Perry Ashley
Respected scholar and recognized authority on journalism history who was chief editor for the Dictionary of Literary Biography's series of volumes on American newspaper journalists. Served for years as associate dean of the College and as interim dean for more than a year. He knew details of the College's budget better than anybody, but refused – despite the nosy efforts of many of us – to gossip. Indeed, he was a model of propriety, decorum and professional integrity to a generation of his colleagues.

Perry died July 7, 2008. Read more>

Lou Brierley
Perhaps the wittiest and best-liked member of the faculty. Taught graphic design to hundreds of students who didn't much like the subject and made professionals and even stars out of those students who did.

Lou died April 16, 2008. Read more>

Jerry Jewler
His book on creative strategy, now in its umpteenth edition, is the gold standard in its field. But key people in other areas of the academy know him as one of the two educators who made the University of South Carolina the world's leader in student retention. He lectured extensively in the U.S. and abroad, especially about University 101, which he helped create. The student retention book he co-authored long ago passed the 100,000 mark in sales. He is appreciated across the campus as a sensitive and caring teacher, honored by the American Advertising Federation as the Advertising Educator of the Year and one of the primary reasons the advertising sequence rose to the front rank of programs in that field nationally.

Jay Latham
Current "president" of the Geezers, former broadcast news teacher and former announcer for Firing Line and other national programs on public broadcasting – as well as announcer for USC commencements and other ceremonial occasions. His former students include many of the well-known newscasters throughout the state and region.

John Lopiccolo
Taught hundreds, perhaps thousands, of students broadcast production—no easy task under the best of conditions, but truly daunting when equipment is lacking and what there is may not work. Served for years as graduate studies director. His research had much to do with enhancing the visibility of the Movietone News archive, an invaluable resource for the University.

Henry Price
Those of us who worked with Dr. Price considered him the ablest copy-editing teacher in the business—a choice ratified by the Freedom Forum, which honored him as one of the four top journalism educators in the country. Served as associate dean for undergraduate affairs for a long time, then a year as interim dean of the College. He is widely known and respected by editors, a number of whom are his former students, and by colleagues across the campus, who elected him to a term as Faculty Senate chairman.

Charles Sanders
A former managing editor of the Columbia Record, Charlie was lured into public relations to serve the textile executives of South Carolina at the highest level – and to win a coveted Order of the Palmetto. Moving into teaching late in his career, he brought solid, real-world insights to his students, who appreciated his caring concern and courtly manner. Known to raise his voice only when the Gamecocks are winning.

Al Scroggins
When a youthful Scroggins took charge of it in the '60s, journalism at USC was little more than a department. A generation later, he had made it a College, in every sense of the word. When he retired, Dean Scroggins was the longest-serving head of any journalism program in the country, a record that may still stand. He assembled a powerhouse faculty, including former media stars, and gave the South Carolina program the national visibility it has enjoyed ever since. For many alumni and friends of the College, the soft-spoken, elegant Al Scroggins will always be "The Dean."

Joe Shoquist
Hired from the Milwaukee Journal, where he had been a distinguished managing editor, Joe agreed to serve as dean for five years—and did so skillfully and successfully. Negotiating new resources long overdue, he was able to expand the faculty and, more important to him, change its profile and make dramatic progress toward diversity. His leadership also brought the program additional national respect through his continued work with the Associated Press Managing Editors Association and the AEJMC Accrediting Committee, both of which he had at one time headed. Internally, his achievements also included pushing for, and getting, approval of a doctoral program—this and more during a term characterized by growth, professionalism, high morale and, in an important tradition of the place, civility.

Chris Vlahoplus
For years a vice president of the University and secretary of the Board of Trustees, he grew weary of the brutal politics of the James Holderman presidency and chose to move to the classroom. He accepted his new – and far less elaborate – surroundings cheerfully and with grace, and enjoyed the opportunity to draw upon his professional years as a wire service reporter and as PR adviser to a governor and a couple of senators back in Illinois. He is enormously popular in Columbia, especially with political and business leaders. (Warning: Having lunch with Chris in a crowded restaurant is not a good idea: So many politicians and civic bigwigs will drop by to pay their respects that you may not get around to your food.)

Lloyd W. Brown
He of the mellifluous voice, who not only taught a full load of broadcast courses but also had charge of undergraduate student records and was an invaluable source of support to deans and associate deans for many years. Bill Brown seemed never to leave the office, and he especially loved Saturdays and Sundays because he could get more work done with fewer interruptions. When he retired, several persons had to be hired to replace him, and few know more, or care more deeply, about radio and radio history than this good man.

Mary Caldwell
One of the first women on the male-dominated (Chauvinistic? Or merely traditional and slow to change?) faculty, Mary not only survived but also became sequence chair in public relations. She directed Bateman teams to national awards and supervised numerous special events in the College while she taught—and nurtured—hundreds of students into good careers in public relations.

Bill Goodrich
A former big-city ad man who chaired the advertising sequence for years and built it into one of the best. He assembled top faculty – his hires included Bonnie Drewniany and Jon Wardrip, to name only two – and prodded the AAF student ad team to one championship after another. He, too, as his colleague Jerry Jewler would be later, was chosen AAF's national Advertising Educator of the Year.

Goodrich died Jan. 25, 2006. Read more>

Don McKinney
Came to the academy after an outstanding career—New York Daily News, Saturday Evening Post and McCall's, where he was managing editor for about 20 years. His polished professionalism and laid-back teaching style endeared him to his students as he developed superb courses in magazine journalism and a student magazine, Cola, which, sadly, did not survive long after his retirement. His book on magazine article writing, which grew out of his lecture notes here, remains the best available on the subject.

Ralph Morgan
A tough-minded advertising pro, respected by, and connected to, agencies and other businesses all over the country. He is especially popular with Atlanta’s advertising community, where he was a prominent player before entering teaching. Frequently called in as an advertising and marketing consultant, he was admired by his students, who learned from Ralph's management style what it would be like to work for a savvy advertising executive.

Henry Schulte 
Following a grand career as a newspaper editor and, among much else, holder of the Kiplinger Chair in journalism at Ohio State, Hank "unretired" long enough to give USC's renowned Senior Semester some of its best years.  Now, at an age when most would be content to relax on the beach (and Hank owns his own beach, incidentally, just off the Georgia coast), he remains a devoted and active defender of press freedom and reporters' rights and is still called upon as a writing coach and editorial consultant.  

Don Woolley
His off-the-wall classroom mannerisms could not disguise that he knew more about the nuts-and-bolts of news photography than just about anybody. Active in the National Press Photographers Association, he was familiar with virtually every Pulitzer Prize news photo of recent years and its background – probably because he had interviewed the shooter. Not every student got on Woolley's wavelength. But those who did became, or are rapidly becoming, successful photojournalists.

Woolley died June 14, 2005. Read more>>