Maj. Gen. Thomas Carden ’92 selected for Regents’ Hall of Fame Alumni Award

AMERICUS, Ga. (August 9, 2023)—Major General Thomas Carden, Jr., adjutant general of the Georgia Department of Defense, has been selected as a Regents’ Hall of Fame Award recipient and will be recognized at the 2023 Board of Regents Scholarship and Awards Gala Friday, September 8. Carden is a 1992 graduate of Georgia Southwestern State University with a Bachelor of Science in history.

Each University System of Georgia (USG) institution is asked to nominate alumni to be honored. An external panel named by the USG Foundation evaluates alumni nominations. Carden is the fourth Georgia Southwestern alum to be named a Regents’ Hall of Fame Award recipient. Businessman and philanthropist Jerry Newman was honored in 2014, Former First Lady Rosalynn Carter was honored in 2011, and the late Griffin B. Bell, former U.S. Attorney General, was honored at the 2008 celebration.

“Georgia Southwestern is fortunate to count a few of our most notable alumni as Regents ‘Hall of Famers,’” said GSW President Neal Weaver. “I am very pleased that Maj. Gen. Carden will now be included among that list of individuals. As a significant leader in our state and a man of great integrity, I cannot think of anyone more fitting to receive this award.”

Maj. Gen. Carden, began his career with the National Guard began as an enlisted infantryman as a high school senior. Today as the adjutant general of Georgia, he is responsible for directing, coordinating, organizing and stationing the Georgia Army and Air Force National Guards, the Georgia State Defense Force and federal and state civilians, ensuring they are prepared for state and national missions. In total, he leads over 15,000 men and women.

Among his many professional accolades, Maj. Gen. Carden was the recipient of a 2016 GSW Outstanding Alumni Award from the College of Arts and Sciences, and he was recognized as an “Amazing Cane” for his leadership and response during the COVID-19 outbreak in 2020. He has been featured in the University’s alumni magazine on two separate occasions.

Through the University System of Georgia Foundation’s efforts, need-based scholarships are made available to more than 340,000 students that attend the 26 public colleges and universities of the University System of Georgia.