Greetings fellow Tigers!
What an amazing Homecoming weekend in Tiger Town! I was excited to see so many of our alumni and members of our Clemson Family return to campus for the celebrations. Clemson Football continues to show determination week after week, advancing to 6-0 for the season following a victory against Wake Forest. You can view photos from the Homecoming game here. Whether making the trip north or watching from home, we hope you all join us in cheering for our Tigers when they face Syracuse Friday night at 7 p.m.
At an engagement reception last month, Clemson honored Michelin for their support of students, faculty and programs, totaling almost $5 million since 1977. Janet Krupka, Director of Recruiting, and Stacy Davis, Campus Recruiter at Michelin, joined students, faculty and staff from several programs supported by Michelin, including the Michelin Endowed Chair in Vehicle Electronic Systems Integration, the Michelin Scholarships for International Programs, the Michelin Career Center in the Center for Career and Professional Development and the “One SC 2 Sustain” collaborative sustainability Creative Inquiry course with the University of South Carolina. Students attending the event enjoyed learning more about career, co-op and internship opportunities at Michelin as well as Michelin’s passion for supporting higher education and the next generation of talent in engineering. Thank you, Michelin, for your 40 years of valued support of Clemson University! You can read more about the reception and Michelin’s support to Clemson here.
Having been named honorary alumni of Clemson University, Coach Dabo Swinney and his wife, Kathleen Swinney, were recently gifted Clemson rings from Libby and Charles Dalton. Charles E. Dalton of Greenville was recognized by the Clemson Alumni Association as one of four recipients of the 2014 Distinguished Service Award, the association’s highest honor. Charles graduated from Clemson in 1964. Charles served on the Clemson Alumni Association board as well as the Clemson University Foundation board of directors. The Daltons have been annual donors for more than 35 years.
Earlier this month, the Clemson University Emeritus College held its annual Emeritus Day activities and luncheon. The day celebrated the accomplishments of the Emeritus College and recognized outstanding faculty that continue to contribute to Clemson University beyond their retirement. Faculty were provided the opportunity to return to campus and reconnect with colleagues, as well as learn about the University benefits available to emeritus faculty. Keynote speaker President Emeritus James Barker addressed more than 200 attendees with an insightful message about “What Makes Clemson, Clemson?” The group welcomed the 2016-2017 retirees with a presentation of scrolls by President Clements and Provost Jones. The recent retirees have collectively given more than 830 years of service to Clemson University.
Clemson University’s board of trustees had its fall quarterly meeting on campus last week, where they approved four new master of arts teacher residency programs, funding for several recreation capital projects, modified pricing for six programs and construction of a new composite center. The new Clemson Composites Center will be housed at the Center for Manufacturing Innovation (CMI) in Greenville, a partnership of Clemson University and Greenville Technical College. Also in the university’s academic area, four new Master of Arts in Teaching (MAT) teacher residency programs – in early childhood, elementary, secondary and middle-level education – were approved, along with a Bachelor of Science degree for middle-level education. The trustees supported the university administration’s request to institute new program pricing for six programs to strengthen the quality of undergraduate education, effective for entering students in fall 2018. The trustees also approved establishing the final project budget for the Snow Outdoor Fitness & Wellness Center construction with a resolution requesting issuance of state institution bonds up to $6,750,000 to finance the center and phase I concept to begin design of a softball complex. Trustee Ronnie Lee, who has been a trustee since 2010, was elected vice chairman of the board for a two-year term. Lee graduated from Clemson in 1976 with a Bachelor of Science degree in microbiology. The trustees approved a salary increase and deferred compensation for President James P. Clements. More information about the meeting can be found here. Thank you, board of trustees, for all you do throughout the year!
Clemson recently announced the 2017-2018 recipient of the Bosch Endowed Fellowship in Automotive Engineering at an event at CU-ICAR. Bosch established this fellowship endowment in 2014 with a gift of $560,000. Caroline Louis, who received her undergraduate degree in Materials Science and Engineering from Clemson in May, was announced as this year’s fellowship recipient. She was joined by the past three Bosch Fellows, Valerie Clements (2016), Lauren Mims (2015) and Vismita Sonagra (2014), along with Clemson leadership and several executives from Bosch. Guests at the fellowship event enjoyed hearing more about the accomplishments of all four Bosch Fellows to date, as well as Bosch’s passion for diversifying the STEM workforce, and particularly the automotive industry, which helped inspire the creation of this fellowship for underrepresented populations in automotive engineering. Thank you, Bosch, for your investment in Clemson students and programs! You can find more information about the Bosch Endowed Fellowship and this year’s recipient here.
Clemson University’s emergency management operations and training are more technologically advanced than just a year ago – and will continue improving – courtesy of three alumni and Lexington-based Avtec Inc., the leading independent provider of pure Internet Protocol (IP) dispatch console solutions. Avtec, which recently supplied the Clemson Unified Command Post with dispatching software, products and services valued at approximately $428,000, has donated an additional $75,000 in cash to strengthen the academic, research and public service programming related to emergency management in the university’s Watt Family Innovation Center. The cash contribution will support a variety of multidisciplinary emergency management projects to be conducted in the Avtec Emergency Response Center. Avtec Chief Executive Officer Michael Branning (Clemson Class of ’86) and family members Donna Branning Thompson (’88) and Linda Branning Doherty (’92) were instrumental in making the donation to their alma mater. More information about Avtec and its gift to Clemson can be found here.
We are thankful for the partnership and generosity of organizations and individuals who support Clemson and make positive impacts across the University. Your contributions allow our students, faculty and staff to reach new heights, proving that our university is among the best, on and off the field.
Go Tigers! Beat Syracuse!
Brian O’Rourke
