The University of South Carolina Upstate in Spartanburg has named Bennie L. Harris as its next chancellor. Dr. Harris will take office on July 1.
The University of South Carolina Upstate enrolls nearly 6,000 undergraduate students and more than 450 graduate students, according to the most recent data available from the U.S. Department of Education. African Americans make up 30 percent of the undergraduate student body.
In accepting the appointment, Dr. Harris stated that “by working with the provost, academic leadership and key institution stakeholders, I will continue Upstate’s commitment to growth by improving academic programs, creating programs that respond to new employment needs, deepening the impact of service, adding new facilities, renovating and adapting existing spaces to emerging technologies and methods, and expanding the permanent resources necessary for long-term service and success.”
Dr. Harris currently serves as senior vice president for institutional advancement at the Morehouse School of Medicine in Atlanta, Georgia, a position he has held since 2014. Prior to that, he was vice president for development and alumni relations at Lipscomb University in Nashville, Tennessee.
A native of Rosedale, Mississippi, Dr. Harris earned a bachelor’s degree in industrial engineering from Mississippi State University. He holds an MBA from Washington State University and a Ph.D. in educational leadership from the University of Alabama at Birmingham.
