08 LC 95
0526
Senate
Resolution 1039
By:
Senators Davenport of the 44th, Fort of the 39th, Tarver of the 22nd, Brown of
the 26th, Jones of the 10th and others
A
RESOLUTION
Recognizing
and commending Robert Michael Franklin, Jr.; and for other
purposes.
WHEREAS,
Robert Michael Franklin, Jr., is a graduate and the tenth president of Morehouse
College, the nation´s largest, private four-year liberal arts college for
men; and
WHEREAS,
before joining Morehouse, Mr. Franklin was a Presidential Distinguished
Professor of Social Ethics at Emory University, where he provided leadership for
a university initiative entitled "Confronting the Human Condition and the Human
Experience" and was a senior fellow at the Center for the Study of Law and
Religion at the law school; and
WHEREAS,
Mr. Franklin is widely recognized throughout the state as the personification of
excellence in education; and
WHEREAS,
he graduated Phi Beta Kappa from Morehouse in 1975 with a degree in political
science and religion, and continued his education at Harvard Divinity School
earning a master of divinity degree in Christian social ethics and pastoral care
in 1978, and the University of Chicago, earning his doctorate in ethics and
society, and religion and the social sciences in 1985; and
WHEREAS,
in 2001, he received an honorary doctor of divinity degree from Bethune Cookman
College and he undertook international study at the University of Durham, UK, as
a 1973 English Speaking Union Scholar; and
WHEREAS,
this highly respected professional educator has served on the faculties of the
University of Chicago, Harvard Divinity School, Colgate-Rochester Divinity
School, and Emory University´s Candler School of Theology; and
WHEREAS,
in 1997, he assumed the presidency of the Interdenominational Theological
Center, the graduate theological seminary of the Atlanta University Center
consortium, and he served as the Chautauqua Institution´s Theologian in
Residence for the 2005 season; and
WHEREAS,
Mr. Franklin is an esteemed author, is active in a wide range of organizations,
and is a seasoned traveler, having studied seven languages in several countries
around the globe; and
WHEREAS,
he is the recipient of a Ford Foundation grant to examine religion in public
life in Asia and produced National Public Radio commentaries based on this
research, and since 2003, he has served as a consultant for the Annie E. Casey
Foundation; and
WHEREAS,
he is married to Dr. Cheryl Goffney Franklin, an OB-GYN, and they have three
children, Imani Renee Franklin, Robert M. Franklin III, and Julian Michael
DeShazier; and
WHEREAS,
he is an exemplary example of the important impact that the efforts of
individual education professionals are making on the quality of education
received in this state, and it is abundantly fitting and proper that his
superlative accomplishments be recognized appropriately.
NOW,
THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE SENATE that the members of this body heartily
and gratefully commend Mr. Robert Michael Franklin, Jr., for his foresight,
accomplishment, and contributions on behalf of education in Georgia and for the
positive influence he has had upon the lives and futures of countless young
people in this state and extend to him their most sincere best wishes for the
future.
BE
IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Secretary of the Senate is authorized and directed
to transmit an appropriate copy of this resolution to Mr. Robert Michael
Franklin, Jr.