Coastal Carolina University will hold three commencement ceremonies for Fall 2023 graduates on Friday, Dec. 15. All events will be held in the HTC Student Recreation and Convocation Center and will also be livestreamed. Approximately 576 students are eligible to participate in the exercises. Visit the commencement website for more details, including parking and shuttle information and livestream links.

9 a.m. ceremony

Conway Medical Center College of Health and Human Performance (97 candidates for graduation)

Gupta College of Science (147 candidates for graduation)

HTC Honors College (Eight candidates for graduation. Also, approximately 20 HTC Honors Program graduates will be recognized by the academic colleges they are earning their degrees from.)

1 p.m. ceremony

Spadoni College of Education and Social Sciences (83 candidates for graduation)

Thomas W. and Robin W. Edwards College of Humanities and Fine Arts (116 candidates for graduation)

5 p.m. ceremony

E. Craig Wall Sr. College of Business Administration (125 candidates for graduation)

The ceremonies will feature remarks by President Michael T. Benson, D.Phil. Paul E. Richardson, Ph.D., recipient of the University’s 2023 HTC Distinguished Teacher-Scholar Lecturer Award, will deliver the keynote address. Richardson will be introduced by graduating senior Tyrik Pierre, a marketing major from Washington, D.C., and winner of the 2023 Ronald D. Lackey Service Award, which is given annually to a CCU senior who serves the University community with conspicuous service through involvement and leadership in campus and community activities.

Richardson, a professor of biochemistry and chemistry department chair in CCU’s Gupta College of Science, joined the University’s faculty in 2004 and was promoted to associate professor in 2009. That same year, he was named the outstanding researcher in applied medical sciences, and in 2012, he earned the Harry M. Lightsey Jr. Visiting Scholar award. In 2016, he was promoted to the rank of full professor of biochemistry.

From 2016-2020, he was the principal investigator for CCU’s IDeA Networks of Biomedical Research Excellence program and was on the S.C. INBRE steering committee. Richardson was named chair of the Department of Chemistry in Fall 2020. In 2021, he co-won the student engagement award for his service to the students. In 2022, he co-won the University Service Award for his work on the COVID-19 pandemic and his leadership to keep the University safe.

Richardson has mentored more than 72 undergraduate students, resulting in over 63 student poster presentations, 14 student oral presentations, seven student-led research publications, and four non-research publications. During his 18 years at the University, he has received more than $2.3 million in grant money to support his research.

The HTC Distinguished Teacher-Scholar Lecturer Award is made possible through a generous donation from Horry Telephone Cooperative. Richardson presented his award’s associated lecture, titled “How Diseases Have Shaped and Will Shape the History of Humanity,” in September.