Amber J. Campbell
Amber Campbell is one of the best women’s hammer throwers in the world. She has won 11 national championships, and she is a two-time Pan American Games Medalist. She owns the Olympic Trials and American Olympic record. She has represented Team USA at five World Championships (2005, 2009, 2011, 2013, 2015) and is a three-time Olympian (2008, 2012, 2016). Her mark and placing at the Rio Olympics in 2016 was the best ever by an American woman. Campbell finished with a throw of 72.74 meters—just two meters away from the bronze medal. She threw her personal best—74.03 meters—at the Olympic Trials in Eugene, Ore., in June 2016.
Originally from Indianapolis, Ind., Campbell earned a bachelor’s degree in psychology from CCU in 2004 One of the most distinguished student-athletes in CCU history, she was a five-time NCAA All-American, 16-time conference champion and three-time Big South Athlete of the Year. She lives in Myrtle Beach and continues to serve CCU as a volunteer assistant coach for throwers. Campbell was inducted into CCU’s George F. “Buddy” Sasser Hall of Fame in 2009 and the Big South Conference Hall of Fame in 2016.
Campbell was presented the honorary degree Doctor of Science during the Coastal Carolina University spring commencement in 2017. She also was the speaker.
Marilyn J. Fore
Marilyn “Murph” Fore, Ed.D., has been the president of Horry-Georgetown Technical College since April 2017. During the last 44 years, she has served HGTC in a variety of leadership positions, mostly recently as senior vice president.
Fore has been a leader in the state in her efforts to ease both the admissions requirements for students and regulations for the approval of new academic programs, in turn making education more accessible for many and ensuring HGTC continues to meet the needs of industry in a timely manner. She has led the implementation of digital classrooms, developed more than 80 programs of study, served on 30 accreditation teams across the Southeast, and helped create the Horry County Schools’ Early College High School, a model for the nation.
Her purpose and vision has always been improving the lives of her students, which is evident in her personal and financial commitments to HGTC. Fore has established numerous scholarships for students and consistently contributes to the Horry-Georgetown Technical College Foundation. She has personally ensured that students who didn’t think higher education was an option for them not only attended HGTC but also succeeded in school and after graduation.
Fore earned a bachelor's degree in social sciences from Fairmont State College in W.Va., and three degrees from the University of South Carolina: a master's in educational instruction, a master's in economics, and an education doctorate in curriculum and instruction. Coastal Carolina University awarded her an honorary doctorate in public service in 2007.
Her husband, Fred Fore, shares her passion for higher education and was the first president of Florence-Darlington Technical College. They live in Murrells Inlet and are active members of Belin Methodist Church.
Renee Hembree
Renee Hembree grew up in Columbia, S.C., and earned a secondary education degree from the University of South Carolina. She taught at Irmo High School before leaving the teaching profession to raise her three children.
As a young mother in Columbia, Hembree began helping with the John Fling ministries, a charity that served the needs of the homeless, the blind and many others in the Midlands for decades. Little did she know that on those many trips in Fling’s truck, God was preparing her to start her own ministry.
In 1995 her husband’s work brought the Hembree family to Horry County. She quickly became involved in volunteer work with the North Myrtle Beach area schools. Through the years, she has served in numerous volunteer positions with the schools.
In 2008 while chairing the North Myrtle Beach advisory board, Hembree first learned of the homeless students who were attending the high school. That’s when she decided to establish Teen Angels, a non-profit dedicated to providing a happy and fulfilling high school experience for homeless and disadvantaged students in the North Myrtle Beach attendance area. Teen Angels does not accept government money and only uses local contributions to help hundreds of teens in northern Horry County stay in school and succeed. In 2016 the organization was named one of the state’s top 10 charities by the South Carolina Secretary of State.
Along with her passion to help teenagers, Hembree serves on the South Carolina State Board of Education. She is a member of both the Rotary Club of Little River and the Ocean Drive Presbyterian Church. Hembree enjoys spending time with her husband, Greg, and her family, especially her grandchildren Henry and John Warner.
Joan Robinson-Berry
Joan Robinson-Berry is the vice president and general manager of Boeing South Carolina, where she has overall leadership responsibility for Boeing’s South Carolina facilities in North Charleston. Boeing South Carolina’s airport campus is home to 787 Aftbody and Midbody operations, 787 Final Assembly and Delivery operations, as well as an engineering design center and IT centers. BSC’s north campus includes the Interiors Responsibility Center South Carolina, Propulsion South Carolina, and a Boeing research and technology center.
Robinson-Berry previously served as vice president of the Shared Services Group Supplier Management organization, where she led the strategy, contracting, daily management and development of the supply chain, providing more than $8 billion of nonproduction goods and services for The Boeing Company.
Earlier in her career, she was director of Phantom Works Supplier Management for the Boeing Defense, Space & Security (BDS) division and was responsible for implementing supplier management strategy and execution in support of the development of advanced concepts and technologies.
Before that, Robinson-Berry was director of Small/Diverse Business & Strategic Alliances for BDS and ensured that BDS fulfilled its contractual obligations. She also represented Boeing as its small- business liaison officer and was responsible for integrating more than $5 billion in goods and services purchased annually from small and diverse suppliers. In this role, she helped establish the local supplier network for BSC.
Robinson-Berry has also served as director of Technical Workforce Excellence, overseeing technical affiliations, fellowship programs and university technical relationships and as director of engineering processes, tools and skills for the space and communications business. Prior to that position, she served as program manager of the MD-80/-90 Twinjet Programs for Boeing Commercial Airplanes.
She has received extensive recognition for her work in science, technology, engineering and mathematics from global organizations, including the National Society of Black Engineers and various members of Congress.
Robinson-Berry has helped empower women and minorities with presentations at the Women of Power Conference and the South Carolina Women’s Caucus Luncheon. She has been instrumental in launching two community action teams – one on Hispanic leaders and the other on African-American leaders – that focus on business relations, social issues and civic responsibility.
In 2017, Robinson-Berry was named one of Women’s Enterprise magazine’s Top 100 leaders in corporate supplier diversity. Charleston Businessmagazine featured her as one of the 50 most-influential people in Charleston, and she received a Woman of Distinction & Accomplishment award from the Washington State African American Achievement Awards team. She has also been named one of the Most Powerful Women in Business by Black Enterprise. In 2016, she was named one of Women’s Enterprise USA’s Top 100 Leaders in Supplier Diversity, and she received the Women of Color Professional Achievement Award in 2015. The Career Communications Group presented her with its 2007 Black Engineer of the Year Achievement Award, and she was inducted into its Alumni Hall of Fame in 2012.
Robinson-Berry earned a master’s degree in engineering management and business administration and a bachelor’s degree in engineering technology. She is an American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics Associate Fellow and an African Scientific Institute Fellow.
Robinson-Berry is also a keynote speaker for the 2018 Women's Leadership Conference.
Terri Springs Rhodes
Following are remarks from CCU First Lady Terri DeCenzo made during the awards presentation.
“Terri Springs Rhodes walks among us humbly, and with fervent support of the great city of Myrtle Beach.
“She was a former model in New York City, working with lines such as Ralph Lauren. She raised three amazing children as a single mom, with a focus on faith in god, service to others and family values.
“Though she is a successful businesswoman, she is perhaps most known in the role that I personally describe as ‘the woman beside the man.’
“For 12 years, she supported her husband, John Rhodes, in his role as mayor of Myrtle Beach, often sacrificing time with family and friends to host events, promote the city and stand by her husband.
“Through it all, she remained poised, classy and elegant. She has been a role model to many others in similar capacities, including me.”