The Georgia Historical Society (GHS) announced today that Saxby Chambliss, former U.S. Senator, and Chris Womack, Chairman, President, and CEO of Southern Company, will be inducted by the Georgia Historical Society and the Office of the Governor as the newest Georgia Trustees on Saturday, April 18, 2026, at the Trustees Gala in Savannah. It is the highest honor the State of Georgia can confer.

“Saxby Chambliss and Chris Womack are the living embodiment of the Georgia Trustees motto ‘Not for Self, but for Others,’” said Dr. W. Todd Groce, President and CEO of the Georgia Historical Society. “They are models of selfless leadership and of what can be accomplished when we focus on putting the success of other people and our country ahead of our own interests.  Their impact on our state and nation has been profound and lasting. GHS is delighted to join with the Office of Governor in conferring upon these two remarkable Georgians our state’s highest honor.”

The Georgia Trustees is a recognition as old as Georgia. In conjunction with the Governor’s Office, the Georgia Historical Society reestablished the Georgia Trustees in 2008 as a way of recognizing Georgians whose accomplishments and community service reflect the highest ideals of the founding body of Trustees. The original Georgia Trustees were a governing body chartered and appointed by His Majesty King George II of England in 1732 to establish a new colony in North America. They founded Georgia upon the principle of Non Sibi, Sed Aliis, Not for Self, but for Others. The Governor annually appoints new Trustees whose history-making accomplishments and service reflect the original Trustees’ ideals.

Modern day Trustees are inducted at the Trustees Gala in Savannah. This elegant evening includes cocktails, dinner, and an inspiring conversation with the inductees. The Trustees Gala is the culmination of the Georgia Historical Society’s Georgia History Festival, its signature K-12 program, which reaches hundreds of thousands of students statewide.

Saxby Chambliss
Saxby Chambliss served in the United States Senate for two terms and, before that, served four terms in the U.S. House of Representatives. Born in Warrenton, North Carolina, he received a BBA from the University of Georgia and a law degree from the University of Tennessee.

Senator Chambliss was working as an attorney in Moultrie when he was first elected to Congress to represent Georgia's 8th District in 1994. Throughout his legislative career, he was recognized numerous times by the public and private sectors for his work on agriculture, defense, budget, and national security issues.

Chambliss was elected to the U.S. Senate in 2002. During his two terms, he served on the Senate Armed Services Committee, the Senate Rules Committee and the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence. He also served on the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry, chairing the committee in 2005-2006. He was one of the first senators since 1947 to chair a full standing Senate committee after serving in the chamber for just two years.

Chambliss has been awarded the American Farm Bureau’s Golden Plow Award, the National Wheat Growers Association’s Wheat Advocate Award, and the National Cotton Council’s Harry S. Baker Distinguished Service Award. He has also been named to the National 4-H Hall of Fame, the Georgia Agricultural Hall of Fame, and the Georgia Peanut Hall of Fame. The University of Georgia launched the Senator Saxby Chambliss Leadership Forum in 2015.

Chris Womack
Chris Womack is the Chairman, President, and CEO of Southern Company, one of the nation’s leading energy providers. Prior to his current role, Womack served as Chairman, President, and CEO of Georgia Power, Southern Company’s largest subsidiary. Womack joined Southern Company in 1988.

Prior to joining Southern Company, Womack worked in Washington, D.C. for the U.S. House of Representatives, where he served as a legislative aide for former Congressman Leon E. Panetta and as staff director for the Subcommittee on Personnel and Police for the Committee on House Administration.

Womack is vice chair of the Edison Electric Institute's board of directors, second vice chair of the board of directors of Electric Power Research Institute, and vice chairman of the Georgia Ports Authority. He is past chair of the Metro Atlanta Chamber of Commerce, the East Lake Foundation, and has chaired or served as a member of the boards of the Atlanta Convention of Visitors Bureau, Communities in Schools of Georgia, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the Boys & Girls Clubs, and the Georgia Historical Society.

A native of Greenville, Alabama, Womack holds a bachelor’s degree from Western Michigan University and a master’s degree from The American University and completed the Stanford Executive Program in 2001. He received 2021 Distinguished Alumni Award from Western Michigan, the Let Us Make Man Community Service Award in 2019, the National Award of Merit from Alpha Phi Alpha in 2011, the Boy Scouts of America Silver Beaver Award in 2010, and the Black Enterprise/Porsche Intelligent Performers Award in 2010.

Previous Georgia Trustees
Previous inductees are Walter “Sonny” Deriso, Jr., Craig Menear, Dr. Louis Sullivan, Carol Tomé, Dan Amos, Donna Hyland, Dan Cathy, Shirley Franklin, David Abney, Juanita Baranco, Robert L. Brown, Jr., Robert S. Jepson, Jr., Frank Blake, John Schuerholz, Edward H. Bastian, W. Paul Bowers, F. Duane Ackerman, A.D. “Pete” Correll, James H. Blanchard, Muhtar Kent, Alana Smith Shepherd, Paula S. Wallace, Arthur M. Blank, William Porter “Billy” Payne, Truett Cathy, Herman Russell, Tom Cousins, Andrew Young, Vincent J. Dooley, Sam Nunn, Henry Aaron, Robert Edward “Ted” Turner, Bernard Marcus, and Marguerite Neel Williams.

For more information about the 2026 Georgia Trustees, please contact Keith Strigaro, Director of Public Relations and Communications, at 912.651.2125, ext. 153, or by email at kstrigaro@georgiahistory.com.