Kelley Sullivan Georgiades ’92 graduated with a B.A. in Communications from Texas A&M University, where she was recognized as a Distinguished Student in the College of Liberal Arts. Mrs. Georgiades is also a graduate of the TCU Ranch Management Program and, along with her father, was the owner and operator of Santa Rosa Ranch, the largest breeder of Brangus and Ultrablack cattle in the United States, until September 2021 when they sold the turnkey operation to a group of producers, carrying on the name and breeding program. Today, Kelley continues to operate Santa Clara Ranch with her father on their ranch in Navasota, Texas and has recently created GKG Land & Cattle, a commercial cow/calf, stocker and equine operation. She previously served as Chief Marketing Officer for Southern Funds Group, an alternative asset management firm and Vice President of Sales and Marketing at Sullivan Brothers Family of Companies (SBFOC) with her three brothers. Following the sale of the ranch, her brothers asked her to re-join SBFOC where she currently oversees special projects on their behalf.
Mrs. Georgiades served for six years on the Executive Board and Chairman of the Marketing Committee for the Texas Beef Council, on the Board of Directors and past Chairman of the Membership Development Committee for the Texas and Southwestern Cattle Raisers Association, a member of the International Trade and Marketing Committee for the National Cattlemen Beef Association, Chairman of the Vice Chancellor’s Forum for Excellence in Pregnancy and Developmental Programming at the Texas A&M University College of Agriculture and Life Sciences , an Advancement Board Member for the Texas A&M University Press, Captain of the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo International Committee and a former commissioner with the Texas Agricultural Finance Authority. She is also on the Department of Animal Science Advisory Council and Beef Cattle Development Council at Texas A&M University, the Board of Directors for the University of Texas Medical Branch (UTMB Health) Development Council and a graduate in the 13th class of the Texas Agriculture Lifetime Leadership Program (TALL), a Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Program.
Kelley is active in various aspects of the agriculture industry. She has traveled extensively, observing production systems on several continents around the globe and traveled to Japan and Korea in 2017 and returned to Japan and China in 2018 to study and visit the United States’ largest importers of U.S. beef. She presented her observations during the General Session of the 2017 and 2018 Texas A&M Beef Cattle Short Course in front of 2,300 attendees and highlighted the trade opportunities that US Beef producers have in the Asia-Pacific region. Mrs. Georgiades has testified in front of the U.S. House of Representatives’ Ways and Means Committee in October 2017 to highlight the need to pursue bilateral trade agreements with the agriculture industry’s largest trading partners; appeared in front of the U.S. International Trade Commission in November 2018 to give a producer’s perspective on the newly-approved USMCA (U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement); and appeared before the US House Agriculture Subcommittee on International Trade about the state of the US Livestock Industry in July 2019.
Mrs. Georgiades has worked closely with Texas A&M AgriLife Extension to coordinate and execute various educational seminars, focused on improved production techniques for cattle producers as well as educating healthcare practitioners about the health benefits of beef in the diet. Within the health and nutrition arena, Kelley created a symposium called “Optimizing Protein Through the Healthspan” which was held at the University of Texas Medical Branch (UTMB Health) in Galveston, Texas in 2016. Kelley and Santa Rosa Ranch have hosted producer education seminars, focusing on proper bull selection, optimal forage production and animal health and nutrition, all in coordination with Texas A&M AgriLife Extension and Texas and Southwestern Cattle Raisers Association. In 2018, Mrs. Georgiades was honored as “Man of the Year” by the Texas County Agricultural Agents Association.
Kelley is a 5th generation BOI (Born On Island) from Galveston Island, where the Sullivan Family ran commercial cattle on the West End of the island and along the Texas Coastal Bend. She is the daughter of Gerald ‘67 and Susanne Sullivan, the eldest of their five children (Kelley ‘92, Kristen ’95 [Berger], Todd ‘97, Johnny ’02 and Billy ‘02) and aunt of 14 nieces and nephews. Kelley was honored as “Woman of the Year” in May 2019 by the Galveston Regional Chamber of Commerce, based upon her accomplishments in the agriculture industry and setting an example for younger generations. Kelley and her husband, George Georgiades ‘83, own and operate GKG Land & Cattle and make their home on their ranch near Millican, Texas.
