The Georgia Historical Society announced that Robert L. Brown, Jr., President and CEO of R.L. Brown & Associates, Inc., renowned architect and civic leader; and Robert S. Jepson, Jr., Founder and CEO of Jepson Associates, Inc., philanthropist and visionary entrepreneur, will be inducted as the newest Georgia Trustees by Governor Brian Kemp on February 15, 2020, at the Trustees Gala in Savannah. It is the highest honor the State of Georgia can confer.

“It is a great honor to announce that Robert Brown and Bob Jepson will be the newest Georgia Trustees,” said Dr. W. Todd Groce, President and CEO of the Georgia Historical Society. “Their visionary leadership in their respective fields and their lifelong commitment to bettering the lives of all Georgians makes them worthy of this high honor.”
 
In conjunction with the Governor’s Office, the Georgia Historical Society reestablished the Georgia Trustees 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, a governing body chartered and appointed by His Majesty King George II of England in 1732 to establish a new colony in North America, founded Georgia upon the principle of Non Sibi, Sed Aliis, “Not for Self, But for Others.” GHS and the Governor’s Office reestablished the Trustees in 2008. The Governor annually appoints new Trustees whose history-making accomplishments and service reflect the original Trustees’ ideals.
 
Robert L. Brown, Jr. FAIA has compiled an exemplary record of public service during his career, impacting how the entire profession of architecture is practiced in Georgia. Mr. Brown earned his architecture degree from Tuskegee University and established his firm, R L Brown & Associates, in 1984.

His role as a true Citizen Architect includes leadership positions with the Georgia Chamber of Commerce, Metro Atlanta Chamber of Commerce, Georgia Partnership for Excellence in Education, Citizens Trust Bank, and Agnes Scott College. He also serves as Chairman Emeritus of the Georgia Historical Society. But perhaps his most significant contribution has been in setting the direction of the Georgia Department of Transportation, serving as its Chair in 2016-17 and on the Board for more than a decade.

Highlights of his design portfolio include iconic work on the campuses of Morehouse College and Tuskegee University as well as the Birmingham Civil Rights Institute. Mr. Brown was elevated to the AIA College of Fellows in 1999. He is also widely respected for a commitment to mentoring upcoming generations of architects, with many of them now in important leadership roles in the profession in Georgia.

For these reasons—a commitment to civic leadership, education, and mentorship—he received the 2017 AIA Georgia Bernard B. Rothschild award, the highest honor the American Institute of Architects (AIA) Georgia can give to an architect.

Robert S. Jepson, Jr. is Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Jepson Associates, Inc., a private investment firm that he founded in 1989. He founded and was Chairman and CEO of the Jepson Corporation, a Fortune 500 diversified manufacturing conglomerate, listed on the NYSE, which he sold in 1989. In 1993, he became Chairman and CEO of Kuhlman Corporation, also a NYSE-listed diversified manufacturing company, where he engineered a restructuring that resulted in the successful sale of the company in 1999.

Mr. Jepson and his wife, Alice Andrews Jepson, are active philanthropists and direct the main focus of their giving to the arts and to the field of higher education. Among their most notable contributions is the University Of Richmond Jepson School of Leadership Studies, which he conceived and created in I992.  Mr. Jepson earned two degrees from the University of Richmond: a B.S.B.A. in 1964 and an M.S. in Commerce in 1975.  The University awarded him the Alumni Award for Distinguished Service in 1992, the Trustees Distinguished Service Award in 1994, and the President’s Medal in 2002. In May 2014, Mr. and Mrs. Jepson were presented with the School of Leadership Studies Leadership Award. He has also been awarded honorary degrees by ten other American institutions of higher education.

Mr. Jepson serves on the Georgia Historical Society’s Endowment Trust and is Chairman Emeritus of the GHS Board of Curators. He also serves on the Board of the Georgia Research Alliance and is Chairman Emeritus of the Board of the Georgia Ports Authority. Mr. and Mrs. Jepson co-founded the Savannah Educational Alliance, a scholarship program that provides full scholarships at Savannah State University for 24 graduates of the Savannah-Chatham County Public School System. In addition, Mr. and Mrs. Jepson have provided scholarships and professional stipends at Gonzaga University for the past 30 years.

Mr. Jepson has served on the Boards of numerous NYSE listed companies, including Dominion Resources, Inc., Richmond, Virginia, Washington Water Power Company, Hecla Mining Company, and AGL Resources, Inc., as well as local and state charities in Georgia, including the Georgia Cancer Coalition. He also founded and served as Chairman of the Board of Visitors of the Savannah College of Art Design. He has received numerous other awards, including Georgia’s Most Respected Business Leader by Georgia Trend magazine, the Blanchard Award for Outstanding Stewardship and Ethics in Business, the United Way Spirit of Community Award, and the J.W. Fanning Award from Leadership Georgia & the Georgia Chamber of Commerce.