Sam Peavy, Ph.D., professor of geology, is Georgia Southwestern State University’s 2015 Featured Public Servant. The announcement was made today.

“This means a lot,” Peavy said reflecting on his selection for this award voted on by his peers. “Service is part of our mission as a university, especially in this small area in rural Georgia. I think if you are not going out into the community and doing service and certainly doing service on campus as a faculty member, you are not doing part of your job.”

A reception to honor Peavy is scheduled for Thursday, May 7 at 3 p.m. in the Rotunda of the Wheatley Administration Building.

“Dr. Peavy’s service to both the campus and the Americus community is immeasurable,” said GSW Interim President Charles Patterson, Ph.D. “He serves valiantly as a member of numerous committees focused on the welfare and betterment of the University while providing superb leadership for faculty and students as the chairman of the Department of Geology and Physics.

“His role in the community and active, long-term leadership in Kiwanis,” Patterson added, “provides the important bridge between campus and community that makes Georgia Southwestern State University a unique place to live, work and learn.”

For the last 12 years, most of Peavy’s service away from campus has been through work with the Kiwanis Club. He has served as president (2011-2012), and he served on its board of directors for three years (2010-2013). Peavy remains extremely active today (i.e. Kiwanis Pet Parade, baseball tournament, elementary school reading days, etc.). And on the final Saturday each April, you will find making fun visors for local youth at Americus’ annual “Arts in the Park.”

“I think Kiwanis does a lot of really good things in the community,” Peavy explained. “The weekly reading program is certainly part of it, and the annual Pet Parade stands out. That’s a very unique thing going on 70 years.”

Each summer, Peavy helps local Boy Scouts earn merit badges in astronomy and geology at Kiwanis’ Merit Badge Camp held at Georgia Southwestern. Fellow Kiwanian and GSW Professor Emeritus Jay Cliett, Ed.D., established the Merit Badge Camp over 30 years ago. To some, Peavy resembles Cliett, who is well known for his to service in Sumter County.

“Within the Americus-Sumter Community, Dr. Peavy has been more involved than anyone I know who also provides great service to GSW,” said an excerpt from Peavy’s nomination letter submitted by GSW Professor of English Jeff Waldrop, Ph.D. “He is very reminiscent of Dr. Jay Cliett in this respect. Like Dr. Cliett, Dr. Peavy is involved in Kiwanis and has served in nearly every leadership capacity available.”

“When I came here 15 years ago, there was something in me that wanted to do service,” Peavy said. “I think it was a fortunate break for me to get invited to join Kiwanis because it has allowed me to do a lot of stuff in the community that I might not have done otherwise.”

Make no mistake, though, Peavy’s service activity is not limited to Kiwanis. The professor uses his position as an experienced scientist, educator and university faculty member to its fullest potential. He has frequently traveled to area schools to lead workshops on geology, judge science competitions or simply talk to individual classes about his trade.

At GSW, Peavy has served on numerous committees, including a 13-year stint as “Captain of the March” during commencement exercises. He also serves as a co-advisor for the Geology Club, as an advisor to Gamma Beta Phi, and he has served as a mentor to new faculty.

On a few clear nights each year, Peavy and his Department of Geology and Physics colleagues open GSW’s Agerton Observatory to look at the stars.

Not to be forgotten, Peavy is an experienced geophysicist who has had his scholarly research featured in 26 different publications. He is a member of the Phi Kappa Phi national honors society, the Society of Exploration Geophysicists, the American Geophysical Union and the Geological Society of America, to name a few.

Peavy was also the 2009 recipient of the President’s Award for Excellence in Service at GSW and the GSW Alumni Association’s Excellence in Commitment to Teaching Award in 2005.

A Louisiana native, Peavy earned a Bachelor of Science in physics from McNeese State University in Lake Charles. He traveled north to Canada to earn his Master of Science in geophysics at Memorial University of Newfoundland. Peavy studied at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University earning a Ph.D. in geophysics. Prior to joining the GSW faculty in 2000, he was an assistant professor of geology at Rutgers University in Newark, New Jersey.

Peavy’s wife, Professor Julie Megginson, D.M.A., serves as chair for the GSW Department of Music. She was the Featured Public Servant Award recipient in 2013.