A Brief History of Lander University

A Brief

History of Lander University

By DeWitt Boyd Stone Jr.

A Brief History of

Lander University

By DeWitt Boyd Stone Jr.

FIRST EDITION 2016

Table of Contents CHAPTER ONE

The Lander Family Years, 1872-1904 .................................... 4

CHAPTER TWO

The Methodist College Years, 1904-1948 ............................... 6

CHAPTER THREE

The Lander Foundation Years, 1948-1973 ............................. 11

CHAPTER FOUR

The State CollegeYears, 1973-2015 ..................................... 15

CHAPTER FIVE

The Presidents of Lander University: A Photo Gallery .............. 28

BIBLIOGRAPHY ...................................................... 30

CHAPTER ONE

The Lander Family Years, 1872-1904

S

amuel Lander of Lincolnton, N.C., was the valedictorian of the Class . of 1852 of Randolph-Macon College. He worked as a railroad surveyor for a short time and began the study of law before returning to Randolph-Macon to earn a Master of Arts in 1855. He then became a teacher, and during the Civil War when books were scarce he authored three textbooks. His teaching and administrative skills led to presidencies at small colleges in Greensboro, Lincolnton and Spartanburg.

During this period he studied for the ministry.

In December of 1871, the Rev. Lander was appointed to serve Grace Methodist Church in Williamston, S.C. This small church had no place to house a minister with a wife and seven children, so it agreed to lease the vacant resort hotel building across from the Mineral Spring Park where they could live and he could open a school for girls.

The Williamston Female College opened on February 12, 1872, using a calendar of two 20-week terms, with the vacation period from late November until early February.

An innovation was the discountWilliamston Female College, undated ing of tuition for students who maintained a high grade average. One of Samuel Lander’s convictions was that graduation depended upon individual preparation and ex-

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A Brief History of Lander University

amination, and he deemed that three of the initial 38 students were ready for graduation at the end of the first term. Sixty-one students enrolled for the second term.

Williamston Female College introduced the concept of the Concentrated Study Plan (also known as the “one-study plan”), whereby one subject was emphasized during each five-week section of a term, with a secondary subject given only review or preparatory attention during that time. This plan allowed a diligent student to graduate in three years. Over time, a number of other U. S. colleges adopted this plan and it is presently in use at Cornell College in Iowa.

During this time, Williamston Female College was clearly a family enterprise. Samuel Lander’s wife, Laura McPherson Lander, and two of their sons, William Tertius Lander and John McPherson Lander, served on the faculty and/or as trustees. Later, Tertius would become a medical doctor, and John a minister and missionary to Brazil.

During most of this period the Methodist Church assisted the Rev. Lander in his work by appointing him to lead the college even though it was not an official Methodist institution. In 1898, the South Carolina Methodist Conference conditionally accepted responsibility for the Williamston Female College.

Students in front of Williamston Female College, undated

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CHAPTER TWO

The Methodist College Years, 1904-1948

A

fter nearly thirty years of growth, the College had outgrown its facilities in Williamston. Greenwood leaders had recently organized a bid to host a new campus for Columbia College, located then in downtown Columbia, but their bid was not successful. They then turned their attention to the Williamston Female College and offered it a 15-acre site and $25,000 to construct new facilities for the college.

In 1903, the announcement was made that the Williamston Female College would move to Greenwood to a new and larger building. An 18-acre site was chosen by Samuel Lander because it was the nearest of several available sites to First Methodist Church. At that time, the college had nine faculty members and 104 students. The trustees agreed that, upon its opening in Greenwood, the college would be renamed Lander College, in honor of its founder.

Samuel Lander died on July 14, 1904, and the Rev. John O. Willson, the presiding elder of the Cokesbury District of the South Carolina Methodist Conference and a son-in-law of Samuel Lander, was named as Lander’s second president. The Rev. Willson had attended The Citadel, fought in the 6th S.C. Cavalry in the Civil War, became a lawyer and finally, in 1873, became a Methodist minister.

Lander College opened its doors in Greenwood on September 27, 1904. It occupied Greenwood Hall that contained offices and classrooms, as well as an attached dormitory wing named Laura Lander

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A Brief History of Lander University

Lander College building, 1904-05

Hall. The architect for these buildings was Reuben Harrison Hunt of Chattanooga, Tenn., who had designed Greenwood County’s first courthouse.

In 1906, the South Carolina Methodist Conference accepted full responsibility for the operation of Lander College. This action meant that the college would receive some financial support and that, in the future, the conference would appoint Methodist ministers to serve as presidents of the college.

In 1907, the trustees voted to “discontinue the one-study plan as soon as was practicable.” It was phased out slowly so as to not hinder the progress of students already enrolled. Some aspects of the plan continued until 1923 when the Bachelor of Arts degree requirements were first stated in the catalogue in terms of semester hours of credit.

The Lander College Athletic Association was formed in 1908 “to encourage outdoor exercise.” Lander’s first Field Day, a day of interclass

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competition, was held. Baseball and tennis were the first team sports.

An additional dormitory wing, named Willson Hall and costing $30,000, was added at a right angle to the left-end of the existing two-part college building. A 31-by60-foot gymnasium was included on the first floor to accommodate courses in “physical culture.”

Laura McPherson Lander died in The famous spiral fire escape on 1914, leaving an estate of nearly the back of Willson Hall, 1925 $5,000. After her husband’s death, she had continued to live and assist at the college, where she became known as “The Little Mother.” Old Main, originally named Greenwood Hall, is now named in her memory.

In 1922, Lander College celebrated its 50th anniversary. A booklet, “The Story of Lander,” was prepared for the occasion, and the booklet mentions that 563 Bachelor of Arts degrees and three Master of Arts degrees had been awarded since the school opened in 1872.

Lander president John O. Willson died on March 23, 1923. The next four presidents would be ministers appointed by the South Carolina Methodist Church. They were the Rev. Rhett Turnipseed (1923), the Rev. Richard Bennett (1927), the Rev. John Speake (1932), and the Rev. John Marvin Rast (1941).

In 1924, Miss Louise Hodges arrived from the University of Oregon to rejuvenate the infant physical education program. During her twelve years at Lander, class teams in basketball, tennis, baseball,

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A Brief History of Lander University

field hockey, speedball and volleyball were created. The “Lander Lillies” basketball team became the first intercollegiate sports team.

In 1925, Chipley Louise Hodges Hartzog, far right, and the Hall was erected at a Lander Athletic Association, 1934 cost of $81,000. This residence hall was named for Marvin S. Chipley, a Greenwood businessman and college trustee. Chipley Hall was designed by architects James Hemphill of Greenwood and Rudolph Lee of Clemson College.

Mrs. Speake, the wife of Lander’s president, created a pleasant garden spot behind Willson Hall and named it in memory of Laura Lander.

Later it would be referred to as “The Little Mother’s Garden.” Greenwood-area garden clubs would continue to care for this garden and establish many other campus garden spots.

Early male students at Lander, 1947: (l-r) Jack Bond, Lee Stewart and Wiley Cronic

DeWitt Boyd Stone Jr.

In 1944, Lander’s first male student, Oliver L. Thomas of Ninety Six, S.C., enrolled as a day student. He completed Lander’s three-year pre-medical program and entered the Medical College of South Carolina, where he graduated in 1949. He

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practiced medicine in his hometown until his retirement in 1985.

In 1946, Greenwood citizens organized the Greenwood Community Concerts to bring nationally known performances to the area. In 1971, the organization partnered with Lander College and the name was changed to Lander-Greenwood Community Fine Arts Series.

Later name changes finally yielded the present name: Greenwood Performing Arts.

In 1947, The South Carolina Methodist Conference decided to consolidate its higher education efforts by focusing upon Wofford College, Columbia College and Claflin College. The assets of Lander College were offered to the Greenwood community.

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A Brief History of Lander University

CHAPTER THREE

The Lander Foundation Years, 1948-1973

T

he Lander Foundation was formed on March 17, 1948, to receive the assets of the college, and Greenwood County offered initial financial support. Samuel Lander Prince, dean of the USC School of Law and a grandson of Samuel Lander, spoke at the final graduation of Lander as a Methodist College on May 24, 1948.

The Rev. John Marvin Rast resigned, and after an extensive search, the trustees of The Lander Foundation appointed Dr. Boyce M. Grier to be Lander College’s seventh president. Dr. Grier held degrees from Erskine College, the University of Georgia and George Peabody College, and had been a school superintendent at Elberton and Athens in Georgia for nineteen years. Dr. Grier regarded his most important tasks to be the attainment of financial stability and accreditation by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools.

Lander Senior Day, 1949

DeWitt Boyd Stone Jr.

May graduation ceremonies, traditionally held at First Methodist Church, were moved to the College Auditorium in Greenwood Hall in 1949. In 1954, the May ceremonies were moved to the Dingle (the outdoor amphi-

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theatre). August and December ceremonies continued to be held in the auditorium.

In 1951, Greenwood County voters approved a four-mill property tax levy to support the college.

The following are additional highlights of the “Grier Years”: 1952 — Lander College received its initial institutional accreditation by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools.

1953 — Lander College awarded its first honorary degrees to James C. This 1953 yearbook photo shows students Self and Kathleen Lander rejoicing over Lander’s accreditation by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools. Willson.

1955 — Miriam Stevenson, a Lander home economics student from Greenwood, was named Miss Universe in the national pageant.

1956 — Lander College began the first associate degree nursing program in South Carolina with the cooperation of Self Memorial Hospital and with financial support from the Self Family Foundation.

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President Boyce M. Grier caps Mary Sue Knott Schneider, a member of Lander’s first nursing class, 1959

A Brief History of Lander University

1957 — The first library building (now the Art Annex) was constructed.

1959 — Dr. Sheldon Stewart joined the Lander faculty as a professor of biology. Named chairman of the science division in 1966, he played a major role in planning the Students in the Lander library Barratt Science Hall. He retired in 1991 after 33 years of service. He and his students planted many of the trees and flowering shrubs that beautify the Lander campus today.

1964 — Mary Alice Brown of Greenwood was the first black student admitted. She received the degree of B.S. in Medical Technology in 1968.

President Grier retired in 1966. Mr. E. Don Herd Jr., then director of the USC campus at Lancaster, S.C., was chosen to be Lander’s eighth president. He held degrees from Erskine College and the University of South Carolina. He immediately set to work to have Lander College accepted as a state-supported institution by the S.C. General Assembly.

The construction of the Barratt Science Hall was completed in 1967.

It honors the memory of Dr. John Perkins Barratt, an Englishman who studied medicine in New York City before coming to South Carolina in 1823. He lived and practiced medicine in the White Hall community near Greenwood, and he was an avid naturalist and scientist.

Coach Finis Horne was hired in 1968 to establish a varsity basketball program at Lander. It was known as the “Senators” because

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this section of the state had produced so many statesmen.

Jeff May came to Lander to play college basketball, and Randall Bouknight arrived as Dean of Coach Finis Horne, seated left, and the 1968-69 Men and Assistant Lander men’s basketball team Dean of Students.

All three men stayed to occupy numerous leadership positions.

The last spring graduation exercise in the Dingle was held. Subsequently, graduations were held indoors in the College Auditorium in Old Main or in the Barksdale Physical Education Center. In 1981, they were moved to the Greenwood Civic Center.

Rednal staff with 1956 newspaper

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Art class with Miss Marie Chisholm, late 1950s or early 1960s

A Brief History of Lander University

CHAPTER FOUR

The State College Years, 1973-2015

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outh Carolina Governor John C. West signed an act of the S.C. General Assembly authorizing Lander College to become a state college on July 1, 1973. Lander was placed under the authority of the new State Board of Trustees that was also given responsibility for the College of Charleston (formerly a private institution) and Francis Marion College (formerly a two-year branch of the University of South Carolina).

Governor John C. West signs an act authorizing the transfer of Lander to the state of South Carolina, 1972

President Herd retired and the Rev. Larry A. Jackson, a native of Florence, S.C., was chosen to be Lander College’s ninth president.

He held degrees from Wofford College, the Union Theological seminary and the University of the Pacific. His previous experience in higher education included serving as Director of Santiago College in Chile; Provost of Callison College of the University of

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the Pacific (including one year as head of its campus in Bangalore, India); and Vice President for Financial Affairs at the University of Evansville, Indiana. While at the University of Evansville, he established its campus at Harlaxton, England.

Dr. Benjamin E. Mays received an honorary Doctor of Humanities degree from Lander during the presidential inauguration ceremonies for Larry Jackson.

Larry Jackson would serve as Lander’s president for nineteen years.

Some highlights of the “Jackson Years” follow:

Dr. Benjamin E. Mays, left, and President Larry Jackson, 1981

1974 — The trustees approved a campus master plan that had been prepared by architect/planner Davis Byrd of Florence. The plan proposed a pedestrian campus of five major buildings for 2,500 students. At that time, Lander’s enrollment was 925 students, but 1,310 students enrolled the following fall.

1975 — A Fulbright faculty exchange program was established with the first exchange involving two professors of English – Dr. Branimir Rieger of Lander and Dr. Bernard Levy of Barking College near London – swapping classes and houses for one year. This program would continue through 1983, and a total of nine Lander professors would teach at colleges in England.

1976 — A campaign was initiated to raise the $41,900 needed to fund a set of carillon bells for the tower of Old Main. Two years later, the carillon of 35 bells was in place, and weekly Friday afternoon recitals were inaugurated.

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A Brief History of Lander University

1976 — The first Lander Medallions were awarded to Martha Thurmond Bishop and Lois Johnson Grier.

1977 — The Larry A. Jackson Library (65,000 square feet and costing $2.6M) was completed. This was the first academic building provided for Lander by the State of South Carolina.

Larry A. Jackson Library, 2012

1979 — The Boyce M. Grier Student Center (61,000 square feet and costing $3M) was opened to provide dining space, a bookstore and post office, and meeting and office space for the divisions of Student Affairs and University Advancement.

The Lois Grier meeting/dining room on the building’s upper floor was named in honor of president Grier’s wife. The adjacent outdoor plaza was named Assembly Plaza to honor the work of the South Carolina General Assembly in support of higher education.

1980 — A dual-degree program for students who wished to study engineering was established in partnership with the School of Engineering at Clemson University.

1981 — A U.S. Army Reserve Officers Training Corps (ROTC) program was established in partnership with Presbyterian College.

1982 — The Carnell Learning Center (100,000 square feet) was completed at a cost of $6M. It was named in 1992 in honor of State Representative Marion P. Carnell for his leadership in the campaign to have Lander accepted as a state institution.

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1983 — Conversion of the Associate Degree in Nursing program to a Bachelor’s Degree in Nursing program began with the admission of the first B.S.N. freshman class.

Typing class with M.F. Lide, undated

1984 — Professor of Business Mary Frances Lide retired after 36 years as the faculty member with the longest tenure of service to the college. The Lide Apartments are named in her honor. She endowed ten scholarships and in retirement she continued to volunteer her services for many years.

1985 — Black student enrollment at Lander topped 20 percent.

1985 — The Lander men’s tennis team won the national title among National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) teams. The team would also win the 1986, 1987 and 1988 NAIA national titles.

1986 — President Larry Jackson accepted a three-month appointment as a Visiting Fellow at Wolfson College of the University of Cambridge in England.

1986 — Colonel James A. Lander became the first male descendant of the founder to earn a degree from Lander College. In 1992 he would be elected Senator from Newberry County, and in 1998 he would be elected Comptroller of the State of South Carolina.

1987 — The first class graduated from the four-year bachelor’s degree program in nursing. A year later, the new Lander program received full accreditation from the National League for

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A Brief History of Lander University

Nursing (NLN). This accreditation was retroactive and applied to the 1987 B.S.N. graduates.

1987 — The Trustee’s Honors Program began under the direction of Professor of Mathematics Walter Patterson. It was designed to enroll a select group of about 25 freshmen each fall. They took many of their freshman classes together and then attended the University of Plymouth, in England, during the fall semester of their sophomore year.

1987 — The Cultural Center (66,000 square feet and costing $6.5M) opened to accommodate the departments of Art and Music. It included a 700-seat concert hall, a 100-seat recital hall and the Monsanto Art Gallery.

1988 — The General Assembly dissolved the State Board of Trustees, and governance of Lander College was vested in a newly created Lander College Board of Trustees. Two of the original trustees, Maurice Holloway of Lexington and Ann Walker of Sumter, continue to serve.

1990 — The Lander athletic program joined Division II of the NCAA and became a charter member of the Peach Belt Athletic Conference.

1991 — The men’s soccer team won the Peach Belt Conference Championship. This Lander team would also win the 1993, 1995, 1996, 2006, 2009, 2010 and 2012 conference championships in this sport.

1991 — The men’s cross country team won the Peach Belt Conference Championship. This Lander team would also win the 1992 and 1993 conference championships in this sport.

1992 — Former Lander first lady Ann Herd Bowen published

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a comprehensive history entitled Greenwood County: A History.

Chapter seven provides a detailed history of Lander College.

1992 — Lander College became Lander University on July 1st.

President Jackson retired in 1992 as South Carolina’s longest-serving state college president after nineteen years. At his retirement ceremony, he was awarded the Order of the Palmetto on behalf of S.C. Governor Carroll Campbell. During his tenure as president (197392), enrollment grew from 900 to 2,700; faculty increased from 40 to 135; assets of The Lander Foundation grew from $325,000 to $4 million; housing grew from 300 to 925 beds; five major buildings were constructed, and funding was received for a new science building. A Trustee’s Honors Program that required a semester in England was implemented, and many other international programs involving faculty and students were created. Lander offered its first master’s degree program and the institution’s name was changed to Lander University.

Dr. William C. Moran, vice president for Academic Affairs at Francis Marion College, was chosen to be Lander’s 10th president. Dr. Moran held a B.A. and M.A. from Marshall University and a Ph.D. from the University of Tennessee. He previously served in faculty and administrative positions at Marshall University, S.E. Missouri State University, Berry College and Winthrop College.

In 1992, the Lander men’s tennis team won the Peach Belt Conference Championship. This team would also win the 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2006, 2014 and 2015 conference championships in this sport. The men’s tennis team also won the national title among National Collegiate Athletic Association Division II teams. The Lander team would also win the 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997 and 1998 national titles in this sport.

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A Brief History of Lander University

A two-building complex (130,000 square feet) was completed in 1993 to provide space for physical education and athletics. The complex was named in honor of State Senator John Drummond, Joe Chandler, left, and Finis Horne review plans for a for his leadership in new physical education/exercise science complex, 1993 the campaign to have Lander accepted as a state institution. Within the complex, the Finis Horne basketball arena honors the memory of the former men’s basketball coach and first athletic director, and the second building is named in memory of Dr. Joe V. Chandler, who headed the Division of Physical Education for many years.

Alumna Kelly McCalla (B.S., 1985; M.Ed., 1989) was named the 1996 South Carolina Teacher of the Year.

The Science, Mathematics and Computer Science Complex, with amphitheatre steps in foreground, 2014

A new Science, Mathematics and Computer Science Complex (106,000 square feet) was completed in 1997 on the site of the two original dormitory wings of Greenwood Hall. The complex incorporated the completely rebuilt Greenwood Hall, which was renamed Laura Lander Hall.

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Nobel Laureate in Chemistry Kary Mullis spoke at Lander in 1999.

His lecture was sponsored by the Larry A. Jackson Lecture Series and was a part of the annual meeting of the South Carolina Academy of Sciences.

The women’s basketball team won the 1999 Peach Belt Conference Championship. This Lander team would also win the 2004, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010 and 2016 conference championships in this sport.

In 2000, the outdoor amphitheatre behind the Science Complex was named the Jean Tribble McFerrin Amphitheatre in honor of this distinguished 1948 Lander graduate who had served as an officer of the Alumni Association and as a trustee.

President Moran retired in 2000, and Dr. Daniel W. Ball was chosen to be Lander University’s 11th president. His previous career had included teaching and administrative positions at Ball State University, Truman State University, the University of Idaho and Southern Arkansas University.

The School of Nursing began to offer an online R.N. to B.S.N. program in 2000. At that time, only 28 percent of the state’s nurses held bachelors degrees in nursing.

Elizabeth Ellison, Class of 1940, was named the 2000 S.C. Wildlife Federation Conservationist of the year. This award reflected her many years of teaching Greenville school children about the environment, and for establishing Camp Oolenoy at the foot of Table Rock Mountain.

Lander’s undergraduate Montessori Teacher Education Program received initial accreditation from the Montessori Accrediting Council for Teacher Education in 2002.

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A Brief History of Lander University

Angelle Penn Adams, Class of 1928, received the 2003 Governor’s Award for Historic Preservation. She was a Greenwood leader in many ways, and was also a leader in beautifying the Lander campus during the period when it was a county-supported college. One of her many projects was the creation of the Greenwood Railroad Historical Center. She served as a Lander trustee for 11 years and received the Lander Medallion in 1977.

In 2003, the university changed its mascot from the Senator to the Bearcat, a mythological creature that has the fierceness of a bear and the cunning of a cat.

The Division of Fine Arts added a Master of Arts in Teaching Art (M.A.T.) degree. This degree allowed students to major in art as undergraduates and then earn a master’s degree with certification necessary to teach in the public schools.

The Bearcat

In 2004, the Lander University’s Honors International Program (HIP) was created to make the original Trustees Honors Program more flexible, but the semester-abroad requirement was maintained.

A Study Abroad Program was created in 2005 to assist the new honors program and to serve the entire student population. Partnerships were created with the universities of Northampton and Winchester to allow Lander students to spend a semester in England. By the end of 2015, the number of Lander students who had spent a full semester studying at universities on five continents had reached 172.

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In 2006, Centennial Hall opened to provide modern housing for 300 students. The name commemorates Lander’s first century in Greenwood.

Lander was named Centennial Hall, 2008 a Center for Montessori Education by the S.C. Commission on Higher Education. As a part of this activity a Master’s in Montessori Education degree was created.

In 2009, the Cultural Center was renamed for Josephine B. Abney in recognition of a $1M gift in her honor from The Abney Foundation.

In 2010, Lander joined the Washington Semester Program administrated by the USC Honors College. Each semester, this program sends 17 South Carolina students to Washington, D.C., to work in a congressional or other governmental office. By 2016, 14 Lander students had participated. These students took USC Honors College classes while working in the offices of four S.C. congressmen, both S.C. senators, the departments of Justice and Commerce, the Smithsonian Institution, the Children’s Defense Fund and Human Rights Watch.

The film S. Lander - His Life and Legacy was completed by two faculty members in the Department of Mass Communication, Paul Crutcher and Robert Stevenson. The premier showing occurred at a large gathering of descendants of Samuel Lander on the campus.

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A Brief History of Lander University

Headcount enrollment set a record at 3,069 students.

The Jeff May Complex was opened in 2011 on a 28-acre site adjacent to the campus. This recreation, wellness and sports complex provides a home for the soccer, baseball, softball and tennis teams.

It was named for Jeff May, who came to Lander in 1969 to play college basketball, and then stayed to occupy numerous leadership positions. He became vice president for Development and Alumni Affairs in 1986, and served as athletic director from 1997 until his Jeff May Sports Complex, 2013 retirement in 2016.

An International Programs Office was established in 2011 to encourage more international students to study at Lander. A number of exchange agreements were made between Lander and universities in Chile, China, England, Korea and Thailand. By 2015, the number of international students studying at Lander exceeded 100. This office also sponsors a monthlong study tour to China and Korea each summer for Lander faculty and students.

The first group of Lander nursing students participated in an annual summer mission program in Honduras. The programs are sponsored

by Volunteers in Medical Missions organization. Two faculty members from Lander University serve as leaders, and 10 or more Lander students have participated each summer.

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A record 13 Lander students spent the spring semester at universities in England, Italy, Spain, Argentina, Chile or New Zealand. Lander’s semester-abroad program at the University of Winchester in England has been very popular, serving 72 students since the fall of 2006.

Lander University’s Honors College was established in 2013. It focuses upon international issues and requires a “breakaway experience” to encourage academic travel and off-campus professional experiences.

Lander students at the University of Winchester, 2012

The women’s golf team won the 2013 Peach Belt Conference Championship. The baseball team won the 2013 Peach Belt Conference Championship, and it would also win the 2014 conference championship.

The Lander campus gazebo, 2015

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In 2014, a classic gazebo was constructed on the front lawn of Laura Lander Hall, on the grounds of the Lander campus. It is an exact replica of the large gazebo that shelters the Williamston Mineral Spring near the original site of the college.

A Brief History of Lander University

Lander graduate Molly Spearman (B.S. in Music Education, 1976) was elected to be the South Carolina State Superintendent of Education.

In 2015, President Ball retired, and Dr. Richard E. Cosentino was chosen to be Lander College’s twelfth president. He came to Lander from the position of vice chancellor for Finance and Administration at UNC-Pembroke. Before that position, he held roles of increasing financial responsibility at the Johns Hopkins University, the University of Maryland and The George Washington University. He holds a B.S. in business and an MBA from the University of Baltimore, and a Ph.D. in engineering from the George Washington University.

In 2015, a second modern residence hall, designed to reflect the architectural features of Chipley Hall and to accommodate 225 freshman students, opened on the site of the former athletic fields. Two additional residence halls are planned for this site.

New Residence Hall, 2016

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CHAPTER FIVE

The Presidents of Lander University

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1872-1904 Samuel Lander Founder, First President

1904-1923 John O. Willson Second President

1923-1927 B. Rhett Turnipseed Third President

1927-1932 R. H. Bennett Fourth President

1932-1941 John W. Speake Fifth President

1941-1948 John Marvin Rast Sixth President

A Brief History of Lander University

1948-1966 Boyce M. Grier Seventh President

1966-1973 E. Don Herd Jr. Eighth President

1973-1992 Larry A. Jackson Ninth President

1992-2000 William C. Moran Tenth President

2000-2015 Daniel W. Ball Eleventh President

2015-Present Richard E. Cosentino Twelfth President

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Bibliography

William Lander Sherrill, A Brief History of the Lander Family, Advocate Press, Greensboro, N.C., 1918 The Lander Magazine (1972-present), published by the university James A. Rogers & Delores J. Miller, Quantum Leap: A Story of Three Colleges, R.L. Bryan Co., Columbia, S.C., 1988 Ann Herd Bowen, Greenwood County: A History, Sandlapper Publishing Co., Orangeburg, S.C., 1992

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A Brief History of Lander University

Greenwood, SC

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www.lander.edu