Sarah Snare has always known that she wanted to work in forensic anthropology, and as she approaches her graduation this December, she is more than equipped to secure the career of her dreams. Snare will be completing a degree in anthropology with a minor in chemistry, and she’ll also be leaving the University of South Carolina with plenty of internship experiences under her belt.
Madhura Pande, a Stamps Scholar who graduated in May from the South Carolina Honors College with degrees in biological sciences and Spanish, has been working on research since she arrived on campus as a freshman.
The Porter family has a longstanding history at both the University of South Carolina and the Honors College, with four members currently attending or working at the university, including siblings Sarah, Grace, John Mark and Elise, and their father, Mark.
Kwame Kennedy does not let opportunities fly by nor does he simply seize them as they approach. Throughout every facet of his UofSC experience, the Honors College sophomore has rewritten the script and made his undergraduate career uniquely his own.
After graduating from the South Carolina Honors College in 2017, Blakeley Hoffman Payne began researching ethics in artificial intelligence at the MIT Media Lab. Her studies have focused on better understanding the unintended economic, social, and racial consequences of AI implementation. From educating middle-schoolers in Pittsburg to presenting at the Future of Everything Festival in 2019, Payne is working hard to make Americans more “conscientious consumers” of AI.
Lunsford earned her Bachelor's degree from USC in May of 2017, with majors in International Business and Finance and a minor in Spanish and is now pursuing a Masters of International Business at the Darla Moore School of Business (DMSB). She plans to travel on her Rotary to the University of Cambridge to study and research the rise of nationalist parties across Europe, educate the community about politically unstable cultures, and participate in law organizations such as mock trial or case competition teams. After completing the program, Lunsford will attend law school, with hopes to practice law internationally. In May, she was profiled on the DMSB website,
In October, Top Scholars had a tour and talk of the President's House with First Lady Patricia Moore-Pastides. The students listened to stories of the history of the house, including the gardens and grounds. The visit paired well with the recent publication of Moore-Pastides' new book, At Home in the Heart of the Horseshoe: Life in the University of South Carolina President's House.
Recent Carolina Scholar alumna Blakeley Hoffman traveled from Massachusetts to Columbia to share her experiences in graduate school at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology's Media Lab. An interdisciplinary program, Hoffman hopes to recruit new applicants from UofSC.
The Houston Texans recently honored the team's owners Janice and Bob McNair. The McNairs established the university's McNair Scholars program and the new McNair Institute for Entrepreneurism and Free Interprise.
Stamps Scholar EA Matthews has won a Student Research Fellowship from the SC Humanities Council.
When Carolina Scholar Senior Madeleine Giess' dream of riding in equestrian events at the Olympics didn't pan out, she found another passion; weight lifting and exercise science.
McNair Scholar alumna Emily Graczyk (2013) has written an article, The neural basis of perceived intensity in natural and artificial touch. She is a PhD student in biomedical engineering at Case Western Reserve University, and was a biomedical engineering major at the university.
The University of South Carolina will welcome some of the nation's and the state's top students for the university's most valuable and prestigious scholarship program. Recipients of the Stamps, Carolina and Hamilton scholar awards for in-state students and the McNair awards for out-of-state students will join the Carolina community in August.
The University of South Carolina presented its top honors to four graduating seniors during the annual Awards Day ceremony on the historic Horseshoe. Three of the four seniors honored were Top Scholars.
From the time she was a toddler, University of South Carolina junior Madeleine Giess has loved horses. The Columbia native - a Carolina Scholar in the Honors College - first rode as a small child, honing her riding skills in Camden, Blythewood, Aiken and elsewhere. She loves horses so much, in fact, that she once harbored dreams of riding in equestrian events at the Olympics.
McNair Scholar Riley Brady will graduate in May as one of the most nationally decorated students on the commencement stage, having been named a Goldwater Scholar, a Hollings Scholar and a recipient of an Energy Department fellowship for graduate studies worth about $280,000.
"From Good to Great: Finding Personal Excellence" is the conference theme for the Southeast Regional Stamps Scholar Conference, hosted by the USC Fellowships and Scholar Programs (OFSP) the weekend of February 5-7. OFSP is the home of the Stamps Carolina Scholars, a group of Top Scholars within the nationally-ranked South Carolina Honors College.
Megan Scharner, a freshman from Cincinnati, Ohio, joined the College of Nursing family this fall as its first McNair Scholar.
Houston Texans owner Robert McNair has pledged $8 million to start a new institute at his alma mater, the University of South Carolina, to teach students about social-demographic changes that could affect their jobs, the university said Tuesday.
Connor Bain, is a 2015 Algernon Sydney Sullivan Award winner. Before moving on to pursue PhDs in Learning Sciences and Computer Science at Northwestern University, he used his time at Carolina to connect his various interests in science, math, the environment and teaching.
Brian Maynor, image expert and motivational speaker, presenting What to Wear When to students from both Scholar Programs and Preston on March 31st. Visit his website, for more information!
Like a lot of college students, Natalie Pita believes in finding her passion - but she's taking a pluralistic approach.
Five Scholar Alumni recently sat on a panel for current Top Scholars to share their insights on both their college careers and life post graduation. They all agreed that flexibility is important throughout life, as well as a comitment to lifelong learning and learning from the years of experience from colleagues. From left to right are Patrick Kelly (teacher at Blythewood HS), Jeremy VanderKnyff(DHEC), Kayla Porter(student, USC Law), Monica Smoak McCutcheon (pediatrician), and Russ Purdy (Merrill Lynch).
Scholars were given the opportunity to spend an evening cooking with University of South Carolina first lady, Mrs. Moore-Pastides. Moore-Pastides is an accomplished cook, successful public health professional and author of two Greek cookbooks.
On Wednesday, September 10th, Professor Don Fowler was the speaker as part of the Last Lecture Series coordinated by Scholars United. Fowler's topic was "An Impossible Task", a discussion on the differences between success criteria now versus fifty years ago. Professor Fowler has been sharing his knowledge at USC for 51 years, and he served as National Chairman of the Democratic Convention from 1995 to 1997.
Senior computer science majors Andrew Askins and Bill Brower (Hamilton Scholar) along with recent alumnus Austin Price kick-started Krit, an app that helps freelance graphic designers manage projects and work with clients.