Wofford president emeritus Joe Lesesne is in his 53rd year on campus and 17th in his current stint on the football staff.
After serving four years as tight ends coach (2001-04), Lesesne took over the duties as director of football operations. He assisted Head Coach Mike Ayers with budget, travel, and scheduling items as well as the organization of the team’s support staff. In 2016, he stepped back in his role to become an advisor to Ayers and the athletic department on campus matters.
Lesesne served as president of the college from 1972-2000. He also held Wofford jobs as an assistant professor of history (1964-67), assistant dean of the college and director of the Interim (1967-68), director of development (1968-69), and dean of the college (1969-72).
Lesesne previously served as an assistant coach for the Terriers from 1965-68. He was also an assistant coach at Abbeville High School. He played football at Abbeville as well as basketball and baseball at Erskine College.
Lesesne graduated with a B.A. degree from Erskine College in 1959. He was inducted into the Erskine Academic Hall of Fame in May 2004. Lesesne received his master’s degree from the University of South Carolina in 1961 before earning his Ph.D. in history from the University of South Carolina in 1967. He also spent time at the Institute of Educational Management, Harvard University and the U.S. Army War College.
He has been chairman of the board of directors of the National Association of Independent Colleges and Universities (the first Southerner ever to hold the post), president of the Southern University Conference, the National Association of Schools and Colleges of the United Methodist Church, and a member of the board of directors of the American Council on Education.
Lesesne has held the rank of brigadier general and brigade commander in the South Carolina Army National Guard (he now holds the rank of major general, retired).
One of Wofford’s residence halls has been named “Joab M. Lesesne Jr. Hall.” Located adjacent to the Franklin W. Olin Building, the hall houses nearly 100 upper classmen.
Born Joab Mauldin Lesesne, Jr. on June 21, 1937, in Greenville, S.C., he and his wife, Ruth, have four children and eleven grandchildren. His father, Joab Mauldin Lesesne, Sr., was a 1919 Wofford graduate and former president of Erskine College.
