The late Carroll A. Campbell Jr., longtime Coastal trustee Clark B. Parker and Coastal Carolina University President Ronald R. Ingle will be honored at Coastal's 20th annual Founders' Day Convocation on Monday, Sept. 18 at 3 p.m. in Wheelwright Auditorium. The ceremony is free and open to the public.

Campbell, Ingle and Parker will join 73 other founders and honorary founders who played important roles in the development of Coastal and the promotion of higher education in the region.

Campbell (1940-2005) served as governor of South Carolina for two terms, from 1987 until 1995. At a campus ceremony on May 14, 1993, Campbell signed the bill that established Coastal Carolina University as an independent, state-supported institution. Prior to his governorship, he served in the S.C. House of Representatives, the state Senate and the U.S. Congress. A native of Greenville, he was educated at the University of South Carolina and American University. As governor, Campbell championed economic growth and education reform. He was diagnosed with Alzheimers disease in 2001 and died in 2005.

Ingle became CCU's first president in 1993 when the institution left the University of South Carolina system. Under Ingle's leadership, Coastal has achieved remarkable growth in enrollment (55 percent increase), physical space (30-plus percent increase), and in the scope of its academic programs. Ingle led the university's 50th anniversary fundraising campaign, which raised more than $13 million, and he encouraged the development of programs that fulfill the institution's longstanding mission of community engagement. A native of Monks Corner, Ingle was educated at Wofford College, Florida State University and Ohio State University. He served two years of active duty in the U.S. Army. Ingle will retire on June 30, 2007.

Parker, a CPA of Myrtle Beach, is a 1977 Coastal alumnus who has served his alma mater in key leadership positions. He was president of Coastal's alumni association from 1979 to 1983 and he headed the CINO Club, Coastal athletic booster organization, in the early 1980s. From 1987 to 1993 he served on the Horry County Higher Education Commission, and as its chair led the movement to establish Coastal as an independent state university separate from the USC system. When Coastal achieved independence in 1993, Parker was elected to its first board of trustees, where he has served ever since, including two terms as chair (2001-2003).