, “出身贫寒的农民, 试过其他工作, 永远无法逃脱,’”他笑着说. “当我被宣布为财政大臣时, I figured the Board of Regents expected something more erudite, 所以我把它改成, 这可能是我做过的最有影响力的工作, 乔治亚大学系统的校长 ... 优秀的公办高等学校26所.’”

2022年4月被校董会任命为校长, Perdue oversees 26 public colleges and universities with a $9.8 billion annual budget, 48,000 faculty and staff, and more than 340,000 students. It’s a big job, but thanks to his previous experience, he’s more than capable of handling it.

As Georgia governor, Perdue reformed the state budget while Georgia was gripped by recession. His fiscal management during those eight years prepared Georgia to excel when revenues returned. 在他任期内, Georgia posted the highest high school graduation rates and SAT scores in state history.

As USDA Secretary under President Donald Trump, Perdue managed a workforce of 110,000 employees. Some of his accomplishments during that time included stabilizing the food supply chain during the COVID-19 pandemic and launching the Farmers to Families Food Box program to ensure all Americans had food on the table.

“The USDA Secretary position was amazing in that I got all over the country, 甚至在国际上, 看到不同的视角. I learned that while the accents and the crop practices may be different, the heart and spirit of farmers and ranchers are the same across the country,珀杜说. “特朗普总统对农民很有好感, and I’ve concluded he gained that from realizing that agriculturalists were the spirit of America that grew this country. 他们冒着生命危险, 财富和家庭每年-通过龙卷风和冰雹, drought and floods — and they pick up and do it all again next year. 他很欣赏那农夫的心.”

珀杜在美国农业部的工作中学到了很多东西, 不仅仅是农业, but about the impact he could have on the next generation of leaders.

“One of the most fulfilling things at USDA was to watch a cultural change of becoming the most efficient, effective and customer-focused agency in the federal government, 同时做正确的事，喂饱每个人,他说.

Picking up tidbits of knowledge along life’s path is something Perdue relishes, 他认为自己是一个终身学习者. He earned his doctor of veterinary medicine degree from the University of Georgia and served four years in the U.S. 空军. He said he’s continued to learn new things with every job he’s had, but the most important lesson was one he learned early on in his career.

“One of the jobs in which I learned the most in was my public service on the Planning and Zoning Board in Houston County, 这是一份志愿者工作吗. What I learned was to listen to both sides and not to make presumptions or conclusions before you hear the matter out. That was the best training I had for becoming a legislator,他说.

Now, at 77, he’s bringing all that knowledge together for the betterment of Georgia students. 在他的新角色中, Perdue has the opportunity to help shape the future of education in Georgia, which directly impacts the 12 of his 14 grandchildren who are still in school. 

A passion for education is part of Perdue’s family legacy in Houston County, 他在哪里出生和长大.

“我来自一个教育世家. My mom taught English for 42 years in Houston County and my uncle was superintendent in Houston County from about 1960-80. When I came to the state Senate, my first job was to chair the Higher Education Committee,他说. “I came into the Senate at the same time Zell Miller was governor, and what I realized was that the confluence of higher education and the economic future of the state were intimately tied. The best influence I could have in the Senate was in higher education.”

2021年，他回到了博内尔岛, 在他的农业部长任期结束后, 他喜欢与妻子共度时光, 玛丽, 以及他们的家庭. But he always suspected a life of retirement wouldn’t last for long.

“我希望花更多的时间和家人在一起, but obviously I don’t do a very good job sitting on the porch and rocking,他说 in an interview at that time with the 农场监控.

Sure enough, a year later he was already back serving Georgians in a broader manner. 为公共服务的一生是珀杜一直都知道的. 这是他相信上帝呼召他去做的事.

“Biblically, as a believer, I believe you do the job that God calls you to do. ... 我在这个国家是如此的幸运, 在这种状态下, 在这个社区里, 在农场里和无条件爱你的父母一起长大,他说.

似乎无论上帝把他带到哪里, he finds ways to apply what he learned from his childhood on the farm.

 “From childhood, I learned the law of the land, to do things timely and in order. 你不可能在8月播种，希望在9月收获. The best farmers are those who do things in a timely way, who are always prepared. My goal is to have us, as a university system, prepared for the next generation to better themselves. It’s an awesome responsibility, helping people build value within themselves. 我们给他们投资自己的机会, 当人们明白我们是他们的伙伴, 提高自己, 这就是它起作用的时候. 这个系统在这方面做得很好。.

Even as a man who’s been a leader at every level — in his home community, 国家与民族 — he said the importance of his new position cannot be understated:

“这份工作影响到340人的生活,他们的未来, 他们家庭的未来, 他们自己的繁荣和机遇. That’s a big, impactful job, and that’s what drives me every day. 我们要感谢这些学生, who entrust their money and their lives to us to help prepare them to create better lives for themselves.”