The following is a list of the presidents of the University of South Carolina from its founding as South Carolina College in 1801, to the present day.
The following is a list of the presidents of the University of South Carolina from its founding as South Carolina College in 1801, to the present day.
| No. | Image | Name | Tenure | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  | Jonathan Maxcy | 1804–1820 | |
| 2 |  | Thomas Cooper | 1821–1834 | |
| – | Robert Henry | 1834 | President pro tempore | |
| – | Henry Junius Nott | 1834–1835 | Chairman of the Faculty | |
| 3 |  | Robert Woodward Barnwell | 1835–1841 | |
| 4 | Robert Henry | 1841–1845 | ||
| 5 |  | William C. Preston | 1845–1851 | |
| – |  | Francis Lieber | 1851 | President pro tempore |
| 6 |  | James H. Thornwell | 1851–1855 | |
| 7 | Charles F. McCay | 1855–1857 | ||
| 8 |  | Augustus B. Longstreet | 1857–1861 | |
| – | Maximilian LaBorde | 1861–1865 | Chairman of the Faculty | |
| – | | Robert Woodward Barnwell | 1865–1873 | Chairman of the Faculty |
| – | Benjamin B. Babbitt | 1873–1875 | Chairman of the Faculty | |
| – | Anson W. Cummings | 1875–1877 | Chairman of the Faculty | |
| 9 |  | William Porcher Miles | 1880–1882 | |
| 10 |  | John McLaren McBryde | 1883–1891 | |
| 11 |  | James Woodrow | 1891–1897 | |
| 12 | Frank C. Woodward | 1897–1902 | ||
| 13 | Benjamin Sloan | 1902–1908 | Acting President from 1902 to 1903 | |
| – | Andrew C. Moore | 1908–1909 | Acting President | |
| 14 |  | Samuel Chiles Mitchell | 1909–1913 | |
| – | Andrew C. Moore | 1913–1914 | Acting President | |
| 15 |  | William Spenser Currell | 1914–1922 | |
| 16 | William Davis Melton | 1922–1926 | ||
| – | Leonard T. Baker | 1926 | Acting President | |
| 17 | Davison McDowell Douglas | 1927–1931 | ||
| 18 | Leonard T. Baker | 1931–1936 | ||
| 19 | James Rion McKissick | 1936–1944 | ||
| – | Leonard T. Baker | 1944–1945 | Acting President | |
| 20 | Norman Murray Smith | 1945–1952 | ||
| – | Francis Wright Bradley | 1952 | Acting President | |
| 21 |  | Donald S. Russell | 1952–1957 | |
| 22 | Robert Llewellyn Sumwalt | 1957–1962 | Acting President from 1957 to 1959 | |
| 23 | Thomas F. Jones | 1962–1974 | ||
| 24 | William H. Patterson | 1974–1977 | ||
| 25 |  | James B. Holderman | 1977–1990 | |
| – |  | Arthur K. Smith | 1990–1991 | Interim President |
| 26 |  | John M. Palms | 1991–2002 | |
| 27 | Andrew A. Sorensen | 2002–2008 | ||
| 28 |  | Harris Pastides | 2008–2019 | |
| 29 |  | Robert L. Caslen | 2019–2021 | |
| – | | Harris Pastides | 2021–2022 | Interim President; 2nd time |
| 30 | Michael Amiridis | July 1, 2022 | Incumbent |
South Carolina is a state in the coastal Southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered to the north by North Carolina, to the southeast by the Atlantic Ocean, and to the southwest by Georgia across the Savannah River. South Carolina is the 40th most extensive and 23rd most populous U.S. state with a recorded population of 5,124,712 according to the 2020 census. In 2019, its GDP was $213.45 billion. South Carolina is composed of 46 counties. The capital is Columbia with a population of 137,300 in 2020; while its largest city is Charleston with a 2020 population of 150,277. The Greenville–Spartanburg-Anderson metropolitan area is the most populous in the state, with a 2020 population estimate of 1,455,892.
The 1796 United States presidential election was the third quadrennial presidential election. It was held from Friday, November 4 to Wednesday, December 7, 1796. It was the first contested American presidential election, the first presidential election in which political parties played a dominant role, and the only presidential election in which a president and vice president were elected from opposing tickets. Incumbent Vice President John Adams of the Federalist Party defeated former Secretary of State Thomas Jefferson of the Democratic-Republican Party.
The 1800 United States presidential election was the fourth quadrennial presidential election. It was held from October 31 to December 3, 1800. In what is sometimes called the "Revolution of 1800", Vice President Thomas Jefferson of the Democratic-Republican Party defeated incumbent President John Adams of the Federalist Party. The election was a political realignment that ushered in a generation of Democratic-Republican leadership.
James Strom Thurmond Sr. was an American politician who represented South Carolina in the United States Senate from 1954 to 2003. Prior to his 48 years as a senator, he served as the 103rd governor of South Carolina from 1947 to 1951. Thurmond was a member of the Democratic Party until 1964, when he joined the Republican Party for the remainder of his legislative career. He also ran for president in 1948 as the Dixiecrat candidate, receiving over a million votes and winning four states.
John Caldwell Calhoun was an American statesman and political theorist from South Carolina who held many important positions including being the seventh vice president of the United States from 1825 to 1832. He adamantly defended slavery and sought to protect the interests of the white South. He began his political career as a nationalist, modernizer, and proponent of a strong national government and protective tariffs. In the late 1820s, his views changed radically, and he became a leading proponent of states' rights, limited government, nullification, and opposition to high tariffs. He saw Northern acceptance of those policies as a condition of the South remaining in the Union. His beliefs and warnings heavily influenced the South's secession from the Union in 1860–1861.
Clemson University is a public land-grant research university in Clemson, South Carolina. Founded in 1889, Clemson is the second-largest university in student population in South Carolina. For the fall 2019 semester, the university enrolled a total of 20,195 undergraduate students and 5,627 graduate students, and the student/faculty ratio was 18:1. Clemson's 1,400-acre campus is in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains. The campus now borders Lake Hartwell, which was formed by the dam completed in 1962. The university manages the nearby 17,500-acre Clemson Experimental Forest that is used for research, education, and recreation.
James Francis Byrnes was an American judge and politician from South Carolina. A member of the Democratic Party, he served in U.S. Congress and on the U.S. Supreme Court, as well as in the executive branch, most prominently as the 49th U.S. Secretary of State under President Harry S. Truman. Byrnes was also the 104th Governor of South Carolina, making him one of the very few politicians to have served in the highest levels of all three branches of the American federal government while also being active in state government.
Furman University is a private liberal arts university in Greenville, South Carolina. Founded in 1826 and named for the clergyman Richard Furman, Furman University is the oldest private institution of higher learning in South Carolina. It became a secular university in 1992, while keeping Christo et Doctrinae as its motto. It enrolls approximately 2,700 undergraduate students and 200 graduate students, representing 46 states and 53 foreign countries, on its 750-acre (304 ha) campus.
South Carolina State University is a public, historically black, land-grant university in Orangeburg, South Carolina, United States. It is the only public, historically black land-grant institution in South Carolina, is a member-school of the Thurgood Marshall College Fund, and is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS).
The University of South Carolina is a public research university in Columbia, South Carolina. It has seven satellite campuses throughout the state and its main campus covers over 359 acres (145 ha) in downtown Columbia not far from the South Carolina State House. The university is classified among "R1: Doctoral Universities with Highest Research Activity". It also houses the largest collection of Robert Burns and Scottish literature materials outside Scotland, and the world's largest Ernest Hemingway collection.
Richard Wilson Riley is an American politician, the United States Secretary of Education under President Bill Clinton and the 111th governor of South Carolina. He is a member of the Democratic Party. Riley is the only Democrat to serve two consecutive terms as governor in the time since the state constitution was amended to allow governors to serve consecutive terms.
Anderson University is a private university in Anderson, South Carolina. It offers bachelor's, master's, and doctoral degrees in approximately 78 areas of study. Anderson is affiliated with the South Carolina Baptist Convention and is accredited by the Commission on Colleges of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools. Anderson participates in NCAA Division II athletics and is a member of the South Atlantic Conference.
Carroll Ashmore Campbell Jr., was an American Republican Party politician who served as the 112th governor of South Carolina from 1987 to 1995. Prior to this, he served as a member of the South Carolina Senate representing the 2nd district from 1977 to 1978 and as a congressman representing South Carolina's 4th district from 1979 to 1987.
Coastal Carolina University is a public university in Conway, South Carolina. Founded in 1954 as Coastal Carolina Junior College, and later joining the University of South Carolina System as USC Coastal Carolina, it became an independent university in 1993.
South Carolina was the first state to secede from the Union in December 1860, and was one of the founding member states of the Confederacy in February 1861. The bombardment of the beleaguered U.S. garrison at Fort Sumter in Charleston Harbor on April 12, 1861 is generally recognized as the first military engagement of the war. The retaking of Charleston in February of 1865, and raising the flag again at Fort Sumter, was used for the Union the symbol of victory.
NimrataNikkiHaley is an American diplomat and politician who served as the 116th and first female governor of South Carolina from 2011 to 2017, and as the 29th United States ambassador to the United Nations for two years, from January 2017 through December 2018.
William Bullein Johnson was an American Baptist minister, one of the founders of the South Carolina State Baptist Convention in 1821, and later was the first president of the Southern Baptist Convention from 1845 to 1851. Johnson is also the founder of Johnson Female Seminary, later renamed Johnson University, in 1848 the predecessor to Anderson University.
The 2016 United States presidential election was held on November 8, 2016, as part of the 2016 General Election in which all 50 states plus the District of Columbia participated. South Carolina voters chose electors to represent them in the Electoral College via a popular vote pitting the Republican Party's nominee, businessman Donald Trump, and running mate Indiana Governor Mike Pence against Democratic Party nominee, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and her running mate, Virginia Senator Tim Kaine.
Peter Skewes is an American university professor and political activist best known for his candidacy for president of the United States as the nominee of the American Party of South Carolina in the 2016 presidential election.
The 1860 United States presidential election in South Carolina took place on November 6, 1860, as part of the 1860 United States presidential election. The state legislature chose 8 representatives, or electors to the Electoral College, who voted for president and vice president. By 1860 only one state, South Carolina, used this procedure in a presidential election.
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