Mr. Manigault began working in media/communications in 1987 with television news in Colorado.  In 1989 he went to Washington and joined the National Geographic Society.  After a few years there, he went to work for The Washington Post as a copy aid.  He was promoted to the Editorial Department as a copy editor, a position he held for several years before returning to Charleston to work in the family business at Evening Post Publishing Company.  Upon return to Charleston, he spent four years as an editorial writer for The Post and Courier and one year in the Business Office.  He is now President of Evening Post Community Publications Group.  Mr. Manigault’s dedication to non-profit organizations is seen in his involvement with Lowcountry Open Land Trust, Gibbes Art Museum, Preservation Society of Charleston, Historic Rice Fields, Palmetto Conservation Foundation, Santee Focus, Middleton Place Plantation, Spirit of South Carolina Project, College of Charleston Library Committee, and International Crane Foundation.

Mr. Williams has been involved with all phases of the building industry, from design to construction, for nearly forty years.  Currently, he manages JHW Consulting Group based in Charleston, South Carolina, where he represents a variety of construction-related companies, providing consulting assistance in business development and marketing.  He was trained as an architect at Princeton University, graduating in 1967 with a Master of Fine Arts degree.  He is a licensed architect with a NCARB certificate which enables him to obtain license to practice architecture in all fifty United States.  Mr. Williams served as an officer in the United States Navy during the Vietnam War, where he was responsible for developing computer-aided ship and aircraft design systems.  This was followed by work in Boston and Philadelphia for several architecture firms.  He then joined Turner Construction, currently the largest general contractor in the United States, where he progressed to the position of Manager of Construction Marketing in the New York area.  He then joined J. A. Jones Construction Company, an international general contractor based in Charlotte, NC.  During that time, he developed new business for the company throughout the United States, the Far East, and Mexico.  A significant highlight was obtaining the contract to construct the Petronas Tower in Malaysia, until very recently the world’s tallest building.

Mr. Coker was born in 1941 in New York City and grew up in Hartsville, SC.  Mr. Coker was educated at Woodberry Forest School in Orange, VA.  He received a Bachelor of Arts degree from University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill and a Master of Business Administration degree from Harvard.  From 1965 to 1970, Mr. Coker worked in finance and planning for Sonoco Products Company in Hartsville, SC, and served as president of  Sonoco, Ltd. in Brantford, Ontario, Canada from 1970 to 1980.  He held the title of Secretary for Sonoco in Hartsville, SC from 1970 to 2005, moving to Stonington, CT in 1990 to rebuild and lease out old textile manufacturing buildings. Mr. Coker returned full time to Charleston in 2007.

Mr. Bishop is married (Cindy), has four children and resides in St. Louis, MO. He attended Oglethorpe College in Atlanta, GA. He has a work history that began in High School where he worked with Western Waterproofing and has worked his way up from summer help all the way to CEO/President in 2004, a position he still holds. During his career, he opened an Office in Denver, CO, became a Regional Manager, and Southeast Divisional Manager until being appointed his current position. Mr. Bishop has served on several Boards, including the SWRI Institute, Missouri Athletic Club, St. Louis Sports Commission, Chapter President of Make a Wish, and President of the Ronald McDonald house.

Mr. Cole is a retired Regional President of Wachovia Bank of South Carolina and currently serves as Counsel for Corporate DevelopMint, a Charleston-based strategic planning and consulting firm.  Mr. Cole’s commitment to non-profit organizations has been amply demonstrated during his many years of philanthropic involvement.  He currently serves on the board of The Citadel Foundation and chairs its investment committee.  Mr. Cole is also a trustee on the board of South Carolina Independent Colleges, chairman of the Columbia Convention Center Tourism and Sports Authority, and past president of USC Associates.  He serves on the Palmetto Richland Hospital Foundation and is a past chairman and current board member of the Cultural Council Board of Richland and Lexington counties.  Mr. Cole holds positions with Columbia Rotary Club, River Alliance Board, Atrium Society, USC Business Partnership Foundation, South Carolina Business Alliance Committee, and the South Carolina ETV Endowment.  In 2004, Mr. Cole was named South Carolina Ambassador for Economic Development by Governor Mark Sanford, and in 2003, he received the Midlands Ambassador of the Year Award from the Columbia Chamber of Commerce.  During past years, Mr. Cole has served on the boards of sixteen additional non-profit organizations, including South Carolina Museum Foundation, Columbia Museum of Art, and Gibbes Museum of Art.  He has been honored to have been designated Volunteer of the Year by the Columbia Chamber of Commerce and by the Columbia chapter of the Professional Fundraising Association.  Most recently, Mr. Cole was honored to be named the Alumnus of the Year by the School of Business at The Citadel.  Mr. Cole holds degrees from The Citadel, Louisiana State University’s Banking School of the South, and University of North Carolina’s Executive Program.  Mr. Cole spent two years as an active-duty soldier in the United States Army, remained in the United States Army Reserves for twenty-three years, and retired as a lieutenant colonel.

Mr. Drew holds a Bachelor of Education degree from Eastern Illinois University and Master of Education degree in Media and Instructional Development from East Carolina University. Mr. Drew served as Media Director in the Ninety-Six School District of South Carolina from 1973-1981. While teaching in the South Carolina public schools, he served as co-chair of the district’s Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS) accreditation team. Mr. Drew worked with SACS on accrediting schools throughout South Carolina. Additionally, he worked closely within Ninety Six School District to provide instructional and media support for creative and innovative teaching techniques, such as Learning Activities Packages (LAP), as well as initiating the first computer classes in the District. Since 1981, Mr. Drew has been President of The Sunshine House, an early care and education organization of private early learning centers. His wife, Roseann, founded the company in 1975 in an effort to provide a quality learning environment in their community of Greenwood, South Carolina. Since that time, The Sunshine House has grown from one small preschool center to a family of over one hundred centers in the Southeast. The company is currently the 5thh largest private child care provider in North America, providing quality early education to over 20,000 families and children throughout the United States. Dennis Drew also has served on Governor Mark Sanford’s Staff as the Education Policy Advisor. Mr. Drew is past president and Chairman of the Board of the South Carolina Child Care Association (SCCCA), board member of the South Carolina Child Care Association and the National Child Care Association (NCCA), Membership Chairman of National Child Care Association, and Vice-Chairman of the South Carolina Governor’s Advisory Board on Child Day Care Regulations. Mr. Drew served on the Educational Task Force for South Carolina and is currently a member of the Education Oversight Committee and the Charter Schools Advisory committee.

In 1999, Mr. Drew retired as a Colonel in the United States Marine Corps Reserve and is a Vietnam Veteran. During his 30-year career, he was Commanding Officer of Company D, 8th Battalion (Columbia, SC), served with the Marine Corps Development and Education Command (Quantico), the Joint Task Force for the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta, Georgia as J4 (Joint Operations Logistics) and as G4 (Division Level Logistics) of the 4th Marine Division in New Orleans, Louisiana. His community work includes serving as President of the Emerald Sertoma Club in Greenwood, South Carolina and was District Sertoman of the Year for 1984-1985 and 1985-1986. Mr. Drew also participates as a member of the Charleston Southern University Board of Visitors. Mr. Drew presented the commencement address at Charleston Southern University’s graduation in May 2002 where he received his Honorary Doctorate in Business Administration. He and his wife, Roseann, have two daughters, Lorelie Brown and Kristen Grimm, who are both involved in early education. They have four grandchildren, Drew, Emma, Reagan and Millie.

Mr. Dunn is a consumer products industry executive with more than 30 years of experience spanning a wide range of consumer products, packaged food, health & beauty aids, OTC Pharmaceuticals, suncare and pool & spa products. Mr. Dunn earned a B.S. Degree in Accounting from New York University and an MBA from St. John’s University. Mr. Dunn has a proven track record in business turn arounds, strategic planning, new product development, and value creation through restructuring and operations improvements. Mr. Dunn has served as President of Platex Consumer Products Divisions, where he helped to develop the growth of Banana Boat Suncare brand significantly improving profitability and cash flow by resolving a historically high seasonal product returns problem.

Kevin was most recently CEO/President of Biolab, Inc., the global leader in consumer pool and spa chemical products. During his time, Mr. Dunn was also an officer of Great Lakes Chemicals Inc. Upon taking the leadership role, he orchestrated a rapid and full reorganization and restructuring of Biolab, returning it to profitability, while at the same time, working to facilitate the merger of Great Lakes with Crompton Chemical which took place in 2005.

Mr. Dunn has served on the board of the Cosmetics, Toiletry, and Fragrance Association and has been a member of the Grocery Manufacturers Association. He is a state advisory board member of the South Carolina World Trade Center. Since 2006, Mr. Dunn has been a Consultant to Private Equity and an Adjunct Professor at The Citadel, Graduate School of Business, and the American College for the Building Arts, in Charleston, SC.

Ms. Guest is an avid supporter and volunteer of ACBA and has contributed her time since our inception.  Her work also includes serving as a board member for the Spoleto Festival, USA and other nonprofits in Charleston, South Carolina.  

Information to come.

Gary McManus joined Blackbaud in 2005 as a program manager responsible for building the Project Management office.  As Director of Professional Services, Gary is responsible for the Core Application and Technical Consulting practices, Resource Management, and Consulting Solutions Management teams.  Prior to joining Blackbaud, Gary served as a consulting practice manager for Lawson Software, where he managed the eastern region. He has also held positions including Vice president of Worldwide Consulting Services with Armature, Inc. and Director of Professional Services for Pitney Bowes Software, where he restructured the company’s consulting practice, resulting in the doubling of consulting revenues in both of the last two years.  Gary’s background further includes work with Arrow Electronics Inc., Estee Lauder, and Lambda Electronics where he held a variety of information systems and information technology management positions.

Information to come.

Dr. Pruitt has a wife, three children and lives in Downtown Charleston. He graduated Washington and Lee University in 1955 and started medical school at Bowman Gray School of Medicine of Wake Forest College. Following medical school, Dr. Pruitt served in the United States Air Force where he completed his internship and earned his Pilot’s wings and was a flight surgeon. After service, he completed his Residency in Obstetrics & Gynecology for three years. After residency, Dr. Pruitt was a Fellow in Reproductive Biology at Bowman Gray. During his vast medical career, Dr. Pruitt pioneered medical applications of Laser Technology. He is board certified in Obstetrics and Gynecology and Laser Surgery. In 1967, Dr. Pruitt was an Assistant Professor with the Department of OB/GYN at the Medical University of South Carolina. In 1969, Dr. Pruitt began a private practice in 1969. After more than 40 years of medical service, in addition to serving as a Clinical Associate with the Medical University of South Carolina, Dr. Pruitt retired in 2007. Dr. Pruitt remains active in over 20 societies and is responsible for 6 academic articles published during his career. He has been awarded the Air Force Commendation Medal, the South Carolina Order of the Palmetto, the American Academy of Family Physicians Award, The Community Teacher of the Year Award, and the Volunteer Clinical Faculty Award from the Medical University of South Carolina.

Dr. Pruitt’s devotion to society is evidenced by his current board memberships with the College of Charleston Art Department Advisory Board, Waring Library, Medical University of South Carolina, and the First Reliance Bank (Local Advisory Board). In addition to his current Board positions, Dr. Pruitt has also been appointed to thirteen other positions serving both profit and non-profit organizations. He is a member of Blessed Sacrament Catholic Church, the Family (San Francisco, CA), the Carolina Yacht Club, Cedar Creek Racquet Club (Cashiers, NC), and the Charleston Downtown Athletic Club.

Harriett Rigney was born in Washington, D.C. She grew up in Charleston,  and graduated from Radcliffe College.  She lived in New York for seventeen years, marrying E. D., McDougal III and having a wonderful son, Will McDougal, although the marriage ended in divorce. She worked in the publishing industry, with John Wiley & Sons, Harcourt Brace, World Publishing, and Grosset & Dunlap. Returning to Charleston in 1977, she founded her own imprint, Popham Press, and subsequently became the first Editorial Director of Tom Doherty Associates, publishers of Tor and Forge Books.  In 1981 she married James O. Rigney, Jr., a writer best known under his pen name Robert Jordan. He died on September 16, 2007.  Mrs. Rigney is the CEO of Bandersnatch Group, and presently serves on the boards of the Center for Women, Lowcountry Initiative for the Literary Arts (LILA), and the Poetry Society of South Carolina, of which she is past president.  Her poetry has been published in the Yearbook of the Poetry Society of South Carolina, Red Rock Review, Another Chicago Magazine, and Confrontation, among others.

Information to come.

Mr. Philip Simmons (1912-2009) was one of the most celebrated Master Blacksmiths in the United States and over the course of a lifetime fashioned more than five hundred pieces of ornamental iron in Charleston, South Carolina. From end to end, the city of Charleston is truly decorated by his hand. In 1982, the National Endowment for the Arts awarded him its National Heritage Fellowship, the highest honor that the United States can bestow on a traditional artist. He received South Carolina’s “lifetime achievement” award and “The Order of the Palmetto.” Pieces of his work have been acquired by the National Museum of History, the Smithsonian Institution, and the Atlanta History Center, among others. The garden of St. John’s Reformed Episcopal Church is dedicated to Philip as a tribute to his exceptional mastery of iron and his inspirational character.