Longtime Coastal Carolina University professor and administrator Edgar L. "Eddie" Dyer will give the address for CCU's winter commencement on Saturday, Dec. 13. The event is scheduled for 8:30 a.m. at the HTC Center on campus. Approximately 590 students are eligible to receive their degrees at the ceremony.

Dyer joined CCU's political science faculty in 1976. In addition to his teaching duties, he has held many key administrative positions including university counsel, interim director of athletics, interim dean, vice president of university relations and executive director of the Coastal Educational Foundation. Since 2007, he has served as CCU's executive vice president and chief operating officer.

Dyer is also the first recipient of the HTC Distinguished Teacher-Scholar Lecturer Award at CCU and has been named Professor of the Year. He is an honorary inductee of the CCU Athletic Hall of Fame and a faculty inductee of Omicron Delta Kappa.

Dyer earned a bachelor's degree in political science from Guilford College, a master's degree in public administration from the University of South Carolina, and a juris doctor degree from the University of South Carolina. His published articles focus on such subjects as academic freedom, land use law, government and politics, and African American history.

In 2010, Dyer was presented the Palmetto Patriot Award for his service to the community. He has taken an active part in civic affairs, from chairing the local Grass Roots Initiative for Planning and Progress in the 1990s to his current service on the Horry County Planning Commission. Dyer also serves as chairman of the RIDE III Committee, a group appointed by Horry County Council to prioritize roads projects for a pending 2016 RIDE III referendum. He currently serves on the board of Horry County United Way.

Dyer is retiring in July 2015.

The event will be presented in a live web stream at coastal.edu/commencement/fall_stream.html. Overflow seating is available in Wheelwright Auditorium.