March 06, 2025, Carol J.G. Ward
Tayloe Harding brings more than three decades of experience with the National Association of Schools of Music into his new role as its president to advance the cause of music in American life, establish and maintain accreditation standards and provide a national forum for related issues.
March 05, 2025, Catherine Pruitt
Allan Cabanayan was a leader among students interested in health occupations even before he got into upper-level nursing classes at the University of South Carolina. Growing up just down the road from USC in Hopkins, South Carolina, Cabanayan discovered his passion for nursing while attending Lower Richland High School, where he joined his school’s HOSA-Future Health Professionals chapter.
February 12, 2025, Megan Sexton
The Future Leaders in Medicine, a student organization at the USC School of Medicine Columbia, has teamed with Curing Kids Cancer to raise awareness – and funds— for the fight against childhood cancer.
February 10, 2025, Laura Erskine
Augusta Baker left a remarkable legacy in the fields of librarianship and children’s literature. After retiring from the New York Public Library system, Baker became storyteller-in-residence at USC from 1980 to 1994. It was the first position of its kind at an American university, a role created for Baker to teach students, librarians and educators how to make reading more exciting for children.
January 30, 2025, Kristin Lunz Trujillo et al
The many controversial people appointed to the Trump administration have at least one thing in common: They dislike and distrust experts. While anti-intellectualism and populism are nothing new in American life, there has hardly been an administration as seemingly committed to these worldviews.
January 28, 2025, Robert A. Kopack
If there is a leader in the aerospace industry, SpaceX is it. Boca Chica, Texas, is home to SpaceX’s flagship assembly and test installation, Starbase. Since 2021, research has been conducted with environmental groups and community members in south Texas who see space exploration as a landscape-altering industry. Geography professor Robert A. Kopack writes about Starbase for The Conversation.
January 27, 2025, Robert Kubinec
The fall of Bashar Assad’s dictatorship in December 2024 has ushered in a nerve-wracking time of hope and fear for Syrians concerning future governance in the long-war-torn country. While it’s unclear what exact political path Syria will take, the dilemmas the country faces are similar to the experiences of other Arab countries more than a decade ago. Robert Kubinec, assistant professor of political science at the University of South Carolina, writes for The Conversation about his research on Arab uprisings in the Middle East.
January 16, 2025, Megan Sexton
University of South Carolina alumnus and Medal of Honor recipient Marine Corporal (retired) Kyle Carpenter will be recognized during Monday’s national championship college football game.
January 15, 2025, Anna Francis
Natasha Hastings came to the University of South Carolina with dreams of excelling as an athlete. Although her talent eventually would propel her to an NCAA championship, multiple world championships and two Olympic gold medals, her initial start on the Gamecock track and field team was less than stellar. Her body was sound, but she had psychological demons to slay.
January 14, 2025, Rebekah Friedman
The University of South Carolina wasn’t on Dave Bollinger’s radar until his daughter, Ruth, enrolled in CarolinaLIFE. Now both Bollingers are giving back to support the next generation of USC students with intellectual disabilities.
January 10, 2025, Megan Sexton/Photo by Kim Truett
A first-generation college student at USC, James Bennett now strengthens community engagement as executive director of external affairs at First Citizens Bank.
January 06, 2025, Rebekah Friedman
When Cathy Knox, ’72, started her career as an elementary school teacher, her principal played a critical role as a mentor. Now retired, she is helping the next generation of educators get the coaching and support they need by supporting the Carolina Teacher Induction Program.
January 03, 2025, Kristine Hartvigsen
The USC Baruch Institute's new director, Jill Stewart, is endlessly fascinated by the natural alchemy of the oft-maligned yet mighty microbe. These tiny living microorganisms are everywhere, from the surface of our skin and the air we breathe to the water we drink and the soil beneath our feet. In fact, microbes are essential to the persistence of life on Earth. So why do they sometimes get a bad rap?
December 18, 2024, Craig Brandhorst/Photo by Kim Truett
Sharita Sims may not live in New York, but as manager of the New York Public Library’s community wellness programs, she couldn’t be more committed to the city and its people.
December 16, 2024, Craig Brandhorst / Photos by Kim Truett
At 39, Monica Wyche was a high school drama teacher in Blythewood, South Carolina. At 40, she was newly married, renting a garden apartment on 75th Street between Central Park West and Columbus Avenue, ready to take the acting world by storm.
December 11, 2024, Craig Brandhorst/Photos by Kim Truett
This fall, Clay Owen, ‘82, received the Algernon Sydney Sullivan Award, the highest honor awarded by the University of South Carolina Alumni Association, for his work raising money for childhood cancer research. Owen was one of seven USC alumni honored during Homecoming.
December 06, 2024, Craig Brandhorst/Photos by Kim Truett and Lawson Estridge
Senior biology major Maggie Boyd is one of three drum majors in USC’s 2024 marching band. The Matthews, North Carolina, native has won the coveted spot two years in a row and has cherished every opportunity to lead her bandmates, but marching in the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade was a capstone experience.
November 26, 2024, Kristine Hartvigsen
Charleston native Keith Heyward Jr. was a restless third-grader when he realized his career goal was to teach. He knew that young Black boys craved a teacher they could relate to. Today, the University of South Carolina alumnus teaches kindergarten at James Island Elementary School. He makes sure the youngsters who step into his classroom feel safe and empowered.
November 12, 2024, Kristine Hartvigsen
Long before she was traveling the world as senior director of business development and operations at CNN Sports, Amy Jordan was an Honors College student sending news releases around the world as a press intern for the late U.S. Sen. Fritz Hollings. To date, Jordan has covered four different Olympic games, numerous Super Bowls, the U.S. Open and more.
November 08, 2024, Kristine Hartvigsen
University of South Carolina alumnus Robert Chambers LeHeup is a Marine Corps infantry veteran with two combat tours under his belt when he left the service in 2004. In 2012, he founded Bullets and Bandaids to heal and support vets through storytelling and artwork.
November 08, 2024, Craig Brandhorst/Photos by Kim Truett
You’ve seen Eva Pilgrim in the co-host seat on ‘Good Morning America’ and ‘GMA3,’ but the broadcast journalism alumna has a rich life beyond TV. And while she’s been living, working and enjoying her career in New York City for nearly a decade, she remains true to her South Carolina roots. In fact, they’re a big part of her success.
November 08, 2024, Craig Brandhorst/Photos by Kim Truett
As division president for London Times, a subsidiary of dressmaker Maggy London, Sara Bako is living two of her biggest dreams at once: She and her family live in New York City, and she works in the retail industry. But the ’04 retail management graduate is far from finished.
November 04, 2024, Kristine Hartvigsen
Artificial Intelligence advocates might defensively suggest, in good humor, that chatbots are “only human” and therefore prone to occasional mistakes. New research by a team at the University of South Carolina Department of Psychology basically confirms that notion with some important caveats.
October 31, 2024, Hannah Cambre
At USC, where one in five students identify as first-generation, the university is doing more than ever to help this important and growing population flourish with resources and support. We sat down with five first-gen students to learn more about their stories and the people and resources that have helped them thrive at USC.
October 23, 2024, Craig Brandhorst
The first in his family to attend college, Bill Bloking’s engineering degree prepared him for careers at Exxon and BHP — and for boardrooms around the globe. His William F. Bloking First-Generation Scholars Fund will support Molinaroli College of Engineering and Computing students and programs.
October 11, 2024, Carol E. Harrison
At the current Vatican synod, whose purpose is to address “communion, participation, and mission” in the church, women’s role is on the agenda. History professor Carol Harrison writes for The Conversation on how Catholic women have historically found ways to speak to and about their church leadership, even when they have been excluded from its proceedings.
October 07, 2024, Cary Mock
Some hurricanes are remembered for their wind damage or rainfall. Others for their coastal flooding. Hurricane Helene was a stew of all of that and more. Its near-record-breaking size, storm surge, winds and rainfall together turned Helene into an almost unimaginable disaster that stretched more than 500 miles inland from the Florida coast. Geography professor Cary Mock writes about the hurricane for The Conversation.
September 30, 2024, Laura Morris
Health science researchers from the University of South Carolina are taking a new approach to address chronic health conditions and reduce patient hardships across the state.
September 24, 2024, Nicole Meares
In a world of budding technology and virtual reality, there is an opportunity to view different perspectives on health disparities in new ways. That’s what the USC College of Nursing is aiming to do.
September 24, 2024, Laura Morris
In 2025, construction will begin on the College of Nursing's Biobehavioral Research Center that will provide dedicated space for faculty research, enhancing expertise and improving health outcomes for South Carolina and beyond.
September 23, 2024, Megan Sexton
Joynelle Jackson, an associate professor of nursing and the recipient of the university’s clinical practice teaching award, has been a full-time faculty member at the College of Nursing since 2007. But she’s been teaching much of her life.
September 17, 2024, Megan Sexton
Kelly Goldberg, a clinical assistant professor of anthropology teaching in the South Carolina Honors College, is the winner of the university’s Michael J. Mungo Undergraduate Teaching Award.
September 10, 2024, Craig Brandhorst
Civil engineering graduate Deepal Eliatamby left Sri Lanka to find opportunity and freedom. He found it at USC and is now paying it forward.
September 10, 2024, Chris Horn
Anna Hoppmann is a pediatric oncologist with Prisma Health and a clinical assistant professor at the University of South Carolina School of Medicine Columbia where she graduated nine years ago. She also chairs the S.C. Childhood Cancer Taskforce, which recently released a 25-year trend report on childhood cancer incidence, survival and mortality in South Carolina.
September 05, 2024, Megan Sexton
Betting on students who want to give back to society affords them more than a career path. It’s also a sound investment in our shared future.
September 04, 2024, Craig Brandhorst / photos by Kim Truett
Attorney Joe Rice capped an illustrious career last fall with a record gift to the law school that bears his name, but the self-styled cowboy is hardly ready to ride into the sunset.
September 04, 2024, Rebekah Friedman / photos by Kim Truett
The Molinaroli College of Engineering and Computing is named after a family, not a single person. Brothers Alex, Carl and Ray Molinaroli showed us why.
September 04, 2024, Laura Morris
A new report led by the state Department of Public Health provides a comprehensive look at the burden of childhood cancer in the Palmetto State over the past 25 years. University of South Carolina health science researchers played a critical role in developing the report; additional partners include the South Carolina Children’s Hospital Collaborative and the South Carolina Cancer Alliance.
August 20, 2024, Téa Smith
Pillars for Carolina is a four-day student-led leadership and service program designed to help incoming students learn and explore the University of South Carolina and the Columbia community. Student co-directors Evey Konstantopoulos and Jackson Hensley share their experiences participating in the program the summer before starting college.
August 01, 2024, Megan Sexton
After a long military and government career, Augustus “Way” Fountain found his way back to the classroom. The chemistry instructor at USC is a winner of this year’s Garnet Apple award for teaching innovation.
June 12, 2024, Hannah Cambre
On May 16, Stephen Thompson began his role as inaugural director of the First-Generation Living and Learning Community.
May 28, 2024, Carol J.G. Ward
Law school alumnus Joe Rice’s work ethic and tenacity sets an example for representing clients, while colleagues and staff say his commitment to inclusion and mentoring is a model for empowering employees.
May 23, 2024, Megan Sexton
This fall will mark the 25th year of the Carolina LifeSong Initiative, a program started by Carolina Distinguished Professor of Music Scott Price that provides piano lessons and creative music-making experiences for students with autism and other disabilities.
May 15, 2024, Megan Sexton
Dawn Pilotti, a long-time mathematics teacher and online doctoral student in USC’s College of Education, brought her sixth-grade students with learning differences from Tennessee to Columbia this spring to demonstrate their improved math skills.
May 14, 2024, Thom Harman
Maybe you were shouting from the stands in Cleveland as Dawn Staley’s remarkable women’s basketball team brought home the third national championship in program history. Maybe you were among the 24 million viewers watching on TV as they turned a so-called rebuilding year into an undefeated season and rings all around. Maybe you were even out there in the Thomas Cooper reflecting pool with several hundred other ecstatic Gamecocks, making a splash all your own.
April 18, 2024, Communications and Marketing
While working on her degree in nursing, South Carolina Honors College student Natalie Trimble also served in various capacities in Student Government and worked in the larger Columbia community to improve the lives of students and residents. For her efforts, the Aberdeen, Maryland, resident is the recipient of the 2023 Steven N. Swanger Leadership Award.
March 25, 2024, Communications and Marketing
The early technological and social connections Aaron LaBerge made at USC as an electrical and computer engineering student helped drive a tech career that ultimately led him to a sports Emmy and the C-suite at The Walt Disney Company.
March 22, 2024, Hannah Cambre
The university's First-Generation Center will launch this fall, providing support and guidance to first-generation students so they can maximize opportunities to succeed. On March 15, the center welcomed its inaugural director, LaNaé Budden.
March 05, 2024, Page Ivey
Assistant professor of medicine Deepak Bhere was drawn to the study of stem cell therapy because he wanted to do research that has real impact on patients’ lives. His team at the University of South Carolina School of Medicine Columbia has the potential to do just that as they pursue new treatment options for patients with glioblastoma.
March 01, 2024, Rebekah Friedman
Artificial intelligence is making plenty of headlines these days — and, in some cases, even writing them. Some concerns are valid, some are overblown, but as the global economy embraces the emerging technology, there’s no avoiding the larger conversation. There’s also no denying AI’s real-world potential. For every Sports Illustrated byline scandal or news story about the danger of self-driving cars, there’s an untold story of how AI research promises to change our world for the better, and a lot of that research is happening right here at the University of South Carolina.