The Georgia Trustees

The highest honor the State of Georgia can confer.

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.

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Georgia 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.

Save the Date

The 2026 Trustees Gala - April 18, 2026

Join the Georgia Historical Society (GHS), Office of the Governor, and leaders from across our state as we induct the 2026 Georgia Trustees, Saxby Chambliss, lawyer and former United States Senator, and Chris Womack, Chairman, President, and CEO of Southern Company.

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The 2026
Georgia Trustees

Saxby Chambliss

Saxby Chambliss served in the United States Senate for two terms and, before that, served four terms in the US 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, and the Boys & Girls Clubs.

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.