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Clyburn, James E.
Jim Clyburn is in his fourth term as South Carolina's Sixth District
and a member of the Democratic Steering Committee. He was also elected to serve on
the House Appropriations Committee, and he has also served on the Veterans Affairs and
Transportation and Infrastructure Committees.
Following his graduation from S.C. State University in 1962, Congressman Clyburn served as
a teacher, an employment counselor and director of two youth and community development
projects in Charleston. He was appointed to the Staff of Governor John C. West in
1971, and in October, 1974, Govenor West appointed him South Carolina Human Affairs
Commissioner, a position he held until retiring from state government in 1992 to run for
Congress. Congressman Clyburn was a member of the initial class of the Executive
Institute in 1991.
Drummond, John
John Drummond, Senator representing Greenwood and Abbeville counties,
is President Pro Tempore of the South Carolina State Senate and Chairman of the Senate
Finance Committee. Serving his 34th year in the General Assembly, Senator Drummond has
been elected to ten terms in the Senate and has served as chairman of numerous standing
committees, including Ethics, Fish, Game and Forestry; and Labor, Commerce and Industry.
As Chairman of Finance, he also sits as a member of the Budget and Control Board, and in
January, 1996, he was elected President Pro Tempore of the Senate, the highest office to
be held by any elected senator.
Senator Drummond is a native of Ninety Six and is president of Drummond Oil Company and Greenwood Petroleum Company. He is a veteran of World War II, having served as fighter pilot and captain in the 405th fighter Group in England, France and Germany, with numerous decorations for his service. He has served on the Boards of Trustees of Baptist College (Charleston Southern), the College of Charleston and Clemson University, and has been recognized by more that 20 state and local groups for his community service.
Edgar,
Walter
Walter Edgar has been associated with the University of
South Carolina for some 30 years. He joined the faculty of the History
Department in 1972 and was named Director of the Institute for Southern
Studies. Dr. Edgar holds the Claude Henry Neuffer Chair in Southern
Studies in 1980.
Over the last three decades, he has written or edited nine
books about South Carolina and the American South, including his most
recent, South Carolina: A History, the first new, comprehensive
history of the state in more than 60 years. Dr. Edgar served two years
in the army, including a tour of duty in Vietnam, and retired as a colonel
in the Army Reserves after a thirty-year career. Dr. Edgar received
his M.A. and Ph.D. in History from the University of South Carolina.
Edwards,
James B.
James B. Edwards retired this year after serving as President of the
Medical University of South Carolina since 1982, the latest in a series of major public
offices he has held in the last three decades. He was first elected to public office in
1972 as senator from Charleston County, and he was elected Governor in 1974, the first
Republican to hold that position since the Reconstruction era. In 1981, Dr. Edwards was
chosen by President Ronald Reagan to serve as Secretary of Energy, a position he held
until accepting the MUSC presidency in 1982.
Dr. Edwards is an oral surgeon who practiced oral and maxillofacial
surgery in Charleston from 1960 until 1974 when he was elected Governor. He is a member of
numerous professional and civic organizations, holds ten honorary degrees and serves on
nine corporate and foundation boards. He holds degrees from the College of Charleston, the
University of Louisville School of Dentistry and the University of Pennsylvania Graduate
Medical School.
Leatherman, Hugh K.Hugh Leatherman has served in the South Carolina Senate since 1981 and has served on numerous committees, including Fish, Game and Forestry; Interstate Cooperation; Labor, Commerce and Industry, and Banking and Insurance. He has served as Chairman of Ethics and Vice Chairman for Transportation. He was elected Chairman of the Senate Finance Committee in January 2001, and he also sits as a member of the Budget and Control Board.
Senator Leatherman resides in Florence and is a managing partner of WyBoo Investments. He has served as a member of the Quinby Town Council and as Mayor Pro Tem. Senator Leatherman is a member of the Francis Marion University Board of Trustees, Clemson University President Advisory Council and Chairman of the Clemson University College of Engineering and Science Advisory Board.
McConnell, Glenn F.
Glenn McConnell has served in the South Carolina Senate since 1981 and was elected President Pro Tempore in January 2001. He serves as chairman of the Judicial Committee and Rules Committee, and serves on the Committees on Banking and Insurance, Interstate Co-operation, Labor, Commerce and Industry, and Ethics.
Senator McConnell resides in Charleston where he is the President of CSA Galleries, Inc. He serves on various boards and commission, and has received numerous awards for his service to the citizens of South Carolina. Senator McConnell is a member of the South Carolina Historical Society and is Chairman of the Hunley Commission and the Charleston Naval Squadron Reinactors.
Senator McConell earned a B.S. from the College of Charleston and a Juris Doctor from the University of South Carolina School of Law.
McNair, Robert E.
Robert McNair became South Carolina's Governor in mid-term in 1965,
succeeding Governor Donald Russell upon the latter's resignation and subsequent
appointment to the United States Senate. McNair was elected to a full term in 1966,
serving until 1971. As Governor, he chaired the Southern Regional Education Board, the
Education Commission of the States, and the National Democratic Governor's Conference.
Prior to his election as Lt. Governor in 1962, Governor McNair served
six terms in the House of Representatives, and was Chairman of the Labor, Commerce and
Industry Committee (1953-55), and the Judiciary committee (1955-62). Upon completion of
his term as Governor in 1971, he established the law firm of McNair, Konduros and Corley
(now the McNair Firm), and he remains Senior Shareholder and Chairman. Governor McNair
holds the B.A. and the J.D. degrees from the University of South Carolina.
Perry, Matthew J., Jr.
For more than a half century, Judge Matthew Perry has brought
leadership to South Carolina as a practicing attorney, civil rights leader and for the
last 25 years as a judge of the federal courts. A native of Columbia, Judge Perry
gained prominence as the state NAACP's attorney during the period of civil rights activism
in the 1950s and 1960s, representing the organization and individuals in many of the
landmark cases of that time, including the desegregation of Clemson University by Harvey
Gantt in 1963.
In 1975, he was appointed by President Gerald Ford with the unanimous confirmation of the
U.S. Senate to the U.S. Court of Military Appeals, becoming the first African-American
from South Carolina to be named to the federal bench, and four years later he was
appointed by President Jimmy Carter--again with unanimous confirmation of the Senate, as a
U.S. District Judge for the District of South Carolina. He took senior judge status
in 1995.
Judge Perry holds the B.S. degree in Business Administration and Bachelor of Laws degrees
from S.C. State College (now university).
Toal, Jean H.
Jean Toal was sworn in as the state's first woman Chief Justice on
March 23, 2000, succeeding the South Carolina's first African-American Chief Justice,
Ernest A. Finney. She was elected to that position in June, 1999 without opposition
after serving 11 years as Associate Justice, also a first for a woman in the state.
Prior to her service on the court, she was elected to seven terms in the House of Representatives from Richland County, serving the last eight years as Chairman of the Rules Committee. Justice Toal served on the first Human Affairs Commission (1972-74), and she was in the private practice of law with the Belser, Baker, Barwick, Ravenel, Toal and Bender firm of Columbia, 1970-1988.
Justice Toal serves on the S. C. Commission on Continuing Legal
Education, was Chair of the Juvenile Justice Task Force, 1992-94, and chaired the 1994
S.C. Rhodes Scholarship Committee. She has received honorary degrees from the College of
Charleston, and Columbia College, and holds the B.A. from Agnes Scott College and the J.D.
from the University of South Carolina.
Tenenbaum, Inez
M.
A former schoolteacher and an attorney, Inez
Tenenbaum was elected State Superintendent in 1998 on a campaign of
comprehensive and sustained reform. Her priorities include raising
academic standards through accountability, making sure every child starts
school ready to learn, improving the quality of the State's principals and
teachers, ensuring that schools are safe and healthy places for learning,
and increasing the support of parents and communities in public schools.
Mrs. Tenenbaum is the founder of the South Carolina Center for Family
Policy, a nonprofit organization dedicated to reforming the State's juvenile
justice system. Mrs. Tenenbaum practiced law with the firm of Sinkler
& Boyd, P.A., taught elementary school, and served as the Director of
Research for the Medical, Military, Public and Muncipal Affairs Committee of
the South Carolina House of Representatives.
Mrs. Tenenbaum earned a B.S. and M.E. degrees from the University of
Georgia.
West, John C.
John West's multi-dimensional public career began in 1954, when he was
elected to the first of three terms in the South Carolina Senate from his native Kershaw
County. He became Lt. Governor in 1966, during which time he served as chairman of the
Committee to Make a Study of the South Carolina Constitution of 1895. He was elected
Governor in 1971, serving until 1975. In 1977, Governor West was chosen by President Jimmy
Carter to serve as Ambassador to Saudi Arabia, a position he held until 1981.
He was subsequently named Distinguished Professor of Middle East Studies at the University of South Carolina, and in January, 1994, Governor West became a member of the Board of Seibels, Bruce Group Inc. in Columbia. He was elected Chairman of the Board in November, 1994, and held that position until his retirement in 1999. Governor West has practiced law since 1947, holds the B.A. from The Citadel, the J.D. from the University of South Carolina, and has honorary degrees from seven colleges. He is a member of the Board of Donaldson, Lufkin and Jenrette.