The Anderson community is invited to share in Anderson University’s Founders Day convocation on Wednesday, Feb. 12, at 10:00 a.m. in the Henderson Auditorium of the Rainey Fine Arts Center.
Dr. Sinclair Lewis will deliver the Founders Day address. A retired minister, Dr. Lewis has served The United Methodist Church in many areas on the state and jurisdictional levels. His appointments included churches in South Carolina as well as superintendent of the Greenwood, South Carolina, district. Dr. Lewis retired from the active ministry in 1998.
Dr. Lewis is best known in South Carolina as the driving force behind Palmetto Boys State, the premier leadership development program in the nation. Helping to guide one of the nation’s largest chapters here in South Carolina, Dr. Lewis has worked with the most promising high school leaders in the state for more than 56 years. He has chaired the Boys State committee for the Department of South Carolina twice for a total of l8 years and has served as the Secretary-Treasurer for 42 years. Three years ago, Dr. Lewis approached Anderson University about partnering with Palmetto Boys State as the new home for the 900 participants in the prestigious summer conference.
Dr. Lewis is a graduate of the University of South Carolina and Duke Divinity School. He was awarded a Doctor of Divinity degree by Wofford College in 1992 and an Honorary Doctorate of Humanities by Anderson University in 2012. Dr. Lewis has been honored by the State of South Carolina with the Order of the Palmetto.
Founders Day was created to honor the visionary Anderson area leaders whose desire for a college in Anderson and generous support led to the establishment of what is now Anderson University some 104 years ago.