Editor’s note: This is the first in a series of stories to highlight senior administrators at the University.

The public’s perception of the University is critical in a year when spikes in size and caliber are contrasted by a falling budget.

But if there’s one man to tell alumni, donors and prospective students that the University will withstand a deteriorating budget, it’s Tom Jackson, the University’s vice president for public relations, whose involvement in the University spans more than three decades.

“I like to lean forward and think of proactive ways to promote the University,” Jackson said in an interview with The Red & Black.

His newest initiative is to redefine and strengthen the University’s brand identity and take it global.

“Every day I’m excited to do this job,” Jackson said. “Great institutions like this one outlive us. This University will be here hundreds of years past us. This job is my way to leave a legacy.”

Jackson began working in the University’s public relations department in 1988, when the office consisted of only eight employees.

“Public relations is like dripping water on a rock,” he said, “Eventually, you make an impression.”

Two decades later, Jackson has made a few impressions.

He is in his 20th year as a senior administrator, making him the longest serving member of the president’s cabinet.

During his tenure, he has expanded the University’s public relations onto a national platform, and he has helped publications such as Georgia Magazine transition into the online era.

His department is also responsible for the uga.edu Web page and accompanying multimedia.

Before working in public relations, Jackson attended school here and worked for the Athens radio station, then spent eight years reporting about Athens for WXIA-TV, the NBC affiliate in Atlanta.

He has also been the halftime voice of the Redcoat marching band for 35 seasons now.

“I was asked to fill in for one game in 1974, and I’ve been filling in for one game ever since,” he said.

Director of bands Michael Robinson compared Tom Jackson’s legacy with the Redcoats to that of Larry Munson.

“Mr. Jackson brings an energy to each game that is evident in his introductions of the band,” Robinson said. “The Redcoats always feed off of this energy as they perform each show. He also brings a sense of tradition and pride to each performance, as his voice is a link to Redcoat bands of the past 35 years.”

Drew Raessler, a band captain from Woodstock, said, “Mr. Jackson embodies the heart of the Redcoats. Just like the band, he is there win or lose, home or away. His love for the Redcoats reminds the band of the importance that they have in the hearts and minds of the entire Bulldog Nation.”

Jackson said, “It’s like being a part of a big fraternity. I was 22 when I starting riding the Redcoat bus. Now the students are younger than my kids.”

Jackson said he has had an affinity for being a part of something bigger than himself.

During childhood, it was radio.

He said he used to run wires outside his home in Manchester to a two-speaker, makeshift radio station during the summers. He and a friend would broadcast live over microphones and play albums for the neighbors.

Years later, Jackson began biking daily to the nearest “real” radio station in LaGrange.

He thought he found his calling. “Sometimes it’s just in your blood,” he said.

Sure enough, when Jackson transferred to the University from Emory University during his junior year of college, he began working for the Athens radio station.

“I have been connected to this University in one way or another ever since then,” he said.

So what is the biggest change Jackson sees in the University over the past 35 years?

“Academic quality,” Jackson said. “It’s gone from being a pretty good southern university to a major national research university.”

And the students?

“I think they are more focused. It’s not the party school it used to be. We didn’t have downtown – it used to be Macy’s and Belk.”

Despite all of his experience, Jackson said he doesn’t expect his career at the University winding down any time soon.

“You don’t have to retire at 65 anymore, and I’m only 56,” he said. “If I ever get out of bed in the morning and say I don’t want to go to work today, that’s the time to hang it up.”