CCU Honorary Degrees, Commencement Speakers
In the early 1950s, a handful of community leaders were anxious about the socioeconomic perils that could befall a region without ready access to higher education. Those leaders set a goal, went to work, and on Sept. 20, 1954, Coastal Carolina Junior College held its first classes – after hours in Conway High School. In 1963, the institution opened its first building on the new campus, the Edward M. Singleton Building. On July 1, 1993, on the portico of the Singleton Building, S.C. Governor Carroll Campbell signed legislation that established an independent public university – Coastal Carolina University. The University awarded its first honorary degrees as part of the commencement ceremony in May of 1994.
Coastal Carolina University honorary degree recipients and their respective degrees are indicated below. Honorary degree recipients who delivered the commencement address are indicated with an asterisk. An August commencement was added to the academic calendar in 2013; while honorary degrees are not awarded during this convocation, University faculty who delivered the commencement address are shown in italics.
2020 | May | Speaker: Michael Kelly, CCU alumnus, Emmy-nominated actor |
2019 | December Summer May |
Speaker: Ron Daise, VP for Creative Education, Brookgreen Gardens Speaker: Eliza Glaze, Professor of History Speaker: Leigha Peterson, Candidate for CCU's first doctoral degree Robert L. Rabon Doctor of Public Service |
2018 | December Summer May |
Barbara Blain-Bellamy Doctor of Public Service * Speaker: Jen E. Boyle, Professor of English Speaker: Joe Moglia, CCU Head Football Coach Josh Norman Doctor of Public Service (presented June 6) |
2017 | December August May |
Luke A. Rankin Doctor of Public Service * Charles G. Sasser Doctor of Science Covia L. Stanley Doctor of Science Speaker: John Hutchens Professor of Marine Science William H. "Billy" Alford Doctor of Public Service Amber J. Campbell Doctor of Science * Robert W. Honeycutt Doctor of Science |
2016 | December August May |
Susan N. O'Malley Doctor of Science * Speaker: Robert Young Professor of Marine Science Dennis L. Wade Doctor of Public Service * |
2015 | December August May |
Molly M. Spearman Doctor of Public Service * Speaker: Pamela Martin Professor of Politics Michael J. Gerson Doctor of Humane Letters * |
2014 | December August May |
Speaker: Edgar "Eddie" Dyer Professor of Politics, EVP/COO Speaker: Arne R. Flaten Professor of Art History Natasha Trethewey Doctor of Humane Letters * |
2013 | December August May |
Michael F. Clayton Doctor of Humane Letters * Speaker: Holley E. Tankersley Associate Professor of Politics Raymond E. Cleary III Doctor of Public Service Timothy E. Scott Doctor of Public Service * |
2012 | December May |
Vernice Armour Doctor of Humane Letters * W. Brian White Doctor of Public Service James E. Clyburn Doctor of Public Service * |
2011 | December |
Pierre J. Thuot Doctor of Public Service * Harold "Hal" Rogers Doctor of Public Service ** ** awarded during a special convocation held in September |
2010 | December May |
Richard A. Raskopf Doctor of Humane Letters * Bonnie McElveen-Hunter Doctor of Public Service * |
2009 | December May |
Jonathan Green Doctor of Fine Arts * Edward Ball Doctor of Humane Letters * Clay D. Brittain Jr. Doctor of Public Service Hilda M. Carter Doctor of Public Service Arthur Herbert "Doc" Lachicotte Jr. Doctor of Public Service |
2008 | December May |
Dorothy K. Anderson Doctor of Public Service Harold C. Stowe Doctor of Public Service Liston Barfield Doctor of Public Service William Gibson Doctor of Humane Letters Patrick Cleburne "Clebe" McClary Doctor of Public Service * J. Yancey McGill Doctor of Public Service |
2007 | December May |
Larry L. Biddle Doctor of Public Service Daniel T. Cooper Doctor of Public Service Marilyn J. Fore Doctor of Public Service James C. Benton Sr. Doctor of Public Service James F. Hackler Jr. Doctor of Public Service Josephine Humphreys Doctor of Humane Letters Judith K. Ingle Doctor of Public Service |
2006 | December May |
William J. Baxley Jr. Doctor of Public Service M. Lois Eargle Doctor of Public Service Emma Lou Johnson Doctor of Public Service H. Neyle Wilson Doctor of Public Service David W. Harwell Doctor of Public Service Gerrita Postlewait Doctor of Public Service Jack Thompson Doctor of Fine Arts William W. Wilkins Doctor of Public Service * |
2005 | May | Henry E. Brown Jr. Doctor of Public Service * John W. Dawsey Doctor of Public Service Edward M. Singleton Doctor of Public Service Mickey Spillane Doctor of Humane Letters |
2004 | May | Lindsey O. Graham Doctor of Public Service * Thomas G. Keegan Doctor of Public Service Florida Yeldell Doctor of Humane Letters |
2003 | December | David H. Drayton Doctor of Humane Letters Ashby Ward Doctor of Public Service (posthumously) |
2002 | December May |
Hugh K. Leatherman Sr. Doctor of Public Service W. Horace Carter Doctor of Humane Letters Mark S. Kelley Doctor of Public Service Judy Woodruff Doctor of Public Service * |
2001 | December May |
James P. Blanton Doctor of Public Service Walter Edgar Doctor of Humane Letters * Genevieve Chandler Peterkin Doctor of Humane Letters Bill Pinkney Doctor of Fine Arts |
2000 | May | Sigmund Abeles Doctor of Fine Arts * John Hope Doctor of Public Service |
1999 | May | Rita R. Colwell Doctor of Public Service * William H. Davis Doctor of Humane Letters D. Kent Sharples Doctor of Public Service |
1998 | May | Henry J. Cauthen Doctor of Public Service William R. Ferris Doctor of Humane Letters * Alberta L. Quattlebaum Doctor of Public Service |
1997 | May | Fred P. Brinkman Doctor of Public Service William F. Davis Doctor of Public Service Joab M. Lesesne Doctor of Humane Letters * |
1996 | May | Jonathan Kozol Doctor of Public Service * William A. Sessions Doctor of Humane Letters |
1995 | May | Catherine H. Lewis Doctor of Humane Letters Philip H. Prince Doctor of Public Service * R. Cathcart Smith Doctor of Public Service |
1994 | May | Thurman W. Anderson Doctor of Public Service Joseph S. Dusenbury Doctor of Public Service |