MILLEDGEVILLE, Ga. — The Georgia Military College Board of Trustees named retired United States Army Maj. Gen. Terrence McKenrick as the sole finalist for the role as GMC’s 22nd president last week.

The board’s 7-0 vote April 8 kickstarted a 14-day period where McKenrick’s application materials will, per Georgia law, be made available for the public to review. That information can be found online at gmc.edu/president. At the end of the two weeks, the GMC board is expected to meet and vote again to name McKenrick president.

GMC is headquartered in Milledgeville but has satellite campuses throughout the state, including in Valdosta.

A 1986 West Point grad, McKenrick calls Mooresville, North Carolina, which is north of Charlotte, his home on his resumé. He served 35 years in the Army, retiring in 2021. Positions included deputy commanding general of V Corps, the large scale combat operations and training organization at Ft. Knox. McKenrick was also commanding general of the Army’s east division among other major leadership roles.

If affirmed, McKenrick would fill the seat currently occupied by Lt. Gen. William B. Caldwell IV, who has been GMC president since late 2013. Caldwell in late August announced his intent to retire, saying he and his wife Stephanie felt like it was a good time to transition out of the role. The 21st president has said he would remain in place until his replacement is ready to take over. That date is to be determined.

Should McKenrick be confirmed, it would end about an eight-month search that began shortly after Caldwell’s retirement announcement. GMC partnered with Parker Executive Search for the process. A press release from the joint K-12 prep school and junior college stated that the search firm received 25 nominations that expanded through a network of referrals and resulted in 17 applications. Sixteen of those were marked as qualified candidates.

GMC’s presidential search committee was chaired by GMC Trustees Chairman George Hogan and comprised of 10 individuals. The committee was charged with screening applications to narrow the list to three finalists. Those individuals were invited to campus over the last couple of weeks for face-to-face interviews, tours and town hall sessions with GMC employees.

The process culminated in last Tuesday’s called Board of Trustees meeting held inside GMC Prep’s Usery Hall. Once the meeting was brought to order and a quorum established, the meeting went into executive session to discuss the search. That session lasted about an hour and 20 minutes. After it was over and the open meeting resumed, Hogan entertained a motion to name McKenrick as the sole finalist for the president job. Emilie Cook made the motion and was seconded by Elder Alan Wicker. The roll was called, and Hogan, Doris Renfroe, Mike Cobb, Brooks Snider, Mayor Mary Parham-Copelan, Wicker, and Cook all voted yes.

The board set Tuesday, April 22, at 3 p.m. as the time to hold the next meeting to vote on the next president. According to discussion Tuesday, that meeting will take place over teleconference.