Judy Woodruff to Speak at Jan. 11 Wilkins Award Dinner in Columbia
January 6, 2010
S.C. House member Dan Cooper to be honored
COLUMBIA, SC – January 6, 2010 – Broadcast journalist Judy Woodruff will be the keynote speaker at the fifth annual David Wilkins Award for Excellence in Legislative Leadership Dinner Monday, Jan. 11 at the Columbia Metropolitan Convention Center.
The event, sponsored by the Riley Institute at Furman University and held in conjunction with the opening of the legislative session, features a reception at 6 p.m. followed by the dinner and award presentation beginning at 7 p.m. Tickets are $125 each with table sponsorships available. For more information or to purchase tickets, call 864-235-8330.
This year’s Wilkins award winner is Dan Cooper, a member of the South Carolina State House of Representatives from District 10 in Anderson County.
The award recognizes a state legislator who embodies the highest principles of leadership based on integrity, compassion, vision, civility and courage. Previous Wilkins Award winners are Gilda Cobb-Hunter, John Drummond, Bobby Harrell and Hugh K. Leatherman.
Cooper, the first Republican elected to the S.C. Statehouse from Anderson County, has been in the legislature since 1990. He was elected chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee in 2005. In that role, he manages the House version of the state budget and is the only member from the Upstate on the State Budget and Control Board.
Woodruff has covered politics and other news for more than three decades at CNN, NBC and PBS. Most recently, she became senior correspondent for the PBS NewsHour.
The Riley Institute at Furman is named for Furman graduate and former South Carolina governor and U.S. Secretary of Education Richard W. Riley. It offers a broad array of programs designed to engage students and citizens across South Carolina in the various arenas of politics, public policy and public leadership.
The institute created the David H. Wilkins Legislative Leadership Program in 2006 in honor of the respected South Carolina politician, who served as Speaker of the South Carolina House of Representatives and U.S. ambassador to Canada.
