The College of Arts and Sciences is pleased to recognize Dr. Luther Frederick Carter as the alumnus of the month for September. He was recently awarded the 2006 College of Arts and Sciences Outstanding Graduate Alumnus Award for his contributions to education in the state of South Carolina. Dr. Carter received his BA degree from the University of Central Florida in 1972 and was recognized as its distinguished alumnus in 1999. He earned his MPA in 1976 and his Ph.D. in 1979 from the University of South Carolina.

Since 1999, Dr. Carter has served as president of Francis Marion University, a public liberal arts institution located in Florence, South Carolina. The University offers curricula in 49 academic disciplines and program to 3,400 undergraduate and 400 graduate students. Dr. Carter completed a sabbatical year in 2003 while serving as the chief of staff to South Carolina Governor Mark Sanford. Previously, he served as the executive director of the South Carolina Budget and Control Board, the state's central management agency, from 1991-1999; as the senior executive assistant to South Carolina Governor Carroll Campbell from 1987-1991; and as the chairman of the political science department at the College of Charleston from 1981-1987.

Dr. Carter has authored five books and numerous articles and chapters. Presently, he serves on the South Carolina Bar Association's Commission for an Independent Judiciary, the Board of Trustees of Carolinas Hospital System, and he chairs the South Carolina Commission for International Cooperation and Agreements. He is the recipient of numerous awards including, but not limited to, the South Carolina Order of the Palmetto, the Public Official of the Year Award from the South Carolina Regional Councils of Government, and honorary doctoral degrees from the College of Charleston, Lander University, and the Citadel. Dr. Carter received the 1999 Distinguished State Executive Award from the National Governors' Association, and President Bush appointed him to the Presidential Commission on White House Fellowships in 2001, where he served until 2004.

Dr. Carter and his wife, Folly, have two children- Luke, 8, and Bryan, 28, an economist with T. Rowe Price.

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