Robert L. Rabon

A lifelong resident of Horry County, Robert L. Rabon served on the Coastal Carolina University Board of Trustees from 1998 to 2009. In this role he also served on  the transition team for a new president, the Advancement and Alumni Affairs Committee and as chairman of the Finance, Planning and Facilities Committee. He served as the campaign chair for the Penny Sales Tax for Horry Georgetown Technical College, Coastal Carolina University and Horry County Schools and was instrumental in the passage of the tax that has generated more than $89 million for CCU construction projects since 2009. He has been acknowledged as a member of the Chanticleer Society for his lifetime giving to the the University.

He served on the Horry County Higher Education Commission from 1986-1998 and was chariman in 1990-1991. He established Rabon’s Housing Center in 1979, the same year he began serving on the Horry County Council. Rabon has dedicated many years of his life to the Horry County Republican Party, serving as county chairman of the party from 2005 to 2011 and again from 2013 to 2017. As chairman, he helped organize the county’s first presidential debate in 2008, an event that brought notable recognition to the area. He has owned Associated Realty since 2006. In 2017 he was recognized by the S.C. House of Representatives for his service to the Republican Party and to  Horry County. 

He attended Coastal Carolina University in in the 1970s when Coastal was a two-year institution affiliated with the University of South Carolina. He is a graduate of Aynor High School.

Rabon has four children – Seth Rabon, Amanda Mincey, Sherrie Brown and Robin Niederwerfer – and nine grandchildren. Seth Rabon currently serves on the Horry County Higher Education Commission.

Rabon was awarded the honorary degree Doctor of Public Service from Coastal Carolina University during the May 2019 commencement ceremony.