Featured Donor Profile - Dr. and Mrs . Verner Chaffin

Dr. Verner Chaffin and his loving wife Ethel are the epitome of a supportive couple. Their support of the University of Georgia - through the University of Georgia Foundation - is carried out with as much focus and care as their love and support for one another.

To anyone who meets this lovely couple, their affection for each other is obvious - "She was the best modern dance teacher at Georgia State College for Women," he says; "I'm glad he's by my side," she says.

We're also glad they're by our side as members of the larger family that is the University of Georgia. "We have a binding commitment to the university and want to help it grow; attract superior students and top faculty. We're very much interested in the future of the school," says Dr. Chaffin.

Mrs. Chaffin concurs: "I've always supported [the university] through the UGA Foundation, because it's important to do so and we take pride in seeing the achievements of students and faculty members." Their most recent donation is an endowed fund benefitting the dance department, one of the arts that is now part of the Franklin College of Arts and Sciences.

While the Chaffins' generosity is evidenced in many tangible ways - such as the Verner Chaffin Distinguished Fiduciary Professorship in the School of Law, and the portrait of Dr. Chaffin that hangs there as a tribute from alumni - such esteem was hardly a foregone conclusion for anyone who came of age during the Great Depression, as they both did.

A native of Toccoa, Dr. Chaffin's Georgia roots run deep. After graduating from Toccoa High School, Verner Chaffin enrolled in Emory University intending to become a physician like his father. But after one year he had a change of heart and transferred to the University of Georgia. After completing his undergraduate studies, the history major was accepted to medical school but decided to go to the University of Georgia School of Law instead, where he graduated as a First Honor Graduate in 1942. From there, it was off to World War II.

"I finished my academic year, took the bar exam and then went into the service in 1942," says Dr. Chaffin. "I went into the Navy. I was in intelligence. They were looking for volunteers for the Japanese program. You had to learn to speak fluent Japanese and I went to intelligence school and then went out into the Pacific."

After four years in the service, during which time Chaffin says he saw plenty of action but no combat, he went to work for the Department of Justice in Washington D.C. - but only for a year - and then on to the University of Alabama to teach law in 1947. During his 10 years there, and while working on an advanced law degree from Yale through the G.I. Bill, Chaffin was again called to serve his country, this time to support the Korean war effort.

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