DATE: April 07, 2008

CONTACT: Mike Bonnette, (864) 656-1694
bbonnet@clemson.edu

WRITER: Angela Nixon, (864) 656-0382
anixon@clemson.edu

Roy Jeffcoat of Anderson receives Clemson Alumni Distinguished Service Award

CLEMSON – The Clemson Alumni Association recognized Roy Jeffcoat of Anderson as one of five winners of the 2008 Distinguished Service Award, the university’s highest alumni honor.

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

Jeffcoat graduated from Clemson in 1955 with a degree in architectural engineering. He opened one of Anderson’s first real estate offices between two tours of duty in the U.S. Air Force in 1955-58 and 1961-62. After ending his service as a captain, he returned to Anderson and branched out into other entrepreneurial ventures, including Energy Conversion Corp., which he heads as CEO. His company did some of the country’s earliest research on development of alternative fuels.

Jeffcoat has contributed to dozens of Clemson projects over the years, giving IPTAY grants-in-aid, major family gifts to the Clemson Libraries and support for special projects such as the Walter Cox Plaza.

He has worked with and contributed to several organizations dedicated to helping 3- and 4-year-olds prepare for kindergarten, including the state’s First Steps program and the national Success by 6 program.

Jeffcoat visits sick children in the hospital and has offered to help their families by taking them in his airplane to places for treatment. He also treats the children to trips to Clemson football games, where they get to meet the Tiger and rub Howard’s Rock.

He and his wife, Yvonne, have four children – Kenny, Clemson Class of 1979; Rosalind, Clemson Class of 1987; Sharon; and Phylis – and 10 grandchildren.