Keith Millner was an All-American quarterback at Guilford College.
Keith says Guilford equipped him with the tools to succeed and says it's vital that future students be given the opportunity to attend the College, too.
It was never a given that one of Guilford’s best football players would attend the College in the first place. Keith Millner ‘82 was all set to attend a liberal arts school. It just so happened that school was Wake Forest University.
An eleventh-hour visit to Guilford steered Keith to Guilford. The more he talked to his high school coaches and counselors in Eden, N.C., the more he saw himself at Guilford. “I came to find out that Guilford had a phenomenal reputation, high academic excellence, a terrific liberal arts school rooted in Quaker principles, that was highly ranked and regarded among liberal arts colleges, not only in North Carolina, but throughout the southeast,” he says.
These days Keith is backing up that high praise as the College’s Acting Chief Operating Officer. Keith is part of a team that is leading Guilford through a period of presidential transition, including Acting President Jean Bordewich, Dan Mosca, Paula Sours ’76 and Carla Brenner ’73.
Keith shared his thoughts on why he invests his time and philanthropy in Guilford in a video, the latest in a series of interviews with Guilford leaders.
He graduated with a bachelor’s degree in Economics. He was the football team’s quarterback and led the Quakers to a top 10 NAIA national ranking in 1981.
After Guilford, Keith earned an MBA and had a successful three-decade career in senior executive corporate roles before transitioning to entrepreneurship. He served as president of CertusBank Georgia, COO of InvestAtlanta, president of Nationwide Financial Network, and other positions. He is co-founder of a coaching and business advisory firm, and co-owner and COO of Social Capital, LLC which operates multiple Jersey Mike’s Subs franchises in the Atlanta area.
Keith says Guilford equipped him with the skills to thrive in life and business.
“When I left (Guilford), I was uniquely skilled and qualified to go into corporate America with some soft skills that a lot of people I found did not have.”
He says Guilford brings together a diverse cohort of students every year that feed off each other. “It is a unique combination of individuals and their beliefs and their philosophies in life that then come together in this magical elixir that literally transforms students and makes them able to compete in the world,” says Keith. “It brings a mindset of community and stewardship and integrity and a commitment to excellence that's eminently transferable to any career, any any desire that anyone might have in life.”