Dr. R. Blake Cline, center, with wife Leslie and son Alex

Dr. R. Blake Kline of Anesthesiologist Consultants of Florence and his wife Leslie have made a $250,000 pledge toward the proposed Adkins Field House.

Kline, who graduated from Coastal in 1990 with a bachelor’s degree in biology, says his decision was prompted by his love for Coastal and by his friendship with fellow alumni Mark and Will Adkins, who pledged $1.5 million to the field house project last year.

“I feel I’ve been very fortunate, and my undergraduate education at Coastal is what ‘jump started’ me into my career,” says Kline, who is chief of anesthesiology and medical director of the operating room at Carolinas Hospital System in Florence. “I waited tables with Mark and Will Adkins at Slug’s Rib on Restaurant Row while we were students at Coastal. When I read about their gift last year I thought that contributing to the field house would be a meaningful way to honor Coastal and my good friends the Adkins brothers.”
The 43,000-square-foot field house facility will be built adjacent to Coastal’s Brooks Stadium.

In honor of Kline’s gift, the hospitality area on the third floor of Brooks Stadium will be named the R. Blake Kline Hospitality Suite. Kline graduated from the Medical University of South Carolina in 1994, and he did his internship and residency in anesthesiology at the Medical College of Georgia.

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Marshall Butler and Marvin Keene

AVX Corporation’s Foundation has made a gift to Coastal Carolina University to establish the Marshall D. Butler Distinguished Endowed Professorship of Finance in CCU’s E. Craig Wall Sr. College of Business Administration.

The new professorship has been awarded to Marvin Keene, assistant professor of finance at Coastal.

Butler, of New York City, served as CEO and chairman of AVX Corporation, the Myrtle Beach-based electronic components manufacturer, from 1973 until his retirement in 1993. Butler is credited with leading the company to its dominant position in the worldwide production and sales of ceramic and tantalum capacitors. He advanced the use of market research and the expansion of operations to Europe and Asia.

AVX Corporation has a long history of significant industrial influence in Horry County. In 1990 the company merged with the major Japanese electronics company Kyocera Corporation.

After his retirement from AVX, Butler began another successful career in the venture capital industry, primarily in Israel. In recognition of his efforts, Butler received the Prime Minister’s Award in 1998 for his achievements in bringing capital to Israel. In 2000, he received an honorary doctorate from Technion University, Israel’s leading engineering institution.

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The Falk-Griffin Foundation, established by Carl Falk and his wife Marcia Griffin Falk of Pawleys Island, made a $150,000 pledge to Coastal that will establish two scholarships and a student development program in conjunction with the Teach My People youth organization in Georgetown County.

The programs created through this gift will benefit students who live in communities of the Waccamaw Neck region. One is a work-study scholarship for undergraduate students majoring in programs offered through the Spadoni College of Education. The other scholarship program requires Coastal students to work 20 hours per week in the Waccamaw community—10 hours as a mentor in a Waccamaw area public school and 10 hours in volunteer service in an activity related to their field of study. The final component is a vision program that will provide workshops and activities aimed at giving Waccamaw area middle and high school students a wide range of enrichment experiences, including sessions on self-esteem, character development, planning for college, life skills and more.

These scholarships and programs will be administered through Coastal’s Center for Education and Community and Teach My People, a Christian-based after-school program supported by the Falks to aid the people of the Waccamaw region.

Carl Falk serves on the executive committee of the Coastal Educational Foundation.

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A large bronze key mounted on a 2,300-pound granite base has been installed in the entrance of the E. Craig Wall Sr. College of Business Administration. The 52-inch key, the official emblem of the Beta Gamma Sigma national honor society for business students, was given to the university by Margaret Jordan and McKenzie Jordan in honor of their husband and father, Charles Jordan of Conway.

Jordan is a longtime supporter of the university, having served on the Wall College’s Board of Visitors for many years. Mrs. Jordan and son McKenzie Jordan, who also serves on the Board of Visitors, designed the memorial in consultation with Henry Lowenstein, dean of the Wall College of Business. The key was unveiled on Christmas Eve as a surprise to Charles Jordan.

“This splendid memorial recognizes the outstanding contribution that Charles Jordan and the entire Jordan family have made to the growth of the Wall College of Business and to the success of our students and graduates,” said Lowenstein.

Coastal Carolina’s chapter of Beta Gamma Sigma was established in 1999. Of the 468 Beta Gamma Sigma chapters worldwide, Coastal’s is one of only 76 to have attained the designation “premier status,” according to Wall College professor Barbara Ritter, adviser to the program.

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Jesse and Thomas P. Brown

Retired businessman Thomas P. Brown Jr., his wife Jessie Brown and their son Thomas P. Brown III have made a $100,000 gift to Coastal Carolina University. The gift will establish the Each One Teach One Entrepreneurship Institute in CCU’s E. Craig Wall College of Business Admin- istration as well as initiate funding for the TPJ Brown Entrepreneurship Scholars, a new scholarship program for at-risk students interested in pursuing business careers.

Jessie Brown is a retired Coastal education professor and associate dean, and Thomas P. Brown III, a Coastal 2005 alumnus, is enrolled in Seton Hall’s master’s degree program in Newark, N.J.

The goal of the Each One Teach One Entrepreneurship Institute is to mentor at-risk middle and high school students, and provide guided learning experiences designed to help them explore the possibility of starting their own business.

Coastal students who are selected as TPJ Brown Entrepreneurship Scholars will take specialized training classes in business operations and management taught by members of the Wall College of Business Retired Executive Board, advisers to the program. TPJ Scholars will share the knowledge and experience they gain from the program with selected area middle and high school at-risk students in the greater Conway area.

“We believe that through their early exposure to business, young people can be successfully motivated, nurtured and given the education and real life experiences that are pivotal to the accomplishment of their dreams and that will enable them to thrive as adults in the American way,” said Thomas P. Brown Jr., who is retired from business after 40 years.

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A $600,000 real estate gift from Tom and Wrenzie Rice of Myrtle Beach will give Coastal Carolina University a permanent band building. The building and 4.3 acres, valued at $1.1 million, are located on Winyah Road off U.S. 501 near the campus. Coastal paid $500,000 toward the property, with the Rices making a gift of the remaining balance.

A tax attorney with Rice, MacDonald, Winter and Breeden, P.A., Rice grew up in Myrtle Beach. He earned a bachelor’s degree and a master’s degree in accounting from the University of South Carolina and a law degree from the University of South Carolina School of Law. For two semesters he served as an adjunct professor at Coastal Carolina University, where he taught taxation.

Wrenzie Rice grew up in Charleston. She earned a bachelor’s degree in industrial management from Clemson University. She owns Rice Leasing, a commercial real estate brokerage and property management firm in Myrtle Beach.

“Coastal is a tremendous asset for our entire community and for the state,” said Tom Rice. “We are glad to do what we can to help support it.”

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