Staff Report

Nov. 25, 2000 10 PM

State Treasurer Lucy Baxley will deliver the address at Troy State University’s fall commencement ceremony scheduled to begin at 10:30 a.m. on Friday, Dec. 15 at Sartain Hall.

More than 340 students are scheduled to receive diplomas during the ceremony, according to Tamara Jones, acting registrar.

The day’s events will also include a special reception at the chancellor’s home for graduates and their families.

TSU Chancellor Jack Hawkins Jr. said the graduates and their families will enjoy hearing from the state treasurer.

"Lucy Baxley has been a friend of Troy State University and higher education in Alabama and we’re pleased to invite her back to campus to speak to our graduates," Hawkins said. "She visited campus last spring to speak at Girls State and did an excellent job. She is one of Alabama’s most outstanding public servants."

Baxley is a native of Houston County and a graduate of Ashford High School. She attended Auburn University at Montgomery and has had a long career in city, county and state government.

She has held positions in county probate court and in the district attorney’s office. Her career in state government has included serving as executive assistant to the Alabama Attorney General and as administrator of the Legal Division of the Department of Transportation.

Baxley was elected state treasurer in 1994 in her first campaign for public office. She was re-elected in 1998.

As treasurer, Baxley is responsible for overseeing all bank accounts for the state. Her office also oversees the Board of Control of the Retirement Systems of Alabama, the Alabama Trust Fund, the Bond Commission, the Alabama Housing Authority and the Industrial Access Authority.

In addition, the office operates the Linked Deposit program of subsidies on interest rates for borrowers; the Pre-paid Affordable Tuition Program, which manages an investment pool of advance payments for college costs; and the Unclaimed Property Division, which works to locate owners of abandoned or unclaimed property.

Baxley is married to James Lee "Jim" Smith Sr. and she has two children. She is active in numerous civic organizations and serves on the administrative board of Frazer Memorial United Methodist Church in Montgomery.