| Name: S. Virginia Peninger
When did you come to USC? I joined the Sonoco International Business Department of the Moore School as both the department administrator and program coordinator for the schools CIBER Program in July 2004. My appointment with the school was a homecoming of sorts: I'm a Spartanburg native, and I received my bachelors degree in business administration with a major in management from the University in 1981.
Tell us about your job. With the Sonoco International Business Department I try to make the lives of international business faculty members easier by handling all administrative issues for them. I also work with the schools Center for International Business Education and Research (CIBER), one of 30 centers in the country established under a 1988 federal law that created the centers to increase and promote the nations capacity for international understanding and economic enterprise.
What did you do before you joined the Moore School? After college, I lived in Annecy, France for about a year and a half, then returned to the United States where I briefly ran a restaurant in Anderson before moving to Atlanta. There I worked in various administrative positions until 1996 when I returned to Columbia to work for Edens and Avant as an office property manager. For the previous six years before joining the Moore Schools staff, I was a certified software quality analyst in North and South Carolina.
What drew you back to USC and Columbia? A return to my roots. Im very proud to be an alumna of the Moore School and feel that one of the best ways I can support it is to work here. Plus, I get to use my fluency in French on the job and occasionally travel for meetings.
How does it feel to be back on campus after a 23-year absence? Wonderful. I love the job and there are great people here. Its a diverse and dynamic environment and theres always something going on. I especially enjoy serving once again on the Richland/Lexington Alumni Board.
How do you unwind when youre not on the job? I enjoy playing the viola, singing in my church choir and cooking for friends in the newly remodeled kitchen of my Elmwood Park home.
2/05
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