Swanger Leadership Award winner focuses on mentoring future leaders
Posted on: April 14, 2020; Updated on: April 14, 2020
By Page Ivey, pivey@mailbox.sc.edu, 803-77-3085
Zach Goldberg has found time to take on several leadership roles, including as president of the Interfraternity Council, while completing his degrees in public health and Spanish as a member of the South Carolina Honors College.
Goldberg received the 2020 Steven N. Swanger Leadership Award, the university’s second-highest undergraduate honor. The award is named for a former president of Omicron Delta Kappa (ODK), which sponsors the university’s Awards Day. It is given to a graduating senior for exemplary leadership and for making significant contributions to the Carolina community.
As president of the Intrafraternity Council, Goldberg helped create the first large philanthropic effort in the council’s history, which raised about $97,000 for the Children’s Miracle Network, and led an initiative to promote diversity, inclusion and equity on the council.
“We also implemented several new member development initiatives focused on organizational leadership development, council collaboration, men's physical and mental health, and member safety,” Goldberg says in his award nomination form, adding that he helped advocate for additional parking in the Greek Village that the Board of Trustees approved for the Fall 2020 semester.
He also served as president of the UofSC chapter of the Sigma Phi Epsilon fraternity and received that national organization’s 2018 Excelsior Award in Chapter Leadership in 2019.
Goldberg was inducted in the university’s Hall of Leaders last spring and says his leadership style reflects his desire to leave an organization strong for the future.
“I have emphasized mentoring emerging leaders in my organizations and other activities to ensure continued success long after my graduation,” he says.
Goldberg came to UofSC from Louisville, Kentucky, as a McNair Scholar — one of the university’s Top Scholar programs.
He has participated in several research projects, including as principal investigator on a study titled “Teens, Tobacco, and Sleep” investigating the association between tobacco use (cigarettes and e-cigarettes) and sleep in high school-aged Americans. The study is for his honors thesis.
After graduation, Goldberg plans to attend medical school with the goal of becoming an orthopedic surgeon.
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