Media Contact
Jennifer Ellen French
Public Relations Manager
Andrew Young School of Policy Studies
[email protected]
ATLANTA — Professor Cathy Yang Liu has been named the Michael and Enid Mescon Endowed Chair in Georgia State University’s Andrew Young School of Policy Studies (AYSPS).
Her appointment follows that of Professor Emeritus John C. Thomas, who held the inaugural Mescon Chair from 2020 to 2023.
The Michael and Enid Mescon Endowed Chair was created in 2019 in memory of Michael Mescon, dean emeritus of Georgia State University’s J. Mack Robinson College of Business. Mescon was the founder and inaugural holder of the world’s first chair in private enterprise. Later in his career, he taught policy leadership and served on the AYSPS Dean’s Advisory Board.
The chair recognizes Mescon’s career in management (private, public and nonprofit sectors) and leadership development, along with his gifts in teaching the next generation of public service leaders. His wife Enid endowed the chair, with additional gifts from friends and family, to honor her husband and the extraordinary legacy he left Georgia State.
“Dr. Timothy Mescon, their son, reviewed Cathy’s CV and is very excited about this appointment,” said Distinguished University Professor Ann-Margaret Esnard, interim dean of the AYSPS. “Cathy’s record of scholarship, teaching and service aligns well with the legacy of Dr. Michael Mescon.”
Liu, who chairs the Department of Public Management & Policy, is an internationally known expert on topics related to community and economic development, urban policy, migration and the labor market, as well as entrepreneurship and the creative economy in the U.S. and international contexts. As the Mescon Chair, she will help build AYSPS’ capacity to recruit and retain exceptional faculty, further research and practice in management and leadership, and increase interdisciplinary collaborations across Georgia State in leadership, management, entrepreneurship and other areas that epitomize the Mescon legacy. She will also continue to nurture the college’s supportive relationship with the Mescon family.
“We all congratulate Cathy,” Esnard said. “This is a great honor, which she so rightly deserves. And her service as chair will help perpetuate the impactful legacy Michael Mescon and his family have generously bestowed upon our students, college and university.”