The Mike Cottrell School of Business, named in honor of the university’s largest benefactor, Mike Cottrell, held its commencement ceremony on May 3 in Dahlonega. During the ceremony, 55-year-old Cottrell was conferred the honorary doctorate, where 90 business students also received their degrees in front of an audience of more than 500...
Mike Cottrell, owner of Gainesville-based Cottrell Inc., the world leader in automobile-transport equipment manufacturing, received an honorary Doctorate in Business Administration from North Georgia College & State University on May 3.
The Mike Cottrell School of Business, named in honor of the university’s largest benefactor, held its commencement ceremony on Saturday in Dahlonega. The 55-year-old Cottrell was conferred the honorary doctorate during the ceremony, where 90 business students also received their degrees in front of an audience of more than 500. Former U.S. Sen. and Georgia Gov. Zell Miller was in attendance with U.S. Sen. Johnny Isakson delivering the commencement address.
The honorary degree was conferred in recognition of the entrepreneur’s significant contributions to the university and North Georgia region. Cottrell made the first part of a $10 million gift to the North Georgia business school in 2006. The money will be used to develop a regional economic development center at NGCSU and support curricular programming, including the new Master of Business Administration degree program starting in Forsyth County in August.
Cottrell, a Dahlonega resident, is chairman of the Lumpkin County Development Authority, a member of the Lumpkin County Water & Sewerage Authority, a trustee of the NGCSU Foundation and vice-chair of the university’s Business Advisory Council. He recently was appointed as an at-large member to the board of directors of the Georgia Department of Economic Development by Gov. Sonny Perdue.
Cottrell designed truck transports for his father’s company, formerly Cottrell Sullivan Inc., and then purchased it in 1987. In less than a decade, Cottrell bought out his major competitor, Bankhead Transportation Equipment, and in 1999 he initiated international sales. By 2006 Cottrell Inc. was manufacturing almost 1,800 car haulers, more than all the other major international manufacturers combined. Cottrell Inc. now controls a majority of the U.S. market in over-the-road automobile-transport equipment manufacturing.
On May 3, Cottrell was greeted on the commencement stage by vice president for academic affairs Linda Roberts-Betsch, and business dean Max Burns and the degree was conferred by North Georgia president David Potter. Roberts-Betsch recommended award of the honorary doctorate on behalf of the Mike Cottrell School of Business faculty members, who unanimously endorsed the move.
The honorary doctorate bestowed upon Cottrell is only the fourth honorary degree title to be awarded by the institution. Receiving honorary degrees in the past were Pulitzer-Prize winning Atlanta Journal Constitution editor Gene Patterson, business leader and North Georgia alumnus Olin King and career Democrat Speaker of the House for the Georgia Legislature Thomas Murphy, also an alumnus.