University System of Georgia System Chancellor Henry “Hank” M. Huckaby received the 8th Annual Blanchard Award for Outstanding Stewardship and Ethics in Business Monday night at the Jim Blanchard Leadership Forum, hosted by the Leadership Institute at Columbus State University.

The Blanchard Award recipient is selected annually by a committee led by William R. “Billy” Blanchard, president and chief executive office at Columbus Bank and Trust. Blanchard presented the award to Huckaby in front of a crowd of more than 1,000 during the first night of the 2016 Jim Blanchard leadership Forum.

His voice cracking with emotion, Huckaby accepted the award by crediting those around him.

"The theme of this year's forum is It Takes a Team," Huckaby said. "Whatever success I have had is because of the team around me.

"I have been fortunate in my personal life and professional career to receive some honors. But this is a unique one- a special one because it carries with it the name of one of the finest citizens in this state," he said.

Huckaby, who was selected as the University System’s 12th chancellor by the Board of Regents in May 2011, oversees 29 public colleges and universities across the state. With an annual budget of $8.1 billion, he is responsible for more than 47,000 faculty and staff and 318,164 students. Huckaby emphasizes performance, partnerships and values as he works to build strong public and political support for the University System’s contributions to the state’s economic future and individual success.

Prior to becoming Chancellor, Huckaby was a teacher and administrator in the University System and has taught at private colleges and universities. He also served in the Governor’s Office of Planning and Budget, first as a senior policy coordinator and later as its director, as well as commissioner of the Georgia Department of Community Affairs, and as the executive director of the Georgia Residential Finance Authority.

Huckaby also served in the Georgia Legislature, representing Georgia House District 113 as a Republican.

Huckaby is a board member of the Georgia Chamber of Commerce, the Metro Atlanta Chamber of Commerce and the Georgia Partnership for Excellence in Education. He was a member of the Georgia Competitiveness Initiative Steering Committee in 2011 and currently serves on the Georgia Higher Education Funding Committee. He was inducted into the National Academy of Public Administration in November 2014.

He is active in the State Higher Education Executive Officers, the National Association of System Heads, and the Southern Regional Education Board, is a commissioner for the Education Commission of the States, and is on the Georgia-based Alliance of Education Agency Heads.

Huckaby serves as a trustee of Young Harris College, where he earned an associate’s degree. He earned both his bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Georgia State University and continued his education through additional graduate studies at the University of Georgia.

Established in 2009, The Blanchard Award for Outstanding Stewardship and Ethics in Business recognizes outstanding stewards of business ethics and corporate responsibility. The award’s symbol, a live oak, is the state tree of Georgia and a perennial symbol of rectitude.

Past recipients include:

· James H. Blanchard, 2009

· B. Franklin Skinner, 2010

· Ray C. Anderson, 2011

· William B. Turner, 2012

· Robert S. Jepson Jr., 2013

· Thomas G. Cousins, 2014

· Daniel P. Amos, 2015