The Life and Legacy of Peace’s Eighth
President, Dr. Garrett Briggs
Briggs' time as Peace
College President was
notable for his warmth and
endearing nature toward all.
WPU, then a small, two-
year women's college, was
an unlikely next step for
Briggs.
Before accepting the role of
Peace College President in 1988,
Briggs held the role of North
Carolina State University dean of
the College of Physical and
Mathematical Sciences.
Briggs served as a member of the
geology faculty at Tulane
University in 1965 and head of the
geology department, and associate
dean of the University of
Tennessee's College of Liberal
Arts in 1968.
"Peace is a small college, one
in which it's possible to have
close, one-on-one relationships
with faculty and students,"
Briggs said.
Under Briggs' leadership, the
school's endowment nearly
doubled, and the College went
from a two to a four-year program
that offered five separate
baccalaureate degrees.
Briggs' goal for WPU was to
make the College more visible
in the community, describing it
as "One of Raleigh's most
closely guarded secrets." 
Briggs believed in the then
all-women's college and
was dedicated to the
success of its students.
In his Inaugural Address dated
March 19, 1989, at the First
Presbyterian Church of Raleigh,
Briggs shared specifically his
admiration of Peace College
Alumnae.
"Never, anywhere, in my educational and
professional experiences have I
witnessed such a warmth of spirit and
devotion to an institution as I have from
the alumnae of Peace College." After
nearly a decade of service, Briggs
announced his retirement in March 1997.
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