The Clemson University Emeritus College gathered on Tuesday, October 29 for the annual Fall Picnic and Business Meeting. Around 150 emeritus faculty enjoyed great food and conversation; welcomed new members; approved changes to the college’s by-laws; and awarded the prestigious Emeritus Award for Research and Scholarship to two very deserving Emeritus Faculty for their outstanding contributions to scholarly research: Dr. Frankie O. Felder and Dr. Jack C. Peck!
Dr. Frankie O. Felder
Since retiring in 2017, Dr. Felder has devoted a significant amount of time to researching and writing two important historical documents. These include a history of her family, whose roots are from deep southern states, and the history of graduate education at Clemson University.
Both publications invite critical thought about subjects that impact those living in the South. Her publication OURstory, Unchained and Liberated from HIStory (pronounced HIS-story), was published in 2021, and describes the lesser-known aspects of an African American family experience prior to and through the Civil War, Reconstruction, and Jim Crow.
Dr. Frank Smith, director of the African American Civil War Memorial Museum, called this book “a must read for any serious scholar wishing to understand this period of American history.” Dr. Vernon Burton, who wrote her foreword, said she “opens the doors to the history of education of blacks in the South to the general reader through the rise of her ancestors’ descendants as they passed through the doors of Rosenwald School and Historically Black Colleges and Universities.” Her book … “addresses how the South’s very dark period of American history has changed in her lifetime” offering “hope for the future in the victories of the past.”
Dr. Felder has also researched the history of graduate education at Clemson. Her book Graduate Education at Clemson and the Evolution to a University is due out in the spring. She was the opening plenary speaker at the Conference of Southern Graduate Schools this year where she shared her premise that graduate education transformed a rural college into a world-class university. Her nominator notes that she received a resounding standing ovation for her presentation on the relevance of graduate education not only to Clemson University, but to all southern colleges and universities. Her book recognizes more than one hundred graduate “trailblazers” and reflects on one hundred years of graduate education at Clemson from1924 to 2024.
Dr. Jack C. Peck
Upon his retirement from Clemson in 2000, Dr. Peck was among the top Computer Science faculty in publications and funded research. He continues to be a successful serial entrepreneur. In 1987, he co-founded Foxfire Technologies Corporation to create software for both the manufacturing and distribution industries. Beginning operations in a Clemson University incubator, Foxfire grew to more than twenty employees. Foxfire’s products were employed by such well-known companies as Levi, Wrangler, Playtex, Sara Lee, Jantzen, Intertape Polymer, and Carters.
In 2006, after a successful exit from Foxfire Technologies, Dr. Peck co-founded FastFetch Corporation to supply innovative hardware and software solutions for eCommerce order fulfillment.
He provided the creative impetus that formed the basis for FastFetch’s products. One such product employs artificial intelligence to determine a right-sized container for shipping multiple items of different sizes and shapes with minimal wasted space. This problem has long been recognized as a difficult problem in the computer science field. In 2019, this development was judged as the most innovative supply chain management product in the US by the Council of Supply Chain Management Professionals (CSCMP), edging out Intel Corporation.
While there are numerous artificial intelligence applications currently being developed for the supply chain industry, the FastFetch solution is one of only a few that are in production daily by well-known companies such as Snap-on, Staples, FedEx, and UPS. In addition to receiving the CSCMP innovation award in 2019, FastFetch was a finalist for the innovation award in 2018 and the runner-up in 2023. Dr. Peck has been granted 5 US patents and several international patents on the innovations employed in FastFetch products. Jack is recognized as a thought leader in the supply chain industry. He has frequently presented technical talks at industry conferences, served on industry panels, been interviewed on several occasions by supply chain media outlets, and been quoted in trade publications. Additionally, Dr. Peck continues to publish scholarly papers in a refereed, international supply chain journal with publications in 2019, 2023, and a publication scheduled for 2025.
