New Athens State President talks growth, future of school

ATHENS, Ala. (WHNT) — Athens State appointed Dr. Catherine Wehlburg as the school’s 39th president in May, and she’s already hit the ground running.

Wehlburg began her time at Athen State in 2021 as the provost and then served as the school’s interim president from January 2023 until her recent appointment. She said being a university president wasn’t always the plan.

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“Being a university president was never on my list of things to do,” said Wehlburg. “As a matter of fact at a previous institution, I was working at our chancellor and he was a mentor to me in many ways and at one he said ‘Catherine have you ever thought about being a university president or chancellor and I said oh no who would want that job, no, no, no.”

Life, as it often does, had different plans for Wehlburg. She is now focused on ways to help Athen State continue to grow.

One of those ways is by adding more areas of study, specifically ones that reflect the North Alabama community’s needs.

“As we look at what’s happening in aerospace and cyber and some of those areas we have added programs that match and aligned with the needs of those new industries,” said Wehlburg. “We have benefitted from that growth and we are responding to the needs in industry for that growth.”

Wehlburg said that Athens State expects a 20% increase in new students this fall and that the campus is continuing to improve and grow.

The school recently broke ground on a welcome center and hopes to renovate other campus areas such as Carter Hall.

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