Directory

Laura Meadows

Interim Vice President for Public Service and Outreach

706.542.3352

As director of the Carl Vinson Institute of Government, Laura Meadows coordinates the efforts of more than 150 employees who provide technical assistance, applied research, technology solutions, and training and development services to governments in Georgia and internationally.

Dr. Meadows joined the Institute of Government in 2009 and was appointed permanent director in February 2012. She has an extensive career in public service, working with state and local governments on a variety of issues such as planning, housing, infrastructure development, and facilitating community development and economic growth efforts.

Prior to her work with the university, Dr. Meadows served in several executive positions at the state and federal levels, including commissioner of the Georgia Department of Community Affairs, the first executive director of the OneGeorgia Authority, assistant secretary of state, and state director of the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Rural Development program.

L. Steven Dempsey

Associate Vice President

dempsey@uga.edu

706.542.6167

Bio

Steve Dempsey is an Associate Vice President for Public Service and Outreach at the University of Georgia (UGA). Dempsey helps guide the office's Community and Economic Development Initiative, which includes the Archway Partnership Project, Poverty and the Economy Initiative, the UGARF Poverty Grants Program, and the Intellectual Capital Partnership Program (ICAPP) partnership with the University System of Georgia (USG). He also coordinates strategic planning, performance measures development, director and institution reviews, public service faculty promotion, the Hill awards, Staff Award for Excellence, and the Public Service and Outreach annual meeting and awards program.

In his previous position as the Assistant Director of the Institute of Community and Area Development (ICAD), Dempsey's work in community economic development focused on the development and implementation of the creative group problem-solving laboratory and participatory policy design at UGA. He also provided management consultation to state and local governments, and recreation service delivery agencies on growth-management related issues and facilitator training.

Dempsey earned a B.S. degree from Montclair State College, an M.S. degree from Western Kentucky University, and an Ed.D. from the University of Georgia.

Paul J. Brooks

Associate Vice President

pjbrooks@uga.edu

706.542.6167

Bio

Paul Brooks serves as Associate Vice President for Public Service & Outreach (PSO) at The University of Georgia (UGA). Brooks works to connect UGA’s schools and colleges with PSO's extensive network of expertise in leadership, government, business, service, and nonprofits to enrich UGA’s education and research missions. He promotes UGA’s capacity to address societal and workforce needs locally and globally through technical assistance, service learning, continuing education, and applied research. He also oversees several PSO programs, such as Faculty Promotion, Faculty Fellowship, and Graduate Student Assistantship.

Previously, Brooks was Assistant Dean of Nontraditional Education & Outreach, and Graduate Coordinator for Pharmaceutical & Biomedical Regulatory Affairs at UGA's College of Pharmacy. Prior to his administrative and faculty positions at UGA, Brooks worked for The American Society of Health-System Pharmacists in Bethesda, MD in the area of national accreditation and assessment. Earlier, he was clinical faculty at The University of North Carolina School of Pharmacy and Duke University College of Medicine's Family Medicine Residency Program

In addition to his clinical practice and teaching, Brooks’ administrative work and scholarship primarily has focused on flexible curricula and novel distance education delivery and assessment of academic and outreach programs for working professionals in biomedical practices and industries.

Brooks is a registered pharmacist, receiving the Doctor of Pharmacy from Mercer University and completing a postdoctoral pharmacy residency and fellowship in Alabama and Georgia, respectively. He also holds the Doctor of Education in Higher Education Administration from UGA’s Institute of Higher Education.