New Mercer president names key leader, outlines goals in first major move
Penny Elkins, Mercer University’s 19th president and first female leader, made her first major public announcement Monday in Macon — unveiling her first key leadership appointment.
Elkins announced Monday morning the appointment of Lisa Murphey Lundquist as executive vice president for academic affairs and provost. She made the announcement during a campus event held at the Spearman Godsey Science Center, praising the institution’s academic leadership and highlights its need for continued innovation.
“Mercer deserves a new academic leader who will actually give credence to the tradition and the longevity and the history of Mercer, but also nod and look toward the future and all that is to come,” Elkins said before officially naming Lundquist in the new role.
Lundquist expressed gratitude for the appointment and outlined her vision for the role.
“I am honored and humbled by this appointment, and I am excited to work alongside Mercer’s remarkable faculty, staff and students in this new role,” Lundquist said at the conference, highlighting the institution’s distinctive academic programs and accomplishments.
Lundquist is the founding dean of Mercer’s College of Health Professions and senior vice provost. In her new role, she will oversee the university’s 12 schools and colleges, the Mercer Health Sciences Center, the Division of Student Life, university libraries, international programs and other units, according to a news release.
Over her 20-year tenure at Mercer, Lundquist has served as a faculty member in the College of Pharmacy, assistant and associate dean of the College of Pharmacy and dean of the College of Health Professions since its founding in 2013. She is also a tenured professor in the College of Pharmacy.
Lundquist succeeds Elkins, who served as interim provost for the past 10 months following the death of Mercer’s longest-serving provost, Scott Davis, in February 2025.
Elkins described Lundquist as well-positioned to help lead the university.
“Since 2006, I have worked alongside and observed Dr. Lundquist as she has progressively taken on additional leadership roles. She has proven herself in every position to be an exceptional leader and is highly respected by her colleagues across the institution,” Elkins said in a news release.
Lundquist said she is eager to work with Elkins and other university leaders.
“Together, we will continue to advance academic excellence, foster innovation and enhance collaboration,” she said. “I want to see us continue to build on the strong foundation of keeping student success at the heart of everything we do and shaping a future aligned with Mercer’s mission to teach, to learn, to create, to discover, to inspire, to empower and to serve.”
Lundquist earned a doctor of pharmacy degree from Samford University and completed a postgraduate residency in primary care, according to the news release. She is also a board-certified pharmacotherapy specialist.
Before joining Mercer, she served on the faculty at the University of Mississippi School of Pharmacy and practiced clinically in Alabama, Mississippi and Georgia.
What to expect under new leadership
Lundquist’s appointment comes as the university expands its footprint and chart its mission for the year ahead.
Elkins outlined core commitments for her presidency, focusing on amplifying the Mercer experience and expanding the university’s academic enterprise through program development, including its newly created Presidential Fellowship Program.
“We are looking for ways to enhance the impact of our students,” she said, emphasizing collective involvement across the institution. “I believe deeply in this university ... I believe in its people and all of us, and I believe Mercer’s best chapters are yet unwritten.”
Before closing, Elkins also said the university will soon launch an internal survey and hold future campus forums to gather feedback from stakeholders on how to advance these commitments.