Tony Moye is continuing his long-time leadership role at Mercer University.

  The McDonough native was re-elected chair of the executive committee of the school’s Board of Trustees earlier this month. It was the first time that 45-member board had gathered for an in-person meeting since the pandemic began.

  Moye has served on the Board of Trustees for nearly two decades and is now midway through his fourth five-year term. This is his third year as chair of the nine-member executive committee, whose other members include former president Jimmy Carter and former governor Nathan Deal.

  During the months that the entire board could not meet, the executive committee conducted the business of the school as allowed in its bylaws. That included passage of the most recent budget for more than $200 million.

  Mercer has more than 9,000 students enrolled in 12 schools and colleges with major campuses in Macon and Atlanta as well as medical school sites in Macon, Savannah and Columbus along with regional academic centers in Henry and Douglas counties. It is the only private school in the state with a Division I athletic program, and it has an endowment of nearly $1 billion.

  A graduate of Mercer’s pharmacy school in 1973, Moye was appointed to the Board of Trustees by previous president Kirby Godsey, for whom Kirby G’s restaurant in McDonough is named. The first Moye’s Pharmacy opened in McDonough in 1977, and from that the company grew to eventually have multiple locations all over Henry County. Moye graduated from Henry County High School and has lived here his entire life.

  His relationship with Mercer began to blossom in the late 1980s when he had triple bypass surgery at 41 years of age. “I wasn’t expected to live,” he said. “I had experimental surgery, and they gave me seven years back then.”

  He gives Mercer a great deal of credit for helping him keep the doors open at his business, specifically the help he received from the pharmacy school. It was during this time that he connected with Loren Pierce, another Henry Countian who at the time was still completing his studies and shared his commitment to a true community pharmacy.

  Pierce had six months left in pharmacy school when he came to work at Moye’s Pharmacy full-time at the Stockbridge store and eventually took over the business when Moye retired about a decade ago. There are currently locations in each of the county’s four cities as well as in Jackson.

  Moye has been active in the Henry County Chamber of Commerce over the years and has served on other boards of note, including the state pharmacy board and the Georgia Sports Hall of Fame. There were too many to recall quickly when he spoke with the Times last week. “I’ve been appointed by various governors to various things,” he said.

  The executive committee at Mercer listens to the president and makes recommendations to the the general board in just about every area – financial, instructional, academic, etc. Most of the biggest recommendations go through the executive committee first, Moye said.

  As far as the coronavirus is concerned, conditions at the school right now are great. About 1.5 percent of the tests administered to Mercer personnel have returned positive, and that number is holding steady, according to Moye. “The students are realizing that a lot depends on their attitude and participation on things,” he said.

  The first in-person Board of Trustees meeting since the shutdown, the first week of November, saw a 75 percent attendance, which is another sign of things getting back to normal.

  Closer to home, Mercer’s Henry County Regional Academic Center offers evening and weekend classes to more than 600 students pursuing undergraduate and graduate degrees through the Tift College of Education.

  “Mercer is doing extremely well with adult education in Henry County,” said Moye. “They are very pleased with the way everything has gone here. It has been a win-win for everybody.”