Alumni Profiles

Dan T. Cooper ’84

Fall 2005

Rep. Dan Cooper of Piedmont, a community and economic development graduate, is the new chairman of the S.C. House Ways and Means Committee, one of the most powerful committees in the state House of Representatives.

First elected in 1990 to District 10’s House seat, Cooper quickly gained a strong reputation for his fiscal responsibility and political savvy. He rose through the ranks, serving on the Ways and Means Committee for nine years and as first vice chairman for the past three years. He replaces Rep. Bobby Harrell, who recently became speaker of the House when former Speaker David Wilkins ’68 was named ambassador to Canada by President George W. Bush.

As Ways and Means chairman, Cooper will sit on the state Budget and Control Board, the group responsible for managing state government. He’s also a member of the Joint Bond Review Committee, which approves all state permanent-improvement projects.
Prior to his election to the House, Cooper served as a planner for the S.C. Water Resources Commission with the Strom Thurmond Institute at Clemson.

Vice president of sales for Capstone Insurance Services, he’s also actively involved on the Freedom Weekend Aloft board of directors and the Hunley Commission. Cooper is the son of longtime S.C. House member Milford J. “Dolly” Cooper, who represented the same district for 16 years.