Georgia Southwestern State University (GSW) will hold its Spring 2019 Commencement ceremony Wednesday, May 8 at 3 p.m. in the Convocation Hall of the Student Success Center. Approximately 307 undergraduate and graduate students will be recognized at the ceremony for their academic achievements. The commencement speaker will be Judge George M. Peagler, Jr., a retired superior court judge for the Southwestern Judicial District of Georgia.
 
Peagler, a part-time instructor with GSW’s College of Business and Computing, earned his Bachelor of Arts in History from the University of Georgia and his Juris Doctor from Mercer University’s Walter F. George School of Law.
 
First elected to the court in 2000, Peagler served until 2016. As a respected public servant from the bench, he served as a member of the American Bar Association, the State Bar of Georgia, the American Trial Lawyers Association and served as past vice president of the Georgia Trial Lawyers Association. Prior to his first term as a superior court judge, Peagler was a partner with Ellis, Easterlin, Peagler, Gatewood, and Skipper, P.C.
 
Peagler’s service to the community outside of the courtroom is as extensive as it is inside. He is a life trustee of GSW’s Board of Trustees, having served as chairman of the executive committee. He is a past president of the Americus-Sumter County Chamber of Commerce, past president of the Sumter County Trust for Historic Preservation, and a senior member and past board member of the Americus Kiwanis Club. Peagler is a member and communicate for St. John’s Anglican Church in Americus.