The University System Board of Regents will have to wait three more weeks to hear a speech from the chancellor that was originally scheduled for Wednesday morning.

Chancellor Thomas Meredith elected to postpone his scheduled 9 a.m. State of the System address until the regents’ Feb. 3-4 meeting because he did not want to risk overexertion from being present at Tuesday and Wednesday’s meetings, said regents spokeswoman Arlethia Perry-Johnson.

Meredith is currently recovering from a broken arm and three broken ribs sustained from a car accident he and his wife were involved in late last year.

“He knew the meeting would run long and from where he was feeling, as far as stamina, he thought it would be best to wait,” Perry-Johnson said.

On Nov. 28, 2004, Meredith and his wife Susan were headed to Athens on Interstate 26 when another vehicle crossed the center line and struck their car head-on.

The couple was taken to Trident Regional Medical Center in Charleston, S.C., where his wife underwent surgery to stop internal bleeding.

The Merediths were in Charleston attending a meeting of the American Association of State Colleges and Universities and were coming back to Athens to attend the Georgia-Western Kentucky basketball game when the accident occurred.

Meredith is the top administrator for the state’s 34 school system of public colleges and universities, with nearly 250,000 students, 35,000 faculty and staff and an annual budget of $4.7 billion.

— Deepika Rao

Contributing: Staff Reports