Lera Catharine "Cathy" Cox (born July 18, 1958) is an American academic administrator and former lawyer, politician, and journalist. She is President of Georgia College & State University. Cox, a member of the Democratic Party, previously served as Secretary of State of Georgia, a candidate for Governor of Georgia in 2006, Dean of Walter F. George School of Law at Mercer University, and as the 21st president of Young Harris College. Biography Cox was born and raised in Bainbridge, Georgia. After attending public schools, she earned her associate's degree in agriculture from Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College. She later obtained her journalism degree from the University of Georgia. In 1986 she graduated magna cum laude from Mercer University's Walter F. George School of Law, where she was editor-in-chief of the Mercer Law Review and elected to the Brainerd Currie Honor Society. After graduation, she was a journalist for The Gainesville Times and The Post-Searchlight. She practiced law for ten years. She is married to attorney Mark Dehler. They have no children and are active members of the United Methodist Church. She has also served on the Board of Trustees of Mercer University as well as on the Board of Visitors of the School of Law. Georgia House of Representatives Cox served as a member of the Georgia House of Representatives from 1993 to 1996. She represented district 154, Miller, Seminole, Early and Decatur counties. She relinquished her seat in early 1996 to become Assistant Secretary of State and temporarily retired from elective office. Secretary of State Cox ran for Secretary of State in 1998 and defeated Republican candidate John A. McCallum with 56.6% of the vote, becoming the 25th Secretary of State of Georgia and the first woman elected to the position. She was re-elected in 2002 with 61.1% of the vote (more than any other Georgia Democrat that year) against Republican candidate Charlie Bailey. Cox took office in January 1999 and was the first woman to serve as Georgia's Secretary of State. Her first action in office was to move the largest division of her office from Atlanta to Macon, saying she "wanted to bring government closer to the people it serves." She also instituted a universal electronic voting system, making Georgia the first American state to use such a system. Governing Magazine honored her as one of the top Public Officials of the Year in 2002 for her election