Sen. Peeler to Receive Honorary Degree at Clemson Graduation

CLEMSON, SC – August 3, 2009 –  Sen. Harvey Smith Peeler Jr., Republican senator for South Carolina District 14, will receive an honorary Doctorate of Humanities on Saturday, Aug. 8, during graduation exercises at Clemson University.

The ceremony begins at 11 a.m. in Littlejohn Coliseum and will include all five colleges with more than 700 degrees to be conferred.

Peeler is closing in on three full decades since his first election to the South Carolina Senate in 1980. Prior to his election to the Senate he served a four-year term on the Cherokee County Council. In 2005 he was elected majority leader and also serves as chairman of the Senate Medical Affairs committee.

A 1970 Clemson graduate with a bachelor of science degree in dairy science, Peeler has been instrumental in securing funding for Clemson and its Public Service Activities unit. In particular, his support of Clemson’s agriculture and public-service mission has enabled the university to better serve the state.

Aside from his committee chairmanship, Peeler is heavily involved in the inner workings of the Senate. He has served as vice chairman of the Senate Finance Committee since 2007. He also serves on the Education, Ethics, Interstate Cooperation, Transportation, Joint Bond Review, Senate Operations and Management and State House committees.

Peeler still lives in Gaffney, the town in which he was born. He married his high-school sweetheart, the former LaDonna Caudill. She is a nurse with the Cherokee County School District. They have three children and seven grandchildren.