Lindsey O. Graham

May 2004 Commencement Speaker

Lindsey O. Graham was elected to the U.S. Senate in November 2002, succeeding Strom Thurmond. Previously, he served four terms in the United States House of Representatives. He has assignments on the Committee on Armed Services, the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions, the Committee on the Judiciary, and the Committee on Veterans' Affairs.

Graham logged more than six years on active duty as a lawyer in the United States Army. Following his service overseas, he joined the South Carolina Air National Guard and later the United States Air Force Reserves. He was elected to the S.C. House of Representatives in 1992 and to the United States House of Representatives in 1994, becoming the first Republican to represent South Carolina's Third Congressional District in Washington since 1877.

Graham studied at the University of South Carolina, where he earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees and a jurisprudence doctorate. He was born on July 9, 1955, in Seneca, South Carolina.

Graham exhorted graduates to adopt high standards, "be a good person and leave behind more than you took."

"Our nation must focus on education in a global sense," said Graham. "The jobs you're seeking, people all over the world are seeking."

Graham was awarded the honorary degree Doctor of Public Service from Coastal Carolina University during the commencement ceremony.