Garnett S. Stokes

Garnett Sue Stokes, born December 20, 1955 in Washington, D.C. and has served as the Dean of the Franklin College of Arts and Sciences at the University of Georgia in Athens, Georgia since 2004. She is the first female to hold the position of Dean of the Franklin College, the oldest and largest of the Colleges of the University. She is the eldest of four children of James Avery Stokes, a retired USAF Chief Master Sergeant and Garnett Lucile Jackson Stokes. Her three brothers include Avery Jackson Stokes (b. 1956-d. 1988), a gun dealer; David Warren Stokes (b. 1958) a Southern Baptist Minister and former Vice-President of the Georgia Baptist Convention; and James Scott Stokes (b. 1966) an attorney and former member of the Georgia House of Representatives (D-Covington).

Early life

Ms. Stokes was born in Washington, D.C. where her father served as a Sergeant in the USAF stationed at Andrews AFB and her mother worked at the National Education Association. As is common in a military life, the family moved several times during Sgt. Stokes military career. Ms. Stokes spent time in Covington, Georgia, home of her paternal ancestry; Panama City, Florida; Anchorage, Alaska; Phoenix, Arizona; and Bunker Hill, Indiana prior to high school graduation. In 1973, Ms. Stokes graduated from Maconaquah High School in Bunker Hill, Indiana. She was named Junior Miss of Miami County, Indiana during that year after a performance of the 'Juliet' lines of the most recognized scene with 'Romeo' from the famed Shakespeare play. Upon graduation, she was the first in her family to attend college and enrolled at Indiana University at Kokomo before transferring to Carson Newman College in Jefferson City, Tennessee, majoring in psychology. She graduated in 1977 and was accepted into the graduate program in psychology at the University of Georgia. She concentrated her studies in the area of Industrial and Organizational Psychology and obtained a Ph.D. in 1981.

Career as a Professor, Department Head, and Dean

Ms. Stokes was hired as an Assistant Professor at the University of Georgia after having obtained her Ph.D. She continued to work as a consultant in the field of Industrial Psychology for many government agencies and Fortune 500 companies while serving in her academic capacity at the university. She has published numerous articles and textbooks in her field. She was later named the Head of the Department of Psychology and her six years of work in that capacity helped prepare her for appointment as Dean of the Franklin College in 2004.