Clemson historian receives 2011 Governor’s Award in the Humanities

Published: October 12, 2011

Jerry Reel signs a copy of “The High Seminary, Volume 1: A History of the Clemson Agricultural College of South Carolina, 1889-1964.” image by: Clemson University

COLUMBIA — The Humanities CouncilSC presented a Governor’s Award in the Humanities to Clemson historian and professor emeritus Jerome “Jerry” Reel Wednesday in Columbia.

Established in 1991, the Governor’s Awards in the Humanities recognize outstanding achievement in humanities research, teaching and scholarship; institutional and individual participation in community-based programs that promote public understanding of ideas and issues related to the humanities; excellence defining South Carolina’s cultural life to the nation or world; and exemplary support for public humanities programs.

Reel is being honored for a career that began at Clemson University in 1963. A Ph.D. in history from Emory University, he has touched the lives of hundreds of students and served Clemson as dean of undergraduate studies, senior vice provost and university historian.

His academic publications include “Women and Clemson University: Excellence-Yesterday and Today” and “The High Seminary, Volume 1: A History of the Clemson Agricultural College of South Carolina, 1889-1964.” In 2007, Reel headed the bicentennial celebration of Thomas G. Clemson’s birth, and recently he was the major contributing author to the biography “Thomas Green Clemson.” He was the second professor to be named by Clemson’s Student Alumni Association as an Alumni Master Teacher.

Reel is past president of the National Opera Association and the national Pi Kappa Alpha fraternity. He is active in the community, in his church and with numerous campus groups.  

Colleagues refer to him as the “Oak Tree” of Clemson University and as a pillar of the Clemson family. An administrator said, “Dr. Reel has made his mark in his adopted state and community with friends, colleagues, students and admirers in South Carolina and beyond. His History of Clemson University course has been one of the most popular history courses for decades.”  

The Humanities CouncilSC is completing its 38th year as the state-based program of the National Endowment for the Humanities. From 1991-2010, 56 awards have been presented. Jack Bass, journalist, author and university professor; and the I.P. Stanback Museum and Planetarium at South Carolina State University in Orangeburg also received Governor’s Awards in the Humanities this year.

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