About
The Peyton Anderson Scholarship Fund
When Mr. Anderson died on April 24, 1988, he directed in his will that the bulk of his estate be used broadly for charitable purposes. Mr. Anderson’s longtime, dedicated involvement in the Middle Georgia area led to his desire to respond to charitable needs in his own hometown and region. The Peyton Anderson Foundation and Scholarship carries out these wishes and serves as a lasting memorial to a man whose goodwill lives on long after him.
The Peyton Anderson Scholarship was established in 2009 in celebration of the twentieth anniversary of The Peyton Anderson Foundation. Peyton Anderson felt an obligation to make the world a better place by serving his neighbor. He also placed a high value on education. During his lifetime, he provided funding so that deserving young people could attend college. Mr. Anderson’s philanthropy and interest in education have led to the establishment of this scholarship intended to support the educational pursuits of students from Bibb County.
Since its inception, the Foundation has awarded over $1,000,000 to highly promising Bibb County students with financial need and several have already graduated from college.
Scholarship
- For Parents
- Discover excellent resources on helping your child apply for college and apply for our scholarship.
- For Counselors
- Access all the required information and forms to get your students started on the application process.
- For Current Scholars
- Learn more about renewing your Scholarship for the upcoming quarter, semester, or academic year.
Peyton Tooke Anderson, Jr.
Peyton Anderson, Jr. had a kind and generous spirit, and a desire to make a difference in the middle Georgia area. Born in Macon in 1907, Mr. Anderson worked as a teenager at the family-owned newspapers The Macon Telegraph and The Macon News. In the late 1940′s, after the papers had been sold, Mr. Anderson bought them back and owned them both for many years.
Mr. Anderson attended the United States Naval Academy, serving in the Navy during World War II and earning the rank of Commander.
For many years, Mr. Anderson served as a leader in a wide variety of companies, organizations, and boards, both locally and internationally. Some of his responsibilities included serving as president of the Macon Chamber of Commerce in 1950; chairman of the Board of Visitors of the United States Naval Academy; and a director of the Citizens and Southern National Bank, the Georgia Southern and Florida Railway, Knight-Ridder, Inc., and the Southern Company. He also served on the board of the International Oceanographic Foundation and was appointed in 1959 by President Eisenhower to the International Development Advisory Board.
Prominent in the newspaper field, Mr. Anderson served as director of the Southern Newspaper Publishers Association several times, and held the office of president in 1953-54. In addition, he served as a member of the board of directors of the American Publishers Association and the association’s Research Institute.
The Peyton Anderson Foundation
The Peyton Anderson Foundation was formed to distribute funds from the estate of Peyton Anderson, Jr. and is based on Mr. Anderson’s desire to improve and impact the communities of his own hometown and region. Mr. Anderson stated that the people of Macon, Bibb County, and Middle Georgia had been good to him, and he in turn wished to be good to them. Mr. Anderson instructed the trustees to give to “good doers,” not “do gooders.”
The Peyton Anderson Foundation initiates projects to meet needs in the community, reacts to requests from charitable organizations, and provides college scholarships to promising students with financial need. With each grant that is funded and each project that is completed, the Foundation continues the vision of Peyton Anderson, Jr. to improve lives and enhance the communities of Middle Georgia.
Since its inception in 1989, The Peyton Anderson Foundation has invested over $100,000,000 in the Middle Georgia community and has initiated several projects to meet the needs of the community. The Community Foundation of Central Georgia was one of the first and NewTown Macon has also been one of the Foundation’s most successful initiatives. They were created to revitalize and restore downtown Macon.