Augusta University President Brooks Keel gives last state of the university address

Wednesday was a bittersweet day of celebration at Augusta University.

Its president of nine years, Brooks Keel, gave his last state of the university address at AU's Maxwell Theatre followed by a kind of retirement party outside the theatre with music, games, and fun.

During his speech, Keel highlighted some of AU's recent accomplishments like the opening of the fourth floor research labs at the college of science and mathematics, Georgia Cyber Center's five-year anniversary, and the launch of a dual enrollment program with the Columbia County School District.

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But emotions really began to stir as Keel reminisced about his time in education, how he started his journey as a student at the school more than 40 years ago, moving around to different schools throughout his career, eventually returning home as president in 2015.

"It has been an amazing amount of progress," Keel said. "Think about what we have accomplished since 2015? We all have a lot to be proud of."

He particularly got choked up when he spoke about the members of his cabinet he would miss, especially his executive vice president and chief of staff Russell Keen, who expressed similar sentiments.

"I'm going to miss him personally, as a friend, but he's done a lot of great things here," Keen said. "But also, he understands that it's a team effort and I think that's what has made him such an effective and enduring leader."

While a successor has not been selected, Keel does have some hopes for whoever takes his role.

"I hope that he or she will appreciate the great history and traditions we have here," he said. "Someone who can appreciate that, be able to take advantage of that foundation that's been laid here and help together, with this incredible team, come up with things that really move us in ways none of us could imagine today."

So what are his retirement plans? Keel and his wife Tammie Schalue are moving to the Florida Keys, spend more time with his family, and he will do more fishing on the ocean while she is diving beneath. Keel also intends to never put on a suit and tie again unless it's for a special occasion.

The full state of the university address was streamed on augusta.edu.

This article originally appeared on Augusta Chronicle: Augusta University President Brooks Keel's last address before retiring