Dr. Carol Phillips Cotton Poe died on Tuesday, October 22, 2024, following a lengthy illness. She passed away peacefully at home with her husband, Steve, by her side.

Dr. Cotton, as many knew her, was born on December 4, 1955, in Washington, DC, to Lawrence and Sarah Mae Phillips. Growing up in McLean and Round Hill, Virginia, she enjoyed dancing and horseback riding as a child and teen - dancing with the Washington Ballet Company and riding as part of Pony Club. She was a graduate of Loudoun Valley High School, where she was a member of the cheerleading squad. She left Virginia to attend the University of Georgia as part of their first collegiate women’s gymnastics team in 1972, following the passing of Title IX. She earned a BSEd in 1977 and an MEd in 1978, after which she coached private gymnastics in the Athens area. Following a stint at the University of Texas at Austin, she returned to UGA and became the first in that school’s history to earn a PhD in Health Promotion and Behavior, thereby earning the rare status of “Triple Dawg.”

Dr. Cotton was a devoted educator. Following the completion of her PhD, she joined the faculty at UGA College of Education in the department of Health Promotion and Behavior (now part of the College of Public Health) and served with distinction until her retirement several years ago. While she taught a variety of classes over the years, including Women’s Health and International Health, her primary position was teaching and supervising the departmental undergraduate senior internships, which resulted in her being an integral part of every Health Promotion graduate’s journey for over a decade.

In addition to teaching in the classroom, Dr. Cotton was the spearhead for developing the UGA-Croatia Study Abroad program and endowment. Her father Lawrence was a first generation Croatian-American (formerly Yugoslavian) and this combination of personal and professional connection filled her, and her family, with purpose and joy for many years. She often visited distant relatives while in that country and enjoyed connecting to her paternal roots.

Dr. Cotton was a distinguished researcher, focusing on traffic safety for nearly 20 years, leading the Traffic Safety Research and Evaluation Group. She continued her work on a variety of grants and in partnership with the National Highway Traffic Safety Association and the Georgia Governor’s Office of Highway Safety even after her retirement from in-classroom teaching. Over the course of her career, her traffic safety research lead to her presenting at a variety of international conferences and being instrumental in the enactment of several Georgia traffic safety laws.
Carol was also an energetic and engaged community member, serving on a variety of committees and boards over the years, including with Jackson County Parks and Recreation and the Jackson County Comprehensive High School Band Booster Club for many years. While living overseas with her family in the 1990s, she also served as a board member for the National Organization of Women in Caracas, Venezuela and was a nominee for the American Foreign Service Assocation’s Avis Bohlen Award in 1991.

Dr. Cotton had an enthusiasm for life - but nothing could compare to her love of two things: travel and the Georgia Bulldogs. She traveled to 128 countries and all 50 states in her lifetime and always had a wishlist of where she wanted to go in a given year. And anyone who knew Carol knew that when she traveled, she traveled in style! But when she was home, you could count on her attending as many UGA sporting events as she could - from football to baseball (she was even known to grade papers while watching the Lady Bulldogs from her courtside seats!). But her connection to the Gym Dogs was her most precious - she was a proud member of the 10-0 Club for many years, serving as both President and Secretary, and traveled across the country to watch the Gym Dogs compete throughout the season. After all, it was the Gym Dogs, although no such nickname existed in 1972, and gymnastics that brought her to Athens when she was 16, changing the course of her life.

Dr. Cotton and her husband, Steve Poe, were high school friends in Virginia who reconnected later in life. She is survived by him and her two children from a previous marriage - Kendra (Mark) Leblang, Atlanta, and Kyle (Bailey) Hibler, Watkinsville - as well as by four grandchildren: Wren and Atticus Hibler and Connor and Wesley Leblang. Dr. Cotton is also survived by her mother, Sarah Mae, of Round Hill, Va., and two of her older siblings, Richard (Ruth) Phillips and Dr. Barbara Phillips, as well as 3 nieces and nephews. She was preceded in death by her father, Lawrence, and her eldest brother, Larry Phillips.

There will be no service at this time. However those who knew Carol well knew that her dogs (always golden retrievers) were one of the things that she loved coming home to the most - whether from the office or from a trip across the world. Contributions honoring Dr. Cotton can be made to the Athens Area Humane Society with thanks from her family.

The staff of Central Cremation Services is honored to be selected to provide end-of-life services.

(If you order flowers, you must obtain a delivery address from a family member. Please do not send flowers to the crematory)