In his final television appearance as the president of Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College, Dr. David Bridges reminisces about his ABAC tenure with Acting Vice President for Communications and Transition Mike Chason.

“Serving as President of ABAC has been a great capstone to my career in higher education,” Bridges said. “My time in higher education started at ABAC when I was a student here, and now it ends as I retire from the position of president.”

Bridges retires on July 31 exactly one month into his 17th year as the ABAC President. He is the longest serving president in the history of ABAC and the longest serving president among the 26 colleges and universities in the University System of Georgia.

In the interview, Bridges cites the arrival of bachelor’s degrees at ABAC as the top achievement during his career.

“In my first address to the faculty and staff of ABAC in 2006, I told them that ABAC did not have a future as a two-year college,” Bridges said. “I knew we had to offer bachelor’s degrees to survive.”

ABAC is now a four-year college with 12 different bachelor’s degrees available for its nearly 4,000 students. To view the entire interview, interested persons can click on https://watch.abac.edu/media/t/1_jg1ljrb6.

Dr. Tracy Brundage begins her tenure as ABAC’s 11th president on Aug. 1. A reception in her honor for the campus and the community is scheduled for Aug. 4 from 4-6 p.m. in Tift Hall.