2023 Archive

Two women look at a laptop screen

Boeing offers engineering scholarships, career opportunities

May 18, 2023, Lauryn Jiles

The University of South Carolina is one of only six institutions in the country selected to partner with Boeing on its Accelerated Leadership Program, in which a select group of students will gain hands-on learning experience working with engineering projects and innovative technologies

Smokestacks by Thomas Cooper Library

Graduation with Leadership Distinction alumni look back on pathways to success

April 21, 2023, Hannah Cambre

The Center for Integrative and Experiential Learning is celebrating the Graduation with Leadership Distinction Program's tenth anniversary. Take a look at some of the earliest graduates with leadership distinction.

A very close shot of a USC nursing student with her hand on her stethescope.

Prisma Health makes key investment in SC nurses

April 20, 2023, Page Ivey

To combat South Carolina’s nursing shortage in the next few years will take a team effort, involving health care companies as well as universities who train the essential health care workers. Prisma Health is providing $5 million to five South Carolina schools, including USC Columbia and USC Upstate, which will receive $1.3 million each. The program also helps the next generation of South Carolina nurses understand their roles within a larger health care system.

Blue Sky posed in profile with paint sticks standing in front of his mural, Tunnelvision.

Columbia artist Blue Sky paints through challenges, brings beauty to blank spaces

March 31, 2023, Megan Sexton / Photos by Kim Truett

Blue Sky begins a conversation about his six-decade career as an artist this way: “I should have been an engineer.” He swears he’s not joking. But think what Columbia would have lost if Blue Sky had not filled the public arena with color and whimsy and bold­ness and giant pieces of art that have become Capital City landmarks.

A portrait of Sheila Johnson standing on the Horseshoe.

Renowned entrepreneur Sheila Johnson returns for second semester as executive-in-residence

February 24, 2023, Allen Wallace

As a partner and vice chairman of Monumental Sports and Entertainment, Sheila Johnson is the only African American woman with ownership in three professional sports teams. Students in the College of Hospitality, Retail and Sport Management are gaining unique insights from Johnson as she returns for a second semester to co-teach a class on leadership.

red and white striped lighthouse at sea pines plantation

Fueling SC's top industry

February 17, 2023, Page Ivey

Tourism is the main driver of South Carolina’s economy, accounting for about 10 percent of jobs in the state and an estimated annual impact of $29 billion. The University of South Carolina helps keep this economic engine humming by preparing graduates of the College of Hospitality, Retail and Sport Management to take on key roles in a variety of businesses and by helping those businesses adapt and grow.

The library named after Peden McLeod, at the USC Salkehatchie campus in Walterboro.

Family and community support fuels building renovation at USC Salkehatchie

February 09, 2023, Chris Horn

Peden McLeod, a 1967 graduate of the University of South Carolina School of Law believed in public service. Founder, chairman and CEO of the Bank of Walterboro as well as a state legislator, McLeod worked tirelessly to establish and support the USC Salkehatchie campus. It’s fitting, then, that the only building named for an individual on the campus in Walterboro honors McLeod: the Peden McLeod Library, which was dedicated in 1998.

An environmental portrait of Lorie Donelle standing in front of the College of Nursing.

New nursing research chair has big aspirations for health care technology

February 07, 2023, Communications and Marketing

Virtual care is playing a bigger and bigger role in health care. Lorie Donelle, Emily Myrtle Smith Endowed Professor of Nursing, wants to make sure it’s not just efficient but also effective and ethical. The goal? To help people avoid misinformation and disinformation that can have negative impacts on their health care decisions.

Morgan Romano poses in her Miss North Carolina crown.

Engineering alumna uses beauty pageants, philanthropy to inspire STEM interest in young girls

January 26, 2023, Kyndel Lee

Miss USA Morgan Romano knows all too well that only 28% of the STEM workforce is made up of women, and she's using her platform to spark interests in young girls and help create a pipeline for more women to purse careers in the STEM fields.

USC student nurses at bedside of a patient

U.S. News rankings: USC keeps top spot in online graduate nursing programs

January 20, 2023, Megan Sexton

For the third straight year, the University of South Carolina’s College of Nursing is ranked No. 1 nationally for its online graduate nursing program, according to U.S. News & World Report’s annual online programs rankings released Jan. 24.

An illustration of hand holding a lightning rod.

USC researchers advancing transition to a new energy landscape

January 12, 2023, Megan Sexton

From policy-making surrounding cleaner energy technologies to researching better ways to make and store electricity to studying advanced nuclear materials for interplanetary space travel, University of South Carolina researchers are advancing the transition to a changing energy landscape.

A studio portrait of Dawn Staley with net around her neck.

USC's women's basketball coach Dawn Staley wins championships, builds champions

January 05, 2023, Page Ivey

Basketball-wise, Dawn Staley has done it all. As a player, she won MVP trophies and gold medals. As a coach, she has won national titles, coach of the year honors and more gold medals. As a mentor, she has watched Gamecock power forward turned WNBA superstar A’ja Wilson win season MVP and a WNBA championship. But Staley also transcends the sport, raising awareness for issues she cares about and money for causes she believes in. At her core, she is an advocate — for her players, first, but also for people whose voices might not be heard.

The outline of a teacher in chalk on a blackboard.

Education professor's new book examines the chronic shortage of public school teachers

January 04, 2023, Craig Brandhorst

It’s no secret: public school teachers are leaving the profession at an alarming rate. “How Did We Get Here? The Decay of the Teaching Profession” (Information Age Publishing, 2022), edited by University of South Carolina associate professor of education Henry Tran and Iowa State University associate professor Douglas A. Smith, explores the causes and consequences of teacher attrition in South Carolina as a way to shed light on the larger crisis affecting America’s schools.