Endowed chairs examine economic growth, high-paying jobs

As South Carolina celebrated the news that Boeing will soon establish a major presence in the Charleston area, the Centers of Economic Excellence’s Council of Chairs came together in Columbia to form a new organization with a mission of attracting even more world-class companies to the state.

They also discussed how to increase research-based startup companies and create more high-paying jobs in South Carolina.

The scientists and engineers who have been recruited to South Carolina through the Centers of Economic Excellence Program form the membership of the Council of Chairs. In addition to their work at the state’s research universities – the University of South Carolina, the Medical University of South Carolina and Clemson University – these scientists, known as CoEE Endowed Chairs, will lend their talents to the Council.

There are currently 22 council members, and that number will grow as more scientists are recruited to the state to fill CoEE Endowed Chair positions.

Through the Council of Chairs, the Endowed Chairs will provide advice and leadership for the state on matters related to science and technology. Growing South Carolina’s science base will increase the state’s ability to create high-paying jobs. The council will also work to help guide the overall progress of the CoEE Program and ensure that it is achieving its mission of increasing high-tech research and development and industry in the state.

“We have created the Council of Chairs to take advantage of the intelligence, experience, creativity and vision that the CoEE Endowed Chairs have brought to South Carolina,” says Paula Harper Bethea, chair of the CoEE Review Board, the state board that provides general oversight for the program.

“We are putting those talents to use to help reshape our economy to one partially based on scientific achievement and knowledge creation so that we can increase opportunities for our citizens and better compete in the global economy.”

The Council of Chairs held its first meeting in November. Dr. Richard Swaja, CoEE Endowed Chair in Regenerative Medicine at MUSC, was elected chairman of the council at the meeting and Thomas Kurfess, BMW Endowed Chair in Manufacturing at Clemson, was elected vice chairman.

“It’s very gratifying to realize how much we can be an asset to the state—how we can have an effect on South Carolina’s future economic success,” Kurfess said.