UGA Honors Holmes Family; Sam Holmes
The University of Georgia Alumni Association honor ed seven recipients of the 2023 Alumni Awards during an event on April 2, including the Paul and Susan Holmes family of Monticello as Family of the Year.
The annual Alumni Awards luncheon, which began in 1936, recognizes individuals and organizations that demonstrate a commitment to UGA. The other 2023 honorees are:
•Sonny Perdue | Alumni Merit Award
•Neal Quirk | Alumni Merit Award
•Joe and Ann Frierson | Alumni Merit Award
•Paige Carmichael | Faculty Service Award
•Jack and Nancy Fontaine Family | Friend of UGA Award
•Allison Schmitt | Young Alumni Award
“The devotion of this year’s award recipients to the University of Georgia is making a positive difference in the lives of countless individuals on this campus, throughout the state and around the world,” said UGA President Jere W. Morehead. “They have made the University of Georgia stronger and have made all of us very proud.”
In addition, Paul and Susan’s son, Sam, was honored as a 2023 Distinguished Alumni by the Terry College of Business. He received his award at a gala held last Saturday hosted by the Terry College Alumni board.
This is what UGA had to say about the younger Mr. Holmes:
‘When the commercial real estate community thinks about the most-trusted and proven leasing advisors across the Southeast, Sam Holmes and his partner of 35 years, John Shlesinger, are the names that immediately come to mind. Together they have completed over 2,300 lease transactions and structured and negotiated virtually every conceivable real estate requirement from 1,000 to 800,000 square feet, working new angles to solve the challenges of office space users with leases, purchases, build-to-suits and government incentive packages.
“Mr. Holmes and Mr. Shlesinger have successfully negotiated over 90 million square feet of leases and sales and 8,600 acres valued at more than $19 billion. Providing strategic solutions and portfolio optimization initiatives to a diverse range of clients from Fortune 500 corporations to technology startups, the duo has made a name for themselves by structuring the most creative deals in the industry.
“No matter the size of the deal, they approach all assignments with the same intensity and attention to detail. With a track record of going the extra mile to understand a client’s business model, clients have referred to them as “value-add team members” and “accessible and responsive above and beyond the call of duty.” Their consultative approach and depth of services maximizes value for their clients and sets them apart as world-class.
Prior to the CBRE acquisition, Mr. Holmes was a vice chairman at Insignia, where he opened the Atlanta office, was the company’s top revenue producer in aggregate production over his four-year tenure, and led its integration into CBRE in 2003. He began his career at Cushman & Wakefield in 1987, where he was the firm’s youngest senior executive.
Mr. Holmes is a native of Monticello, and attended boarding high school at Baylor School. He is a graduate of the University of Georgia with a BBA in finance and serves as Chairman Emeritus of the UGA Foundation and the UGA Real Estate Foundation. He also is on the Board of Regents of the University System of Georgia, which oversees the 26 higher education institutions in the state.
He is a commissioner of the Georgians First Commission, a task force created by Gov. Kemp to make Georgia the most attractive state for small business. He is a trustee on the Georgia Research Alliance, a nonprofit public-private partnership focused on launching new companies in Georgia and expanding university research capacity. He is active with Sigma Alpha Epsilon Fraternity and Leadership Georgia, coaches youth basketball and teaches Sunday school, and enjoys golf at Peachtree Golf Club. He is married and has three children.
Two other alumni also were honored. They were Karen Bennett and Rennie Curran.
The Paul and Susan Holmes family, both immediate and extended, has been a fixture at UGA for nearly a century, with four generations of alumni and a commitment to serving others in Athens and beyond. John Paul Holmes Jr. built his name on the gridiron as a three-year letterman at UGA before graduating in 1963 and playing for the NFL’s Dallas Cowboys and Denver Broncos.
Susan graduated with a bachelor’s degree in 1963. Paul and Susan drew from their experiences and education at UGA to fuel their professional and civic endeavors. Paul served as the chairman of the Georgia Chamber of Commerce and was chair of the Technical College System of Georgia. Susan found her calling in public service, serving as mayor of Monticello and a member of the Georgia House of Representatives for 24 years.
As mayor, she worked with members of UGA’s Carl Vinson Institute of Government to help her town receive assistance with business development, historic preservation, leadership classes, environmental design and more. Susan and Paul’s three children—John Paul III, Sam and their late daughter, Cammie—all found a home at UGA. In 1986, John Paul III married fellow UGA graduate Lou Sims Holmes. Sam currently serves on the Board of Regents of the University System of Georgia and is an emeritus trustee of the UGA Foundation. He and his wife, Lara, are both proud UGA alumni.
