Clemson prepares to award nearly 700 degrees; present honorary degree

CLEMSON, SC – August 2, 2010 – Nearly 700 degrees will be conferred at 11 a.m. on Saturday, Aug. 7, during summer graduation exercises in Littlejohn Coliseum at Clemson University.

All five colleges will participate in the single ceremony, which also will feature an honorary degree presentation to James Oliver Sweeny.

Sweeny graduated from Clemson in 1939 with a degree in electrical engineering. In 1941 he was called into active duty with the Army Signal Corps and served in New Delhi, India and the North Burma jungle. In 1944 he attended the Command and General Staff School at Fort Leavenworth, Kan., and was director of the Radio School at Fort Monmouth, N.J., before being discharged from active duty as a major in 1945.

Sweeny worked for General Electric Corp. for nearly 40 years. During his tenure with G.E. he worked in test program administration, market research, product planning and marketing management. He retired in 1976.

Since retiring, Sweeny has been an active volunteer with the Clemson Alumni Association. He is a charter member of the Presidents Club and was chairman of the Class of ’39 Golden Anniversary committee. The Clemson Alumni Association named him Volunteer of the Year in 1998, and in 2000 he received the Alumni Association’s highest honor: the Distinguished Service Award.

Sweeny led the volunteer efforts that created unrestricted universitywide scholarships for each college, the introduction of the Faculty Award for Excellence and an endowment for the Botanical Garden. As chairman of the Class of ’39 Heritage Gardens Committee, Sweeny guided the completion of the Class of ’39 Caboose Garden, the realization of the Golden Tiger-Cadet Life Garden and the construction of the J.B. Montgomery Amphitheater.