Meadows’ dream comes true as she combines two loves

In the mid-1970s, Laura Meadows became one of the first girls to compete in the Georgia 4-H beef project. Until then, the beef project was for "boys only."

Adding to her firsts list, this spring the Cochran, Ga., girl was named UGA's associate vice president for economic development, the first woman to hold that title.

To be able to combine her passion for community and economic development with "my other great passion — the University of Georgia — was a dream come true," Meadows said.

"In my own life, I watched our county extension agent bring the research findings from the university to my father and my grandfather, who then put it to work on our farm. I want to bring that kind of immediate support to as many Georgians as we can."

Meadows will split her time between UGA and Georgia Tech, where she will work with public and private partners in economic development.

"While much of what we will be doing is economic development, you really can't separate community development from economic development," she said. "When you help a community develop leaders and infrastructure, you help them create the opportunities that will lead to greater economic" health.

She points to the Archway Partnership Program as "a perfect example of how to do economic development." On a recent visit to the pilot program in Moultrie, Meadows found what she calls a textbook case on how it's done.

"What a wonderful crop of committed leaders," she said. "Each had an issue to champion in the community. To hear them say what the university meant to the people of Moultrie was, well, a religious experience."

While Meadows' career has taken her to many unexpected places, she always finds her way back home.

"Without exception, I have partnered with CAES in every job I've had," said Meadows, who was also the first woman president of the CAES Alumni Association.

The woman of firsts graduated from Middle Georgia College and UGA with degrees in science and food science and got her master's in public administration from Brenau College.

After working with Cooperative Extension, Meadows joined Georgia Farm Bureau as the first female director of legislative affairs. Eight years later, Meadows became the first woman to lead the Farmer's Home Administration, the rural development branch of the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

When Gov. Roy Barnes created the OneGeorgia Authority, he chose Meadows to lead the program. He again tapped Meadows in 2001 as the first woman commissioner of the Georgia Department of Community Affairs.

Later, she spent more than three years as chief operating officer in the Georgia Secretary of State's office.

"I have probably been the luckiest person in the world to do a lot of interesting things with a multitude of talented people," she said. "What more could you ask from a career?"

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