Education and Certifications

Degrees

• B.S., The Citadel
• J.D., University of South Carolina

Licenses

• South Carolina (1992)
• Georgia (2009)

Biography

Craig Burgess, Columbus State University's first General Counsel, joined CSU in June 2016. Burgess was General Counsel of South Carolina State University immediately prior to CSU, providing counsel to the land-grant HBCU as it endured numerous regulatory and accreditation challenges, as well as spearheading SCSU's response to several state and federal investigations. Licensed in Georgia and South Carolina, Burgess is a seasoned trial attorney with more than 40 trials as first-chair counsel in federal and state courts. His more than 25 years of legal experience includes his tenure as an Associate and Partner with Nelson Mullins Riley & Scarborough, LLC in Charleston, South Carolina and Senior Litigation Counsel for BellSouth and AT&T in Atlanta, Georgia.