The man often credited with guiding the College of Charleston to where it is today, 16th President Theodore S. Stern, will celebrate the publishing of his biography just before his 100th birthday.
On September 24, 2012, the College of Charleston Friends of the Library will present a peek into the book during “An Evening With Ted Stern.” This free event will be held in Stern Center Ballroom (71 George Street) at 6 p.m. Please RSVP to fol@cofc.edu or 843.953.6526.
Dr. Theodore S. Stern, the College’s 16th President, and his biographer, Bob Macdonald, will discuss some highlights of Dr. Stern’s life and experiences as he approaches his 100th birthday on December 25, 2012. The biography will be published in 2013 by the College of Charleston Foundation.
The completed work will trace Dr. Stern’s life, from the early years growing up on New York City’s Upper West Side, to a distinguished 28-year naval career, progressing through his College presidency until today as he continues to be a source of wisdom for the College and the City of Charleston.
Ted Stern may have retired nearly three decades earlier from the College’s top post, but his legacy had endured and strengthened over time, with each passing year revealing what an incredibly prescient leader was been during his 10-year tenure. Simply put, Stern is responsible for the college you see today.
Four days after retiring from the Navy in 1968, Stern began work at the College, inheriting leadership of a private school close to bankruptcy and in danger of losing its accreditation.
He quickly righted the ship and, at the same time, oversaw the integration of black students and faculty. As president from 1968 to 1978, Ted Stern transformed the College of Charleston from a small, private institution with 482 students and a faculty of 27 to a public college with 5,000 students and a faculty of 181.
In 1970 he lobbied state legislators to accept the College as a state school, and then, with the creation of the College of Charleston Foundation, embarked on a building and buying spree.
Under his leadership, the College acquired approximately 80 buildings and constructed many of its most important facilities, including the Robert Scott Small Building, Maybank Hall, Physicians Memorial Auditorium, Buist Rivers Residence Hall, Rita Liddy Hollings Science Center, Grice Marine Lab, the Stern Center, and the Albert Simons Center for the Arts. He also helped introduce the College’s first graduate programs and South Carolina’s Governor’s School. He is also responsible for closing College and Green streets and paving sidewalks with the distinctive herringbone-patterned bricks.
Dr. Stern also played a crucial role in transforming the City of Charleston through his leadership in the development of Spoleto Festival USA, the South Carolina Aquarium, Charleston Place, and the Coastal Community Foundation of South Carolina.
Biographer Bob Macdonald has more than forty-seven years as an innovative museum leader, executive, and consultant responsible for directing large and medium sized public and private museums in the U.S. and across the world. He has also developed award-winning educational programs and noted publications. Since he and his wife, Cathy, “retired” here in 2002 he has served as Vice Chair of the South Carolina Aquarium, member of the board of the International African American Museum, member of the strategic planning committee of the Gibbes Museum of Art, and as an adviser to Mepkin Abbey.
For more information, visit blogs.cofc.edu/fol or call 843-953-6526.
