District Interest » Capital Rotary Club

Qing Wang, a S.C. Department of Transportation bridge structural designer, is welcomed into Capital Rotary membership by her sponsor, Neda Beal (left) and club president Tommy Gibbons. Wang holds a structural engineering doctorate from Illinois Institute of Technology in Chicago, where she was also a teaching and research assistant. She earned undergraduate degrees from China’s Beijing City University and Yanshan University. She’s also a University of South Carolina liaison to the executive board of the American Society of Civil Engineers midlands branch.

Capital Rotary member Harry Carter (right) and his wife, Kathy, met Rotary International’s 2016-17 president John Germ at a December reception that was part of the Rotary Club of Columbia’s centennial observance. The reception saluted major donors who contribute $10,000 to the Rotary Foundation, the international service club’s charitable corporation funding world understanding and peace programs. Germ, a member of the Chattanooga, TN club, has been a Rotarian since 1976. Carter is a Capital Rotary past president and was co-chair for Rotary District 7770 major donors for five years.

Capital Rotary Club member Mike Montgomery (right) has been honored for donations to The Rotary Foundation, the international service club’s charitable corporation that funds programs for world understanding and peace. Montgomery is a Paul Harris Fellow plus-four donor, representing an initial $1,000 donation, plus four additional gifts of $1,000 each. He was recognized by past president David Boucher (left), the Capital club’s chairman for Foundation giving.

Our speaker on Wednesday, November 16, 2016 was Pamela Lackey, President of AT&T SC. She is responsible for the company’s regulatory, economic development, legislative and community affairs activities in the state. She works closely with state and community leaders to help bring new technology and jobs to the state and improve the quality of life for all South Carolinians.

Pamela brings a diverse background to her position, having joined AT&T’s predecessor company, BellSouth, in 1997. She initially served in the business marketing group, where she was the company’s primary interface with education and government customers. In that role, Pamela was instrumental in establishing the state’s first broadband network to provide high-speed Internet service to all schools and libraries. She was subsequently promoted to the position of Director-Government Relations, where she worked directly with members of the S.C. General Assembly on public policy matters. She was named to her current position in October 2007.

Prior to her telecommunications career, Pamela was a professional educator. She most recently served as the Senior Executive Assistant to the State Superintendent of Education, where she directed a division with responsibility for technology, curriculum standards, testing and professional development for teachers and administrators. Before being named supervisor of library media programs for the SC. Department of Education, she began her career as a school library media specialist.

Her numerous honors and awards include being named the 2011 Business Leader of the Year by the South Carolina Chamber of Commerce, the highest award bestowed by the state’s largest statewide broad-based business and industry trade association, which represents more than 18,000 businesses and more than one million employees.

Pamela is extensively engaged in community and civic affairs through leadership roles with numerous local and state organizations. She is currently a co-chair of the Transform SC education initiative, a Past Chair of the SC State Chamber Of Commerce, a Vice Chair of the S.C. Ports Authority Board, having been appointed by Governor Haley and originally confirmed by the State Senate in 2011. The boards on which she serves include the Business Partnership Foundation at USC’s Moore School of Business, the Palmetto AgriBusiness Council, the Palmetto Business Forum, Hollings Cancer Center Advisory Board, the United Way of the Midlands Board and the International African American Museum Board. Previously, she served four years on the Research Centers of Excellence Review Board, including as Chair.

A native of Meridian, MS, she attended the University of Alabama, where she was awarded a Bachelor’s in Education and a Master of Library Science and an Ed.S in school media supervision. She moved to South Carolina in 1980

In her faith community, Pamela is a member of Trinity Episcopal Cathedral, where she serves on the Altar Guild.

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Picture credit: Millennium Magazine

University of South Carolina Athletics Director Ray Tanner spoke to the Columbia Capital Rotary Club on October 19, 2016. Tanner is in his fifth year guiding the fortunes of the Gamecocks’ athletics programs. After a long and highly successful career as Carolina’s baseball coach, Tanner officially began his new duties on Aug. 2, 2012.

Under Tanner’s watch, Gamecock student-athletes have achieved tremendous success in intercollegiate athletic competition, in the classroom and the community.

During the past two academic years, Gamecock student-athletes have led all schools in the SEC Academic Honor Roll, earning more than 700 recognitions. Carolina student-athletes have earned a cumulative 3.0 grade point average or better in 18 consecutive semesters.

In the last four academic years, the Gamecocks have won a national championship (equestrian), five SEC regular season and tournament championships and its 686 points in the 2015-16 Learfield Sports Directors’ Cup All-Sports Standings is the most since 2002-03 (701 points).

In 2015-16, Carolina also claimed the inaugural Certified SC Grown Palmetto Series, sponsored by the South Carolina Department of Agriculture. The series consists of athletic, community service and academic points in head-to-head matchups against Clemson.

The Gamecocks have had 15 teams finish in the Top 10, 29 finish in the Top 25 with student-athletes earning 127 All-SEC and 205 All-America honors during the last four years.

Carolina student-athletes accomplished these academic and athletic feats while performing more than 9,000 hours of community service, breaking an athletics department record for three straight years.

Article Source: http://www.gamecocksonline.com/genrel/tanner_ray00.html

Capital Rotary member Jenks Mikell gives Arden Elementary School third-graders tips on how to use the new paperback dictionaries they received as part of the club’s participation in The Dictionary Project. The project – begun by a non-profit organization in Charleston in 1995 – aims to help students become good writers, active readers, creative thinkers and resourceful learner.

Capital Rotary donated dictionaries to more than 840 students in 12 Richland County District One schools for 2016-17. Over the past 12 years, the club has distributed personal dictionaries to some 12,150 students in the Columbia area.

A number of Rotary clubs in South Carolina and throughout the country are Dictionary Project sponsors. One of Rotary International’s major goals is improving basic education and literacy.

Longtime Capital Rotarians Tommy Phelps (left) and Mark Bokesch (right) have been recognized for giving to the Rotary Foundation, the international service club’s charitable corporation that funds world understanding and peace programs. They were thanked by David Boucher, Foundation gifts chairman and Capital Rotary’s immediate past president. Phelps and Bokesch are each Paul Harris Fellows plus-one, representing an initial $1,000 contribution, plus an additional $1,000.

Four members of the University of South Carolina’s Rotaract Club talked with Capital Rotary president-elect Blake DuBose (center) at a recent breakfast meeting. Junior Carter Grant (far right) leads the Rotaract group, while sophomore Joel Welch (second from right) is technology coordinator. Senior Shelby Olsen (far left) is treasurer for the student group; Nicole Newsom (second from left) is a 2016 USC graduate. Rotaract is open to adults ages 18-30 interested in community service, in developing leadership and professional skills, and who enjoy networking and social activities.

Capital Rotary member Neda Beal is honored as the club’s 2016 Columbia Capital Rotarian of the Year by past president David Boucher (left) and Blake DuBose, president-elect for 2017-2018. Beal was recognized for guiding service projects in local flood relief, in distributing dictionaries to third-graders in Richland School District One and in volunteering at Harvest Hope Food Bank. She serves on the club’s 2016-2017 board of directors and is a multiple Paul Harris Fellow, signifying donations to the Rotary Foundation that funds international charitable programs.

Dreher High School graduate Victoria Bailey is attending the College of Charleston with the aid of a four-year $5,000 scholarship from Columbia’s Capital Rotary. She attended a recent meeting as a guest of Darren Foy, chair of the club’s scholarship committee. Bailey, a sophomore majoring in biology with a concentration in molecular biology, hopes to become an orthopedic surgeon. She’s a member of Alpha Epsilon Delta, a pre-health honor society, and takes part in undergraduate research in organic chemistry.

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