State Senator Jack Hill of Georgia, a longtime Southern Regional Education Board officer and member, died on April 6, 2020.

“Senator Jack Hill was a gem, a true Southern gentleman and an unwavering statesman. For decades in Georgia, he was an instrumental education leader for education—collaborating, befriending and mentoring colleagues across the political spectrum. As the longtime chair of the Senate budget committee in Georgia, he insisted that the state’s students came first on more occasions than many people knew.

“He also provided valuable service to the Southern Regional Education Board, working with education leaders across the South to improve education. He was a quiet rock for many, unassuming and stalwart. All of us who worked with him at SREB mourn his passing. Our hearts are with his family and all who he touched through his life and hard work. We’ll miss you, Jack.”

Senator Hill served on SREB’s Board for 26 years and was the Board’s Treasurer from June 2011 to June 2013.  A close friend of former SREB Chair Governor Sonny Perdue (now the U.S. Secretary of Agriculture), Senator Hill was last reappointed to the Board in 2018 by Georgia Governor Nathan Deal. A member of SREB’s Executive Committee since 2005, he also served on SREB’s Legislative Advisory Council, which convenes state legislators annually from 16 states to share ideas and meet with experts on improving education, and chaired that group in 2003-2004.