State Sen. Marlon Kimpson, left, meets with Harris Pastides, interim president of the University of South Carolina. | Twitter/@KimpsonForSC
State Sen. Marlon Kimpson, left, meets with Harris Pastides, interim president of the University of South Carolina. | Twitter/@KimpsonForSC
State Sen. Marlon Kimpson recently met with Harris Pastides, interim president of the University of South Carolina, after the resignation of predecessor Bob Caslen in May following a plagiarism scandal, according to The Post and Courier.
Kimpson pledged his support for Pastides "without reservation" in a Twitter post, calling him a "tremendous asset to our state."
"Great meeting with Harris Pastides today as he returns to USC once again to lead the university in challenging times until a permanent president is named," Kimpson tweeted.
USC's presidential search committee stated July 20 that it has hired a new presidential search company, R. William Funk & Associates, after the problematic 2019 appointment of Caslen, who resigned after admitting to plagiarizing lines for his graduation remarks without crediting the source.
Caslen's interim replacement, Pastides, is an academic and university administrator who served as the USC's 28th president from 2008 until 2019, according to Wikipedia.
He was appointed interim president of USC on May 13, following Caslen's resignation, and took office officially on May 21.
Pastides, a native of New York City and the son of Cyprus immigrants, was his family's first college graduate, earning a B.S. in biology at the University of Albany.
He also earned a master's degree in public health from Yale, as well as an M.Phil. and Ph.D. in epidemiology.
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