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Alumni Award of Honor

Celebrating our leaders

The Alumni Award of Honor is the highest honor awarded by the College of Charleston Alumni Association. It is presented to those individuals who have made outstanding contributions to the Association or to the College. This was formerly known as the Honorary Life Membership Award. Both alumni and friends of the College are eligible for this award.

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2023 Alumni Award of Honor

Joseph P. Riley Jr. ’09

Joseph P. Riley Jr. ’09 (honorary degree) served as mayor of Charleston from 1976 to 2016. While he graduated from The Citadel, he has been a steadfast supporter of the College of Charleston since his days in the General Assembly, in part due to the strong influence of his late mother, Helen Schachte Riley ’36, an economics major and salutatorian.

As mayor, the native Charlestonian supported the College and the community in myriad ways. He was instrumental in the launch of Spoleto Festival USA in 1977, which continues to put Charleston and the College on the map. Riley spoke at the dedication of the Marlene and Nathan Addlestone Library in 2005 and former President Barack Obama’s campaign appearance in 2008.

In recognition of his leadership, the Joseph P. Riley Jr. Center for Urban Affairs and Policy Studies was established in 2001. The College renamed the center in 2010 to The Joseph P. Riley Jr. Center for Livable Communities to reflect the center’s focus on enhancing community life.

The College recognized Riley for all he did for Charleston and the College by presenting him with an honorary degree in 2009. At commencement, Riley delivered the keynote address, where he spoke about building and creating great cities. Riley was also the first recipient of the Albert Simons Medal of Excellence in 2010. Established by the College’s Historic Preservation and Community Planning program in honor of the 20th anniversary of the School of the Arts, the medal recognized Riley’s unwavering commitment to civic design, historic preservation and urban planning.

Alumni Award of Honor Past Recipients

Louester Smalls Robinson ’77
Daniel Ravenel ’72
Charles J. Baker III ’80
George W. Barnette III ’58
Michelle Baxley and Johnnie Baxley ’92
Norman A. Chamberlain ’09 *
Louis E. Condon ’50 *
Sylvester D. Craig ’05 *
Alexander C. Dick ’15 *
Charlotte Buist Dickson ’37 *
Daniel S. Dukes IV ’76
Elmina L. Eason ’28 *
J. Harold Easterby ’20 *
James B. Edwards ’50 *
Margaret Ehrhardt ’66
Yvonne duFort Evans ’58
Harry W. Freeman ’43 *
Alexander L. Geisenheimer ’03 *
Otto B. German ’73
Kenneth S. (Gus) Gustafson, Sr. ’75
Sylvia Craver Harvey ’58
Robert Heffron, Sr. ’39 *
William D. Hilton ’51
Gedney M. Howe, Jr. ’35 *
F. Mitchell Johnson ’37 *
Jean Wayland Johnson & Tapley O. Johnson, Jr., FR
John M. Jordan, Jr. ’62 *
John L. Kresse, FR
Edward Kronsberg, FR *
Marie M. Land, FR
Charles L. Latimer, Jr. ’44 *
Lionel K. Legge ’09 *
Wendell M. Levi ’12 *
Harry M. Lightsey, Jr., FR *
Carl J. Likes ’37 *
Tony Meyer ’49 *
William V. Moore, FR *
Harold A. Mouzon ’13 *
John D. Muller, FR *
Gregory D. Padgett ’79
J. Robertson Paul ’10 *
Edwin S. Pearlstine, Jr., FR
Milly Deas Pinckney ’51 *
Bernard F. Puckhaber ’50 *
Mary Loretto Croghan Ramsay ’42 *
Kitty Gianatos Rentiers ’51
Myrtle Craver Riggs ’46 *
G. L. Buist Rivers ’16 *
George C. Rogers, Jr. ’43 *
John Arthur Siegling ’28 *
Mary Geraty Silcox ’33 *
Willard A. Silcox ’33 *
Willard A. (Billy) Silcox, Jr. ’65
Robert Scott Small ’36 *
Sam Stafford III ’68
Theodore S. Stern, FR *
Gordan B. Stine ’44 *
Emily Molony Swanson ’89 and Steve D. Swanson ’89
W. Leigh Thompson ’57 *
Jane Lucas Thornhill ’46 *
Edward E. Towell ’34 *
Elizabeth Jenkins Young ’39 *
John A. Zeigler, Jr., FR *

*Deceased

FR=Friend of the College