The man who will lead the University of South Carolina Aiken received the ceremonial medallion and chain of authority with the pageantry afforded an investiture ceremony Friday.
It was the culmination of two days of events on campus.
Daniel Heimmermann was appointed following the retirement of Sandra Jordan in 2021. He was chosen in a nationwide search from more than 100 applicants. He had been provost and vice president for academic affairs at the University of Texas Permian Basin in Odessa, Texas since 2014.
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State and local elected officials, along with representatives from all colleges and universities in South Carolina were present as Harris Pastides, interim president, University of South Carolina, presented his charge to Heimmermann.
“The path before you as a new chancellor is large. You must court many constituents for support. You must inspire many people involved in every aspect of this institution’s life and work each and every day by being the leader of the faculty, students and staff,” he said. “You must infuse every aspect of collegial life with integrity inherent in discovering and imparting knowledge and truth with the tenets of the Carolinian creed as your guide.”
Many speakers talked about the new programs coming online at USC Aiken, including the Advanced Manufacturing Collaborative and the South Carolina National Guard DreamPort Cyber Security Center.
Heimmermann acknowledged those programs and said the university will begin a strategic planning process this fall to determine the priorities, goals and strategies that will guide them for the next five years.
The chancellor highlighted a new program that was also included in the two days of activities. A ribbon cutting ceremony was held for the Pacer Center for Excellence in Business Research and Entrepreneurship.
“This center, which will be located in downtown Aiken, is an applied research, consulting and educational training hub that will provide advisory and other services to local profit and nonprofit organizations in support of economic and social development,” said Heimmerman.
The center is part of the School of Business Administration. Sanela Porca, interim dean, said the center will serve as a research, consulting and educational training hub.
She said the business faculty has helped with economic impact and business projects for the local community. The new center will address the demand for research in myriad fields including cybersecurity, marketing, economic development, finance and entrepreneurship.
“We actually incorporate our students as part of the Pacer Center. The idea is actually to utilize the University’s intellectual capital and provide opportunities for these young minds to be part of the research and studies about business and our local economy,” she said. “Every single business, whether small or big, is going to have a demand for some kind of business services or entrepreneurial services. We can be here to support them, to help them understand what are the needs of today’s challenging business environment.”
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More information about the Pacer Center is available on the university’s website at: https://www.usca.edu/?Itemid=7389
A day before the March 18 investiture service, the university observed the traditional tree planting to honor the new chancellor. The tree was planted in the Quad on the university’s campus.
Dana Lynn McIntyre is a general assignment reporter for The Augusta Press. Reach her at dana@theaugustapress.com
