DATE: April 07, 2008

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

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

Seneca's Danny Rhodes receives Clemson Alumni Distinguished Service Award

CLEMSON – The Clemson Alumni Association recognized Danny Rhodes of Seneca 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.

Rhodes graduated from Clemson in 1968 with a degree in liberal arts. After graduation, he began a 26-year career in the Army, retiring as colonel in 1994. After a few years in industry, he returned to the Clemson area and accepted a position on the faculty at Anderson University. After just 18 months, he won the Boles Excellence in Teaching Award, the school’s top teaching honor. He earned a Ph.D. last year and is now associate dean of Anderson University’s College of Business and director of the school’s new MBA program.

He is an active member of the Clemson University family, as a loyal donor to the Clemson Fund and IPTAY and past-chairman of the alumni-affiliated Clemson Corps. In 2005, he initiated and won approval and support for a Scroll of Honor listing the names of 470 Clemson alumni who died in military service. When permanent, it will be in a park-like setting adjacent to the East Gate of Memorial Stadium.

Rhodes and his wife, Rosemary, are members of Utica Baptist Church. His community work ranges from extensive involvement in Anderson’s Reed Street project — a neighborhood improvement and beautification program sponsored in part by Anderson University — to volunteering for Habitat for Humanity and ringing the bell for the Salvation Army.

The Rhodes have two children: Kelly Rhodes Cushman, Clemson Class of 1996; and Kevin, Clemson Class of 2000.