Shirley Franklin, mayor of Atlanta from 2001-2009, will be the featured speaker at the annual celebration of the birthday of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., sponsored by Augusta State University, Augusta Technical College, Paine College, and the Medical College of Georgia. The event will be held on Friday, Jan. 14, at noon, in the Maxwell Theatre on the ASU campus.

Franklin became Atlanta’s first woman mayor and the first African-American woman to serve as mayor of a major Southern city. During her first term, she cut her own salary by $40,000, cut the mayor’s staff by 50 percent, and eliminated 277 jobs and 605 vacancies. To fill a budget gap of $82 million, she also recalled nonessential city-owned cars, cell phones, and credit cards and issued an administrative order to freeze vacancies except in public safety.
Prior to Franklin’s re-election in 2005, she was named one of the nation’s five best big-city mayors by Time Magazine. In 2005, she was short-listed for the World Mayor Award. The White House Project, a leading women’s advocacy group, named her as one of 8 in ‘08 female politicians who could make a presidential run. Franklin co-chaired the 2008 Democratic Convention and is a past president of the National Convention of Democratic Mayors.

Over the course of her career, Franklin has been featured in numerous publications including Business to Business, the New York Times, Ebony, Jet, Glamour, Atlanta Woman, and Georgia Trend. She also was chosen as one of Atlanta’s movers and shakers in Jezebel magazine.

Franklin received her bachelor’s degree from Howard University and her master’s degree from the University of Pennsylvania. In May 2002, she was awarded an honorary Doctor of Law degree from Howard University.

Several Augusta Tech students will join President Terry Elam by participating in the celebration event. Admission to the event is free. For more information, call the Marketing and Public Relations office at 706.771.4019.

Former Atlanta Mayor - Shirley Franklin