Gloria M. Shatto: President 1980-1998
In anticipation of the retirement of John Raney Bertrand, the Board of Trustees elected Gloria M. Shatto president-designate of Berry College and Berry Academy in the winter of 1977. Dr. Shatto, who had been serving on Berry’s Board of Trustees since 1975, came to Berry from Trinity University in San Antonio, Texas. She and her husband, Robert, arrived on campus in September 1979. Dr. Shatto assumed the presidency Jan. 1, 1980, becoming the first woman to hold that title at a college or university in Georgia.
A native of Houston, Texas, Dr. Shatto earned her bachelor’s degree in economics at Rice University. Soon after, she moved with her husband to Panama and got a job teaching at the U.N. Consulate there. That move helped her discover her love of teaching, and when she returned to the U.S., she taught for eight years in the Houston public school system. She worked in market research for Humble Oil & Refining Co. (now Exxon) and later earned her doctorate in economics at Rice. Dr. Shatto taught in the economics department at the University of Houston, and, in the mid-1970s, she taught economics at Georgia Tech’s College of Management. It was during that time that she became a Berry trustee.
Dr. Shatto served on the boards of several corporations, including Georgia Power Co. and Texas Instruments Inc. She also served on the U.S. Treasury Small Business Advisory Committee, the Georgia Forestry Commission and the Governor’s Commission on Economy and Efficiency in State Government.
During Dr. Shatto’s tenure as president, Berry was ranked among “America’s Best Colleges” by U.S. News & World Report. Berry also was listed in Peterson’s Competitive Colleges: Top Colleges for Top Students and in the New York Times’ “Best Buys in College Education.” Strict budgetary measures which Dr. Shatto instituted in the 1980s, combined with positive performance in the stock market, contributed to an increase in the market value of Berry’s endowment. Dr. Shatto led the college to complete its first major capital campaign from 1985-88. The funding from this campaign was used to make major improvements in campus academic facilities, including the renovation and expansion of Memorial Library.
Dr. Shatto, along with the Board of Trustees, made the difficult decision to close Berry Academy in 1983. This action was highly unpopular with students, parents and alumni of the high school. In 1984, Shatto entered into a partnership with Truett Cathy, Chick-fil-A founder and president, to establish WinShape Center on the academy campus. Through this program, Berry and Chick-fil-A continue to provide scholarships for full-time students who are housed on the former academy campus and attend classes at the college.
Overall, Dr. Shatto’s tenure is known for strengthening the college’s reputation, academic programs, work program and religion-in-life programs. Not without struggle, the Shatto years helped Berry become a top-ranked comprehensive college.
Though she passed away in 1999, Dr. Shatto’s spirit lives on through the Gloria Shatto Lectureship, which was endowed during the Century Campaign with the goal of bringing world renowned speakers to the Berry campus. Former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright will present the inaugural Shatto Lecture in April 2007.