Three Greenville County residents receive Clemson alumni Distinguished Service Award

Published: February 12, 2013

image by: Clemson University

By Kayla Cobb and Beth Anne Lamar

CLEMSON — The Clemson Alumni Association has recognized William L. “Roy” Abercrombie Jr. of Greenville, Russell Carlton Ashmore Jr. of Taylors and E. Mitchell “Mitch” Norville of Greenville as three of five 2013 winners of the Distinguished Service Award, the association’s highest honor.

Distinguished Service Award honorees demonstrate a dedication to enhancing the value of the university for future generations; church, professional and public service; and personal accomplishments that serve as a model for present and future Clemson students.

William L. “Roy” Abercrombie Jr.

A 1969 graduate, Abercrombie is the former chief executive officer and president of American Federal Bank. After the company’s merger with Central Carolina Bank and Trust in 1997, he remained the executive vice president and vice chairman. He retired in 2003 and has been in commercial real estate for eight years and is chairman of Colliers International in Greenville.

Abercrombie has served as a chairman for multiple organizations, including the Greater Greenville Chamber of Commerce, the board of trustees for the Greenville Hospital System and the Community Financial Institutions of South Carolina. He is a board member for the Greenville Convention and Visitors Bureau. Over the years, Abercrombie has made significant contributions to several charities, including the American Red Cross, March of Dimes, the Salvation Army, the Hospice Foundation of America, the Children’s Museum of the Upstate, United Way and YMCA. In 1996, Abercrombie was recognized by Greenville Magazine as the Business Person of the Year.

He is an active member of his church, where he is chairman of the Finance Committee and past chairman of the Administrative Board.

Abercrombie is a former member and chairman of the Clemson Board of Visitors and served on the Clemson University Foundation Board. He is a member of the university’s Real Estate Foundation board and is the chairman and founding director of the Clemson University Land Stewardship Foundation. He has served on the President’s Council and is an IPTAY life member, a Heisman Donor and has made significant contributions to the West End Zone project and the basketball program. He is a member of the President’s Leadership Circle and the Benjamin Ryan Tillman Society.

He and his wife, Mary Carol, have two children.

Russell Carlton Ashmore Jr.

Ashmore, who was president of Clemson’s Class of 1950, has continued to be an active member of the Clemson family. Over the years, Ashmore has donated to the Clemson Fund and is a Heisman-level donor to IPTAY. 

In 1992, Ashmore worked to help save the Clemson ROTC program, organizing the Clemson Corps to raise funds to preserve both the program and Clemson’s military heritage. Ashmore, a military veteran, served as the Class of 1950 fundraising chairman for Military Heritage Plaza on Bowman Field and was a leader in the development of the Scroll of Honor Memorial.

Ashmore is active in his community. For two terms, he served as chairman of the board for the Greer Chamber of Commerce. He is an active board member for Partnership Tomorrow, a group invested in Greer’s economic well-being. In 2012, he was recognized by Gov. Nikki Haley with the Order of the Silver Crescent, which is given in recognition of those who make a significant contribution to a city or community.

In Fortaleza, Brazil, Ashmore helped establish the Davis Lars Children’s Home in 2000. In 2005, he also co-founded the Taylors Free Medical Clinic.

Ashmore was a member of the board of trustees of North Greenville University, serving four terms as chairman. The school awarded him an honorary doctorate in humanities in 1997. 

Ashmore is an active member of Taylors First Baptist Church, where he has been a Sunday school teacher 25 years. He also has served on the board of deacons and other committees.

Ashmore is co-owner of Ashmore Brothers Inc., an Upstate leader in grading and paving since 1959. He previously worked as a plant manager for General Shale in Knoxville, Tenn.

Ashmore and his wife, Elma Ruth Stansell, have four children.

E. Mitchell “Mitch” Norville

A 1980 Clemson graduate, Norville recently retired as chief operating officer of Boston Properties in Boston, Mass., one of the largest self-managed real estate investment trusts specializing in the development and ownership of office, industrial and hotel properties in the United States. While there, he was a member Sustainability Policy Advisory Committee of The Real Estate Roundtable and the Office Technology Consortium. While working in Boston Properties’ Washington, D.C., office, he served on the board of directors for the Downtown D.C. Business Improvement District.

Norville was on the Baltimore/Washington D.C. Clemson Club board for six years while living in Virginia and has contributed to the Clemson Annual Fund since 1980. He has contributed to the President’s Leadership Circle for the past three years and recently committed to endow a department chair in the College of Engineering and Science.

Norville has served on the board of directors for the Clemson University Foundation and is chairman of the Investment Committee. Norville also serves on the President’s Advisory Board and the Real Estate Development and Advancement Board. He has made significant financial contributions to IPTAY, the basketball program and the West End Zone, where he and his family have been honored with the naming of Gate 6 of Memorial Stadium the “Norville Family Gate.”

He and his wife, Carla, have three sons. Norville served 10 years as a coach for his sons’ football, basketball and baseball teams.

The other distinguished award winners are James Warren “Jimmy” Addison and Edgar James “Ed” Duckworth, both of Atlanta.

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