Coastal Carolina University names honorary founders
Baxley, Holmes and Prince will join 64 other founders and honorary founders who played important roles in the development of Coastal and the promotion of higher education in the region.
Baxley is dean emeritus of the E. Craig Wall Sr. College of Business Administration. A native of Dillon, Baxley graduated from West Point in 1950 and earned an M.B.A. from the University of Alabama in 1962. During his 22-year career in the U.S. Army, he served as an infantry battalion commander in Vietnam and as a colonel in the Office of the Secretary of Defense. He received the Silver Star, the Distinguished Flying Cross, the Bronze Medal and the Freedom Foundation's George Washington Honor Medal. Baxley joined the Coastal faculty in 1972 and served the institution in many capacities, including associate chancellor of advancement and dean of the Wall College of Business, until his retirement in 1992.
Holmes has been involved in the governance of Coastal Carolina University since 1982, when he was named to the Horry County Higher Education Commission. Holmes served as chair of the commission from 1985 to 1987. He has been a member of the Coastal Educational Foundation since 1987 and was president from 1993 to 1996. He served on Coastal's Board of Trustees from 1999 to 2003. A native of Conway, Holmes graduated from The Citadel in 1966 and from the Medical University of South Carolina in 1971. After service on the U.S.S. Forrestal and at the U.S. Navy Hospital in Beaufort, he entered private practice in general surgery in Conway. He has been a member of the Conway Hospital Board of Trustees since 1997 and was president from 2001 to 2003. Holmes is president of Belle Terre Golf Courses and is a member of the Board of Directors of Burroughs and Chapin Company, Inc., and Brookgreen Gardens.
Prince was assistant to the chancellor at Coastal from 1960 to 1987, a position that involved a variety of administrative duties from coordinating the Veteran's Affairs program to fundraising and bookkeeping. She was involved in the first major fundraising campaign for the first building on the present campus. A native of Conway, Prince earned a bachelor's degree from the University of South Carolina. She was named 1982 Career Woman of the Year by the Conway Business Professional Women's Club. Prince is active in civic affairs and has served on the boards of the Horry County Library, the Horry County Museum, the Veteran's Association of South Carolina and many other community organizations in Conway and Loris.