In 1962, Mary Frances Early was the first African American to earn a graduate degree from UGA. In 2024 The Mary Frances Early Lecture Series celebrates its twenty-fourth year and the 62nd anniversary of Mary Frances Early’s graduation. Each year, a speaker is invited to deliver a lecture that honors Ms. Early’s quiet determination and dignity in her work to ensure that the state’s flagship university became an institution of higher learning for all the people of Georgia.
To honor Ms. Early, Ms. Yvette K. Daniels will deliver this year’s lecture. Ms. Daniels currently serves as the Director of University Relations in the Division of Workforce Management for the Georgia Department of Public Health (DPH) with responsibility for employee engagement, the Applied Learning Program, and establishing effective college and university relationships through the promotion of public health programs at the state and local level.
Previously she served as the Director of Health Promotion for the Georgia DPH, where she was responsible for four programs including Maternal and Child Health, Women Infants and Children (WIC), Health Promotion and Disease Prevention, the Volunteer Health Care Program, and the Office of Health Equity. During her 25 years in state government, Ms. Daniels has also served as division attorney and legislative director.
Before joining DPH, Ms. Daniels was an Assistant State Attorney with the State Attorney’s Office in Jacksonville, Florida. As an Assistant State Attorney, Ms. Daniels was assigned to the Sexual Assault Unit with responsibility for prosecuting sex offenses against children and women. While in Jacksonville she was also a member of the Junior League of Jacksonville.
She earned a bachelor’s degree in political science from the University of Georgia in 1986 and a Juris Doctorate from the University of Georgia School of Law in 1989. She is a Leadership Georgia graduate and serves on the Executive committee for the Morehouse School of Medicine’s Prevention Research Center Community Coalition Board. She is a Past President of the Stone Mountain Chapter of Jack and Jill of America, Inc.
Ms. Daniels completed her term as the 77th president of the UGA Alumni Association in summer 2023; she was the first Black female president of the organization. She currently serves as a Trustee for the UGA Foundation Board and is a member of the UGA Board of Visitors for the School of Public and International Affairs.
The 24th Annual Mary Frances Early Lecture will be held at 2:00 p.m. on Tuesday, February 6. The event is free and open to the public and will take place in Mahler Hall at the Georgia Center for Continuing Education.
The Mary Frances Early Lecture is sponsored by the Graduate School, Graduate and Professional Scholars (GAPS), the Mary Frances Early College of Education, and the Office Institutional Diversity. It is part of The Signature Lecture Series coordinated by the Office of the Provost.
