Anderson University mourns death of former president Cordell Maddox

J. Cordell Maddox, who served as president of Anderson College (now Anderson University) from 1973 until 1977, died July 23. He was 86.

Following his tenure at Anderson College, Maddox served as president of Carson-Newman University in Jefferson City, Tenn., for 22 years until he retired in 1999.

Current Anderson University president Evans P. Whitaker said Maddox’s service to AU “was impactful on campus and in our region,” according to a story published July 24 in the Anderson Independent-Mail.

“Cordell Maddox will be revered and loved in the hearts and memories of AU people and in the history of both AU and all of Christian higher education,” said Whitaker.

When Maddox arrived at Carson-Newman in the summer of 1977, the school had a declining enrollment of 1,518 students and a budget deficit of more than $350,000, according to a story published by Baptist Press in 1999.

Maddox led the school to an enrollment of more than 2,300 and grew the institution’s endowment from less than $3.5 million to more than $20 million at the time of his retirement.

A native of LaGrange, Ga., Maddox was a graduate of Furman University and Southern Baptist Theological Seminary.

He was preceded in death by his wife of 62 years, Brona, four months ago. They were the parents of four adult children and had several grandchildren.