Spring 2008 - Vol. 61, No. 2

R. Glenn Hilliard '65

Glenn Hilliard has kept Clemson on his crowded agenda over the 43 years since he received his degree in English — a major he's glad to have had in the top level business world he has traveled.

After leaving Clemson, he earned a law degree at George Washington University and worked for a time in Washington, D.C., for the late S.C. Congressman William Jennings Bryan Dorn.

Since then, Hilliard has led, as CEO or chairman, Liberty Life Insurance Co., ING Americas and Conseco Inc. and is a respected leader in a dozen arts, environmental and educational organizations throughout the country. Recently retired as Conseco chairman, he has reduced his schedule to "only five days a week" in his Hilliard Group LLC offices in Atlanta. That, he says, gives him more time for family, travel, outdoor recreation and the environment, all lifelong passions.

As member and chairman (2004-2006) of the Clemson University Foundation board of directors, he's credited in part for its rise into the top 25 percent of all university endowments in investment performance. A major giver to the Clemson Fund and IPTAY, he was the inaugural donor to Clemson's Palmetto Challenge in support of research and education initiatives that advance the economy.

Hilliard has generously repaid his alma mater for reintroducing him to Heather, his wife of 42 years, during his senior year. She was the first girl he ever kissed — "on the cheek"— when he was 12 years old. They have three daughters: Kathryn Stuart, Nancy Joyce and Glenn Shaw.
Web Extra: R. Glenn Hilliard

Kathy Hayes Hunter '80, '83

When Kathy Hunter came to Clemson at 17, she began a 30-year love affair with the school. And Clemson has loved her back.

She has been Clemson Alumni Association president, a member of the Alumni National Council, and board member and chair of the Women's Alumni Council.

A Clemson Fund member since graduation and a life member of IPTAY, Hunter served on the Clemson University Foundation board of directors from 2001 to 2003. Since 2004, she has been on the Clemson University Library Ambassadors board.

Known for incredible energy, she has also been a Freshman Move-In Day volunteer — even in 100-degree weather! A wellness professional with the Lexington Medical Center, she credits her vigor to "genes" and "eating my vegetables."

Born in Washington state, she came to Clemson via Pennsylvania and Alabama. She earned a B.A. in English and a B.S. in computer science in 1983. While an undergraduate, she met another lifelong love, her husband, Jody Hunter —'79. The Hunters have two daughters, Hall, 16, and Macy, 14.

The Hunter family lives in Lexington where they are active in St. Albans Episcopal Church. Kathy has volunteered with Meals on Wheels, Upstate Friends in Deed, and is a Red Cross and Safe Sitter instructor. Web Extra: Kathy Hayes Hunter

Roy B. Jeffcoat '55

If a man could be arrested for committing random acts of kindness, Roy Jeffcoat would be behind bars. And his wife, Yvonne, a willing accomplice, would be there with him.

Swansea natives, the Jeffcoats are known throughout the Anderson area and beyond for helping people in need, especially the young. Roy, an architectural engineering graduate, deplores the state's alarming high school dropout rate and focuses on ways to give children, ages 3 to 4, an early boost that will lead to success in school.

His face is familiar in children's cancer wards and on field trips with sick kids — meeting the Clemson Tiger and rubbing Howard's Rock or taking a ride in his plane — when they need cheering up. And that's just part of the story.

Jeffcoat is an active member or chairman of 15 local and state boards that reflect his broad interests. He recently founded a new group of church-based community clubs for preschool youngsters who need that extra push toward success.

The Jeffcoats' generosity to Clemson includes significant family contributions to the libraries, IPTAY grants-in-aid, military projects and numerous other causes. Roy has shared his own life successes, as CEO of Energy Conversion Corp. and as a real estate and construction entrepreneur, with the University since his graduation.

The Jeffcoat children are Sharon, Phylis, Kenny '79 and Rosalind '87. And there are 10 grandchildren ahead! Web Extra: Roy B. Jeffcoat

Danny L. Rhodes '68

Ask Danny Rhodes, associate dean of Anderson University's business college, his favorite part of a multifaceted life, and he answers: "Whatever I'm doing today!"

That might include teaching a class or working on the new MBA program, organizing a wild-game banquet for Utica Baptist Church near his Oconee County home, or, more likely than not, performing one of a multitude of volunteer jobs for Clemson.

Rhodes grew up with identical twin, Lanny, and five other siblings in Gastonia, N.C., and Rock Hill. A liberal arts major at Clemson, he had great love and respect for the school's "band of brothers" in the student cadet corps. That bond remains strong today.

Following graduation, he began a 26-year career in the U.S. Army, retiring as a colonel. He and wife, Rosemary, traveled the world on assignments — his included Vietnam — and parented two future Clemson alumni, Kelly Rhodes Cushman '96 and Kevin —˜00.

After a stint with industry, the Rhodes family settled in the nearby Seneca area. Danny's stellar work at Anderson University quickly won him accolades, and his constant support of Clemson — through the Clemson Fund and IPTAY and as past chair of the alumni-affiliated Clemson Corps — earns him even more.

His regard for those 470 Clemson students and alumni who died while serving their country led him to win approval and support for a Scroll of Honor as a tribute to them. When permanent, it will be erected next to the East Gate of Memorial Stadium, helping to keep Clemson's proud military tradition alive. Web Extra: Danny L. Rhodes

Randy R. Smith '66, HD '97

The month Randy Smith earned his pre-med degree from Clemson, he took his "life savings" and set out for Europe and for places unknown. Before returning home, he found a way to go behind the Iron Curtain and visit the Soviet Union.

That adventuresome spirit has taken him to many other places since he received his medical degree from the Medical College of Georgia. On 25 separate trips, he has used his skills as a teacher and plastic surgeon to provide up-to-date information to other doctors and badly needed help to patients in less-developed countries in Asia, Europe, Africa and Central and South America. He has been honored by those countries, his peers and Clemson for his work as a goodwill ambassador.

For 30 years, Smith has been associated with University Hospital in his hometown of Augusta, Ga. He was president of the medical staff and currently chairs the board of trustees. He helped plan and implement a $93 million expansion of the system, including a $50 million cardiac center.

A skilled athlete and football letterman, as well as a gifted student while at Clemson, he established the Randolph Smith Endowment for Excellence, contributes to IPTAY and the Palmetto Challenge, and is a member of the Benjamin Ryan Tillman Society.

He's married to Becky Jo and has four children: Katherine, Randolph, Rebecca '07 and Michael (Clemson student). Web Extra:Randy R. Smith