USC alumni earn university’s top awards

COLUMBIA, SC – My Carolina Alumni Association announced the University of South Carolina’s distinguished alumni award winners Saturday (Oct. 17) as part of the university’s homecoming.

Jim Pearce, a philanthropist, former beverage distributor and a 1942 graduate of the university, earned the Distinguished Alumni Award.

Advertising CEO and community leader Lee Bussell was honored with the Algernon Sydney Sullivan Award, named for the great humanitarian and philanthropist; defense lawyer Michelle Parsons Kelley earned the Outstanding Young Alumni Award; and Dr. Kenneth Rogers earned the Outstanding Black Alumni Award.

Nursing educator Marilyn Chassie Sonnenberg and retired Marine Cpl. Kyle Carpenter were named Honorary Life Member Award winners.

Presented annually, the awards are the highest honors given by the state’s flagship university, reflecting ideals cherished by Carolinians that include service, integrity, character and leadership.

“Every year My Carolina is honored to recognize Gamecock leaders who have distinguished themselves in their perspective fields, given back so much to the community and work tirelessly in service to our beloved university,” says Jack Claypoole, executive director of My Carolina.

My Carolina and the university have honored alumni for their achievement since 1927, when the first Algernon Sydney Sullivan Award was given. As the number of alumni has grown worldwide, so has the university’s impact to strengthen communities locally and globally. As a result, over time new awards were established to honor the contributions that alumni have made.

 

Jim Pearce, Distinguished Alumni Award

Pearce, a World War II veteran and retired wholesale food and beverage distributor, from Greenville, where he has been involved in service to the community and the university. In 1993 he received the university’s Algernon Sydney Sullivan Award.

In addition to serving on the university’s Educational Foundation Board and Development Foundation Board, Pearce has generously supported student scholarships and teaching. He gave $1.7 million to establish a Carolina Scholar award for in-state students, $1 million for scholarships at the University of South Carolina School of Medicine Greenville and $1 million to endow a professorship in the College of Hospitality, Retail and Sport Management in honor of his late son, William “Mac” McFall Pearce.

 

Lee Bussell, Algnernon Sydney Sullivan Award

Bussell, a 1982 graduate, is CEO of the Columbia-based public relations firm Chernoff Newman, where he has extended his creativity and passion for service and pro bono work to the Columbia community and UofSC for 35 years.

As former president of My Carolina he served on the university’s board of trustees, leading the efforts to build the university’s Alumni Center, which opened this summer. Bridging business with community, Bussell has served as chairman of the S.C. Chamber of Commerce and S.C. Business Alliance for Transportation and as a member of the board of directors for the Greater Columbia Chamber of Commerce. He has led numerous successful community efforts and campaigns including the passage of the $1 billion transportation infrastructure referendum.

 

Michelle Parsons Kelley, Outstanding Young Alumni

Kelley is a 2004 graduate of the S.C. Honors College, who earned dual master’s degrees in public administration and law in 2007. Community and public service has defined her short time as an alumna, having worked as an assistant attorney general for South Carolina, where she prosecuted fraud cases and acted as a pro bono special prosecutor in domestic violence cases.

Gov. Mark Sanford appointed Kelley to the S.C. Commission for Women. As the commission’s youngest member she led efforts to train law enforcement in the identification and prosecution of human trafficking. She is an associate with the law firm Richardson Plowden & Robinson.

 

Dr. Kenneth Rogers, Outstanding Black Alumni

A native of Dillon, South Carolina, Rogers grew up dreaming of becoming a rural doctor. Today he is chair of the psychiatry and behavioral science department at the University of South Carolina School of Medicine Greenville, who is passionate about children’s mental health and behavioral development. A 1990 graduate of UofSC’s School of Medicine, Rogers worked at the University of Maryland, where he focused on mental health services in the juvenile court system, before joining the university’s medical school faculty.

Rogers passion for health and wellness extends to his volunteer and leadership efforts with the Urban League and Big Brothers and through his delivery of free mental health services to those in need. Rogers isn’t the only Gamecock in his family; his wife is a nursing graduate and his daughter graduated in 2014 with a bachelor’s degree in international business.

 

Marilyn Chassie Sonnenberg, Honorary Life Member Award

Although her educational path took her to Tennessee, Massachusetts and Texas for bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral degrees, Sonnenberg’s heart is with UofSC, where she served as an associate dean and taught nursing for more than 14 years before retiring as a professor emeritus of nursing in 2000.

Her commitment to nursing and healthcare and the university runs deep. She coordinated community volunteers in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina, amassing a network of nursing and psychology students to help care for storm survivors. An advocate for nursing education, Sonnenberg represented the College of Nursing on the President’s Capital Campaign and personally gave more than $450,000 to benefit students and faculty.

 

Cpl. Kyle Carpenter, Honorary Life Member Award

Carpenter is the youngest living Medal of Honor recipient, having earned the nation’s highest military honor for his service and bravery in Afghanistan. He was severely injured in a Taliban attack in November 2010. During the nearly three years he spent recovering, Carpenter was an intern at the National Counterterrorism Center. He credits that experience with giving him the passion to raise awareness about the service and commitment of military service men and women.

Today, Carpenter is a student at UofSC majoring in international studies. He says by understanding how the world works and its different cultures and the struggles that people face worldwide will better prepare him for future endeavors. He says he chose a minor in psychology because of his war injuries, wanting to explore human resiliency.

While Carpenter isn’t scheduled to graduate for another two years, he says he is proud to be named an Honorary Life Member of My Carolina and a Gamecock.