At Francis Marion University, senior leadership increasingly reflects the university’s own success story.
Today, four of the university’s ten vice presidents are graduates of FMU, a milestone that underscores both the university’s growth and the value of the education it provides.
Each of these leaders once walked the campus as students, participating in a wide range of academic and extracurricular activities. Today, they help guide the university’s strategic direction and manage its operations. They include:
* Ralph Davis (`83) – Vice-President of Construction and Facilities
* LaTasha Ford (`02) – Vice-President of Student Life
* Lauren Stanton (`09, `13) – Vice-President of Institutional Advancement and Executive Director of the FMU Education Foundation
* Anna Todd (`06, `08) – Vice-President of University Communications
According to FMU President Fred Carter, this development reflects a significant shift over the past quarter century.
“When I arrived at Francis Marion twenty-seven years ago, none of the vice-presidents were graduates of this university,” said Carter. “Today, nearly half have earned at least one degree from FMU. This is a powerful statement about how much this institution has grown and matured.”
Carter noted that the presence of alumni in senior leadership positions is customarily the distinction of a strong and respected university.
“One of the characteristics of a truly great university is that it hires, develops, and promotes its own graduates,” Carter said. “It means the institution has produced people who are not only successful in their professions but are prepared to lead the very university that educated them and shaped their characters.”
For Carter, these changes also underscore the increased visibility of FMU over the past several decades.
“When our graduates return to serve in leadership roles, they bring with them a deep understanding of the university’s mission and culture,” he said. “They know what Francis Marion means to our students, our faculty, and our community because they have experienced it themselves.”
Each of the alumni vice presidents followed a different path after graduating from FMU, building careers outside the university environment before returning to serve their alma mater. Their journeys represent both professional achievement and a continued commitment to the institution that helped launch their careers.
Carter said their presence in the university’s senior leadership sends an important message to current students.
“Our students can see people who once sat in the same classrooms they sit in today leading the university,” said Carter. “That’s a powerful example of what is possible with tenacity and a fine education.”
FMU has produced over 26,000 alumni who have gone on to build successful careers and serve their communities across the state and beyond. Eighty-two percent remain in South Carolina. For Carter, it is especially meaningful to see some of those graduates return to serve their alma mater.
“It is always gratifying to see our graduates succeed,” he said. “But it is especially meaningful when they choose to come back and invest their talents in the future of this university.”
