headshot of Dr. Anita Gustafson

President

Anita Olson Gustafson, Ph.D.

Anita Olson Gustafson, Ph.D. will take office on Aug. 1, 2023, as the 20th president of Presbyterian College. 

She returned to PC after seven years as the dean of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences and a professor of history at Mercer University, a private research university in Macon, Ga. Before joining Mercer in 2016, Gustafson served on the PC faculty and administration for nearly two decades. She will be the first female president in PC history.

While at Mercer University, Gustafson managed the university’s largest academic undergraduate college with nearly 2000 students. She collaborated consistently with the provost and deans from 11 other university programs, including the Schools of Law, Business, Engineering, Education, Theology, Professional Advancement, Music, Medicine, Pharmacy, Nursing, and Health Professions. In 2018, she worked with faculty to develop and implement a strategic plan for the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences. 

During her 19 years at PC, Gustafson worked to deliver a high-quality liberal arts program as a member of the faculty and as an administrator. She served on the president’s cabinet for more than two years while the presidential position was in transition due to a retirement. She also served as interim provost, interim dean of academic programs and history department chair. Gustafson held a number of faculty leadership roles at PC, including chair of the Senior Faculty Council and chair of the PC Launch Program for Vocation, Leadership and Service. 

Gustafson earned her doctorate and master’s degrees in history from Northwestern University in Evanston, Ill. She holds a bachelor’s degree with majors in economics and Swedish and a minor in history from North Park University in Chicago.

Dr. Gustafson and her husband, Charles, have one son, Karl, who is a graduate student in global sustainability at the University of Helsinki, Finland. 

Rogers-Ingram Vice President for Justice, Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion

Dr. Selena Blair

Dr. Selena Blair is Presbyterian College’s first Rogers-Ingram Vice President for Justice, Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion, and the Title IX coordinator.

Blair joined the president’s cabinet in June 2022 after serving as director of equity and inclusion and Title IX coordinator at Limestone University in Gaffney.

A 2004 graduate of Limestone, Blair earned a master of arts in counseling from Webster University in 2007. In 2022, she earned a doctor of education in professional leadership from Converse University in Spartanburg.

In addition, Blair earned a certification in diversity, equity, and inclusion in the workplace from the University of South Florida and is a certified trainer with Employment Learning Innovations Inc. and the National Coalition Building Institute.

Blair, a TRIO alumna, began her professional career as an administrative specialist and counselor for the TRIO Educational Talent Search at Williamsburg Technical College in Kingstree. In 2005, she joined the staff at Greenville Technical College – first as a financial aid officer and associate director of financial aid before serving as director of TRIO Student Support Services. In 2012, she became the director of TRIO Student Support Services at the University of South Carolina Upstate, where she also served as an adjunct professor.

Blair has held numerous leadership positions at the state, regional and national levels to further philanthropic endeavors as well as advocating on Capitol Hill for policy changes and increased funding to benefit marginalized students. In 2017, Blair was the first person elected from the state of South Carolina as president of the Southeastern Association of Educational Opportunity Program Personnel and has served on the National Board of Directors for the Council of Opportunity in Education. She is an experienced grant writer, consultant, and presenter.

Blair is a four-time winner of the S.C. TRIO Presidential Award for Exceptional Service and a 2012 winner of the Randall E. McNeal Spirit of TRIO Staff Award. That same year, she earned Greenville Technical College’s Unsung Hero Award. In 2013, she was the Unsung Southeastern Association of Educational Opportunity Program Personnel Supporter, and in 2014, she earned the USC Upstate Multicultural Programs Empowerment Award.

Blair is a member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority Inc. and is an active parent volunteer with the Girl Scouts of South Carolina Mountains to Midlands. She is also a minister in training, director of public relations, church clerk, and youth advisor at New Hope Christian Church.

Interim Vice President for Finance and Administration

Daniel Hall

Daniel Hall is the interim vice president for finance and administration at Presbyterian College,
where he will serve through 2025.

Hall, who has more than 30 years of executive experience in corporate and higher education finance and operations, is a 1976 graduate of Willamette University in Salem, Ore., where he earned a Bachelor of Science in economics and urban and regional governments. He earned his MBA in finance from the University of Oregon in 1978. He began a decades-long career in financial leadership roles in the private sector, including serving as the chief financial officer for the Space Needle Corp. in Seattle, Wash., the Georgia Dome, and the Georgia World Congress Center’s MGR Food Services.

From 1999-2001, Hall served as the Oregon Department of Human Services’ statewide facilities
administrator, then took over as the business services manager for the Oregon Employment Department from 2001-07. In 2007, he became the chief financial officer and senior director of operations for the International Society for Technology in Education. In 2011, he became the assistant provost for operations and administration for Higher Colleges of Technology in the United Arab Emirates.

Hall began his first foray into U.S. higher education in 2012 as vice president of finance and facilities at North Hennepin Community College in Minnesota. From 2016-22, he served as vice president of administrative services at Los Angeles Southwest College.

After retiring in 2022, Hall has served in two interim positions – as the interim vice president, chief operating officer, and chief financial officer of Cornell College in Mount Vernon, Iowa, and the interim vice president for administrative services and chief financial officer for Walla Walla Community College in Washington state.

Dee Nichols, PC athletic director

Dee Nichols, PC Athletic Director

Athletic Director

Dee Nichols

Longtime athletic administrator Dee Nichols joined the president’s cabinet in Aug. 2023 as PC’s new director of athletics.

Nichols brings decades of leadership experience in intercollegiate athletics to her new post, most recently serving as the senior associate athletic director for operations and senior woman administrator.

Nichols joined the PC Department of Athletics in 2009 as assistant athletic director and quickly established herself as a leader within the program and across campus. An instrumental part of the department’s operations, Nichols has served various stints supervising athletic offices responsible for NCAA compliance, scholarships, programming, and facilities operations, in addition to a period as interim AD.

Nichols played an integral role in several influential periods in the department’s history, including the Division I transition, the addition of four varsity sports, assisting an $8 million campaign to fund new athletic facilities, and serving as an adviser on the design of three new athletic facilities.

Over the past 13 years, Nichols has grown the department’s first NCAA Division I compliance program, focusing on education and monitoring. She has aided in the creation and development of the academic services position to provide resources to student-athletes.

During her tenure, Nichols has held titles of assistant athletic director (2009-12), associate athletic director (2012-15), senior associate athletic director (2015-19), and interim athletic director (April to August 2019), as well as the senior woman administrator role she was appointed to in 2010.

She has held numerous other leadership positions on campus, from her post on the Diversity and Inclusion Advisory Council, as adviser to the Student-Athlete Advisory Council, and as the athletic department’s liaison to campus departments, including Residential Life, Financial Aid, Conduct, and Title IX.

Nichols was also named an Honorary Alumna of PC in 2020.

Fellow PC trustee Brad Spearman ’85, who worked closely with Nichols on athletic initiatives, is also enthusiastic about the college’s choice.

A 1991 graduate of Georgia Southern University with a Bachelor of Health and Physical Education, Nichols earned her master’s degree in physical education from GSU in 1992. As a student, she was a four-year starter in volleyball for the Eagles.

Nichols began her professional career in intercollegiate athletics as an assistant volleyball coach at GSU in 1992. She served as head volleyball coach for her alma mater from 1994-97 before switching to women’s basketball as a recruiting coordinator. Before joining PC’s athletics staff, Nichols was the assistant compliance director at the University of Rhode Island.

Nichols resides in Clinton with her husband, Harold ’89. They have three children – Cassie ’20, Cameron, and Corey.

Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs

Dr. Kerry Pannell

Dr. Kerry Pannell joined PC as provost and vice president for academic affairs in June 2021.

Formerly the vice president for academic programs at the Council of Independent Colleges in Washington, D.C., Pannell is an award-winning educator and accomplished researcher.

She was honored with the Centennial Teaching Assistant Award at Stanford University while earning her Ph.D. in economics and was the recipient of the DePauw United Methodist Church Exemplary Teaching Award in 2008 during her long tenure at DePauw University in Indiana.

Pannell began teaching in DePauw’s department of economics and management in 1997 and was named the Q.G. Noblitt Professor of Economics in 2008 before serving as the school’s dean of the faculty from 2009-2012. During her tenure at DePauw, she coordinated the Consortium for Faculty Diversity at Liberal Arts Colleges, leading efforts to increase pre- and post-doctoral fellowships for diverse graduate students interested in academic careers at liberal arts colleges.

In 2013, Pannell joined the administration at Agnes Scott College in Decatur, Ga., as the associate vice president for academic affairs and associate dean of the faculty. She received a promotion to vice president for academic affairs in 2015, serving there until 2019, when she joined the Council of Independent Colleges as an administrator.

Throughout her career, Pannell has championed diversity in academia. She continues to teach and do research on economic pedagogy. She also writes on issues of higher education, immigration, and the liberal arts.

Pannell is a magna cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa graduate of the University of Colorado-Boulder, where she earned both her bachelor’s and master’s degrees in economics. In addition to teaching at her alma mater, she also taught at Bowdoin College and the Kiev Polytechnic Institute.

Pannell and her husband, David Worthington, DePauw University Emeritus Professor of Communication and Theatre, live in Clinton with their four dogs — Boomer, Cooper, Gus, and Max.

Executive Director of Strategic Initiatives

Leni Patterson

Leni Neal Patterson ’83 — one of Presbyterian College’s most experienced leaders — has joined the president’s cabinet at the College’s first executive director of strategic initiatives.

Patterson is charged with facilitating PC’s strategic planning processes and serves as project manager for specific initiatives critical to meeting the College’s strategic plans.

In addition to assisting and advising the president, she also engages with colleagues across the campus and external constituents to ensure institutional alignment with strategic plans.

In his announcement to campus on Sept 13, 2021, vandenBerg said Patterson’s “supreme project management capabilities, her deep experience in multiple offices, and her strong relationships make her an ideal choice for this role.”

Patterson joined the staff at her alma mater in 2000 and has served in a variety of leadership roles, including dean of enrollment and dean of community life. Since 2014, she has served as executive director of alumni relations and most recently has served as interim vice president of enrollment and interim director of marketing and communications.

In her work in alumni relations, Patterson established eight alumni chapters and re-established the African-American Alumni Council and the Young Alumni Council. She engaged more than 300 alumni in PC’s Compass Program to conduct informational interviews with college sophomores related to their career interests.

She has also been a dedicated community leader. Patterson is the former chair of the Laurens County School District 55 Board of Trustees, former president of the S.C. School Boards Association, and a director on the National School Boards Association. She is a member and elder at First Presbyterian Church in Clinton, where she currently serves as a member of the Session and as chair of the administrative committee.

She has three sons and daughters-in-law and four grandchildren.

headshot of Andrew Peterson

Dean of Students and Interim Title IX Coordinator

Andrew Peterson

Drew Peterson joined the president’s cabinet in Summer 2023 as Presbyterian College’s dean of students.

In his role as the college’s chief student affairs officer, he and his staff are responsible for campus events, esports, Greek life, new student orientation, residence life, student conduct, and student involvement. Peterson is also responsible for creating and facilitating leadership opportunities for students, faculty, and staff utilizing the Social Change Model of Student Leadership Development – including workshops, annual retreats, and the development of the Emerging Leaders Retreat for first-year students.

Peterson’s career at PC began in 2014 when he joined the staff as associate dean of student life and director of residential life. In January 2022, he was promoted to dean of students, and in April 2023 was named interim Title IX coordinator.

Before PC, he served as assistant director of residential life at Ohio Wesleyan University in Delaware, Ohio, from July 2011 to May 2014.

A 2007 graduate of Allegheny College in Meadville, Penn., Peterson holds bachelor’s degrees in psychology and English. In 2011, he earned his master’s degree in higher education and student affairs from the Ohio State University and is currently pursuing a Doctor of Education in leadership for organizations from the University of Dayton in Dayton, Ohio.

Peterson served on the executive board of the Association of College and University Housing Officers-International (ACUHO-I) from 2019-21 as the small colleges and universities director. With the ACUHO-I, he created the small colleges online network and developed the organization’s first small school symposium. He is the past president of the S.C. Housing Officers Association.

At PC, he taught the first-year experience course, “There and Back Again: A Journey into College with Tolkien’s ‘The Hobbit’” and is a member of the PC College Diversity and Inclusion Task Force. He established and chaired the PC National Coalition Building Institute, which provided workshops, guided conversations, and listening sessions for the campus community about diversity and inclusion.

In 2023, he was an inaugural inductee in Alpha Alpha Alpha, a national honor society for first generation college students.

Peterson lives in Clinton with his two sons, Jake and Spencer, and their dog, Cookie. He has served on Eastside Elementary’s School Improvement Council and loves helping coach youth sports teams through the Clinton YMCA.

Vice President of Advancement

Dr. Francis Schodowski

Dr. Francis Schodowski joined the Presbyterian College community as vice president of advancement in August, 2022.

Schodowski is a 1996 graduate of Elizabethtown College in Pennsylvania, earning a bachelor of science in business administration and marketing. He earned a master of business administration from Alvernia University in Reading, Penn., and a doctorate in education from Northeastern University in Boston, Mass.

Prior to PC, Schodowski served as executive vice president at Columbia College in Columbia, S.C., where he also served as vice president for advancement.

Before joining the administration at Columbia, Schodowski served as associate vice president for advancement at Lebanon Valley College in Annville, Penn.

Prior to that, Schodowski joined the staff at Millersville University in Pennsylvania as director of development. While there, his responsibilities evolved to include service as director of planned giving, interim executive director of the Millersville University Foundation, and interim assistant vice president of alumni and development. During his tenure at Millersville and with its institutionally-affiliated foundation, the endowment doubled and a comprehensive campaign was designed, conducted, and concluded with gifts exceeding $85 million.

He began his professional career in 1996 as an admissions counselor at Alvernia. In just under a decade, Schodowski advanced in various roles both in admissions and advancement. He served as assistant director of admissions, director of undergraduate admissions, director of development, and assistant vice president of development, before completing his time at Alvernia as associate vice president of advancement.

Living the college’s motto “While We Live, We Serve”, he has been active in the communities in which he has worked. Most recently, service opportunities have included SCBio (Board), SC Philharmonic (Advisory Board), SC Planned Giving Council (Board). Other areas of interest and support around non-profit and economic impact have included Special Olympics (volunteer), Columbia Development Corporation (Board).

Francis and his wife, Amy, have three children- Kaylee, George, and Makenna.

Chief Marketing Officer

Dana Simmons

Dana Simmons joined Presbyterian College on Oct. 1, 2021, as its first chief marketing officer.

A graduate of Brigham Young University, Simmons was the former director of enrollment communications and operations at Stetson University before joining President Matt vandenBerg’s cabinet last fall.

She began her career in marketing as the e-commerce marketing and search marketing manager for FranklinCovey Co. in Utah. She made her move to higher education in 2006 when she became director of enrollment marketing communications for Westminster College in Salt Lake City, Utah. She also served as director of marketing communications at Western Governors University in Utah before landing at Stetson.

Simmons has creatively led rebranding initiatives and managed strategies across multiple channels in various methods to achieve maximum marketing performance.

She has shared her expertise with many others in the marketing field, including the Capture Higher Education Resolve Conference, the American Association of Colleges Recruitment Admissions Officers, the American Marketing Association, and the RecruitmentPlus Users Conference.

Simmons’ work earned her the Utah American Marketing Association Spotlight of the Month in June 2012, the Presidential Star Award at Westminster College in 2009, and the Summit Award from FranklinCovey in 2005.

She is the mother of two grown children and has two dogs.

Rev. Dr. Buz Wilcoxon, Chaplain and Dean of Spiritual Life

Marianne and E.G. Lassiter Chaplain and Dean of Spiritual Life

Rev. Dr. Searcy Allen “Buz” Wilcoxon IV ’05

The Rev. Dr. Searcy Allen “Buz” Wilcoxon IV ‘05 is Presbyterian College’s first Marianne and E.G. Lassiter Chaplain and Dean of Spiritual Life.

Wilcoxon was an exemplary student at PC. In addition to earning valedictorian and Outstanding Senior honors, he also earned the Lewis S. Hay Religion Award, the Jack and Jane Presseau Service Award, and the Outstanding Senior in Religion and Philosophy.

His graduate career was equally impressive. Wilcoxon earned his Master of Divinity degree in 2008 from Columbia Theological Seminary in Decatur, Ga. He earned the Florrie Wilkes Sanders Prize in Theology, the Anna Whitner Memorial Fellowship, the Wilds Book Prize, and was a Columbia Scholar.

Wilcoxon also earned his Doctor of Ministry degree from Columbia, where he was honored with the Lyman and Myki Mobley Prize in Worship and the George and Sally Telford Award.

Wilcoxon was ordained as a Minister of Word and Sacrament by the Presbyterian Church (USA) in 2008. He served as associate pastor at Fourth Presbyterian Church in Greenville, SC and senior pastor at Spring Hill Presbyterian Church in Mobile, AL.

Wilcoxon is a member of the Columbia Theological Seminary Board of Trustees, and he served as a board member of the Christus Theological Institute at Springs Hill College

He has been a stalwart servant in the larger church, having served on numerous committees in Foothills Presbytery, the Presbytery of South Alabama, the Synod of Living Waters, and the PC (USA). He has been a contributing writer, columnist, and hymn writer for Call to Worship, a liturgical publication of the PC(USA), and he served on the editorial review board for the Book of Common Worship.

The Presbyterian College Board of Trustees is composed of 27 trustees who are charged with the overall governance and shaping of the policies that lead the College in its practices and in reaching its goals.

Robin Boren ’97

President, Southern Power
Atlanta, Ga.

Rev. Dr. John Brearley

John Brearley '81

Senior Minister, Myrtle Beach First Presbyterian Church
Myrtle Beach, S.C.

W. Bradley Bryant ’75 VP

VP, REACH Georgia
Atlanta, Ga.

Headshot Lumus Byrd

Lumus Byrd

Retired
Clinton, S.C.

Willie Cooper, Jr. ’81

CPA, Independent Consultant
Fayetteville, N.C.

Hartwell Dew ’75

Executive VP, Guy Carpenter and Company, LLC
Atlanta, Ga.

Tom Free ’91

Retired
St. Petersburg, Fla.

Gregg Frierson | Board of Trustees | Presbyterian College | Clinton SC

Gregg Frierson

Senior VP/Commercial Credit Manager, Bank of America
Orangeburg, S.C.

Whitney Harrison`s headshot

Whitney Harrison ’07

Attorney with McGowan, Hood, Felder, & Phillips, LLC
Columbia, S.C.
Alumni Association Representative

John Inman ’87

President, HMI Property Solutions
Atlanta, Ga.

John Jeselnik ’73

Principal, EZ Way Farm
North Augusta, Ga.

E.G. Lassiter ’69

CEO, RSUI Group, Inc. (Retired)
Atlanta, Ga.

Ann Taylor Morgan ’81

Senior Business Executive in Human Resources-Risk Management and Consulting, City of Rock Hill
Rock Hill, S.C.

Rev. Danny C. Murphy

General Presbyter, Trinity Presbytery
Lexington, S.C.

Wes Nalley ’86

President, Nalley Construction Company
Greenville, S.C.

Dr. Floyd Michael Nicholson ’14

Dentist, SC Department of Corrections
Columbia, S.C.
Alumni Association Representative

Rev. Dr. Jeri Parris Perkins ’81

Senior Pastor, John’s Island Presbyterian Church
John’s Island, SC.

Ted Pitts ’94

President/CEO, Wilson Kibler
Lexington, S.C.

Chad Prashad`s headshot

Chad Prashad ’02

President and Chief Executive Officer of World Acceptance Corporation
Greenville, S.C.

Dr. Holbrook Raynal ’70

Medical Director, Qlarant Integrity Solutions, LLC
Clinton, S.C.

Dr. H. Stanley Reid ’74

Designated Supply Pastor, Westminster Presbyterian Church
Greenville, S.C.

Ruth Roper - Board Chair

VP of Strategy and Business Development (Retired), Sealed Air
Greenville, S.C.

Dr. Jimmy Sain ’75

Director of Pharmacy (Ret.), Network Healthcare
Hilton Head Island, S.C.

Nathan Senn

Nathan Senn

Mayor of Laurens
Laurens, S.C.

Louise Slater - Secretary of the Board

Partner, The Price Group
Candler, N.C.

Steve Smith '84 | Board of Trustees | Presbyterian College | Clinton SC

Steve Smith ‘84

President/CEO, Swagelok North Carolina & East Tennessee
Waxhaw, N.C.

Brad Spearman ’85

Director of Operations, Global Tech Industries
Clarkesville, Ga.

Emeriti Trustees

Ronald Allen
Atlanta, Ga.

James H. Barnhardt Jr. ’67
Charlotte, N.C.

Kenneth R. Couch
White Stone, S.C.

William C. Gaston ’65
Atlanta, Ga.

L. Thompson Lawson, III
Charlotte, N.C.

William D. Loeble, Jr., ’65
Mt. Pleasant, S.C.

Rev. Allen C. McSween
Greenville, S.C.

Thomas H. Milton ’72
Greensboro, N.C.

Richard H. Monk
Birmingham, Ala.

G. Patrick Phillips ’71
Charlotte, N.C.

James H. Powell
Marietta, Ga.

William B. Shearer, Jr.
Miramar Beach, Fla.