SPARTANBURG, S.C. – Wofford College conducted its 163rd annual Commencement Exercises in Benjamin Johnson Arena on Sunday morning. J. Harold Chandler, a 1971 Wofford College graduate and chairman, president and CEO of Spartanburg-based Milliken & Co., delivered the college's Commencement address. Degrees were conferred to 365 graduates, including 85 student-athletes.

Two teaching awards and other honors also were presented. In addition to Chandler, honorary degrees were presented to South Carolina poet Nikky Finney and Spartanburg philanthropist Susan Phifer (Susu) Johnson.

The Roger Milliken Award for Excellence in the Teaching of Science was presented to Dr. Kara L. Bopp, associate professor and chair of the Department of Psychology, and the Philip Covington Award for Excellence in the Teaching of Humanities and Social Sciences went to Dr. Tracy J. Revels, professor of history.
 
The college also presented the prestigious Algernon Sydney Sullivan Award to graduating senior Robert Christopher Chase, a biology major, with a minor in business, from Charlotte, N.C., and Edward Thomas Russell, co-founder of Children's Security Blanket, a Spartanburg nonprofit organization that provides assistance to families whose children are battling cancer.The student recipient of the Mary Mildred Sullivan Award was senior Jessica Nena Meggs, a government and religion major from Greenville, S.C. The non-student recipient was Linda Powers Bilanchone, who also was recognized as a retiring instructor in communications studies at Wofford.

Members of the Class of 1967 participated in the weekend's activities, including a class reunion and participating in the processional and other events surrounding the Commencement Exercises.
 
Wofford College, established in 1854, is a four-year, residential liberal arts college located in Spartanburg, S.C. It offers 25 major fields of study to a student body of 1,650 undergraduates. Nationally known for the strength of its academic program, outstanding faculty, study abroad participation and successful graduates, Wofford is home to one of the nation's 283 Phi Beta Kappa chapters. The college community enjoys Greek Life as well as 19 NCAA Division I athletics teams.