Meet Frater Luther Carter, Francis Marion University President

FLORENCE, S.C. - Since 1999, Frater Luther Fredrick Carter has served as the president of Francis Marion University, a public liberal arts institution located in eastern South Carolina. The University offers curricula in 49 academic disciplines and programs to 3500 undergraduate and 500 graduate students. Dr. Carter completed a sabbatical year in 2003 to serve as the chief of staff to South Carolina Governor Mark Sanford. Previously, he served as the executive director of the South Carolina Budget and Control Board, the state's central management agency, from 1991-1999, as the senior executive assistant to South Carolina Governor Carroll Campbell from 1987-1991, and as the chairman of the political science department at the College of Charleston from 1981-1987.

Dr. Carter has authored five books and numerous articles and chapters, and sits on the editorial board of Public Forum. Presently, he serves on the S.C. Educational Television Endowment Board, the S.C. Bar Association's Commission for an Independent Judiciary, the Board of Trustees of Carolinas Hospital System, and chairs the South Carolina Commission for International Cooperation and Agreements. He is the recipient of the South Carolina Order of the Palmetto, the Public Official of the Year Award from the S.C. Regional Councils of Government, and honorary doctoral degrees from the College of Charleston, Lander University and the Citadel. He received the 1999 Distinguished State Executive Award from the National Governors' Association, and President Bush appointed him to the Presidential Commission on White House Fellowships in 2001. In 2002, the American Association of University Professors selected him as the national recipient of the Ralph Brown Award "for significant contributions to the principles of shared governance in American higher education." The South Carolina Chamber of Commerce recognized him as the recipient of its 2003 State Public Servant of the Year Award, and most recently, the International Federation of German-American Clubs has selected him as the recipient of the 2004 General Lucius Clay Medal for "sustained efforts to develop a strong and lasting friendship between the German and American people."

Dr. Carter received his BA degree from the University of Central Florida in 1972 and was recognized as its distinguished alumnus in 1999. He earned his MPA (1976) and PhD (1979) degrees from the University of South Carolina. He is a retired Colonel in the U.S. Marine Corps Reserve.

He and his wife, Folly, have two children - Luke, 9, and Bryan, 28, an economist with T. Rowe Price.

Adapted from Francis Marion University Biography. If you would like to see your chapter news here, contact Communications Coordinator Tom McAninch.