Winthrop colleagues thank Boyd; prepare to welcome Mahony

When new President Dan Mahony takes his place at the Winthrop University board table this summer, he’ll have the benefit of guidance from a transition team led by one of the school’s longest-serving employees.

Debra Boyd – Winthrop’s chief academic administrator and the person who’s been leading the school since trustees ousted the university’s 10th president after less than a year in office – says she’s ready to help Mahony make the transition to Rock Hill from Kent State University in northeastern Ohio.

Winthrop has a group of employees who will be available to answer questions, introduce Mahony to key university stakeholders and friends, and give him any information about the campus he needs before his official start, said Boyd, the acting president. Still, she said, Winthrop officials realize that Mahony still has duties in his role as dean of Kent State’s college of education, health and human services.

Boyd and other top university officials, including trustees, say they’ll keep in touch with Mahony before he and his family arrive at Winthrop, but they’ll be careful not to bombard him with too much information at once. Mahony plans to visit South Carolina and the Winthrop campus again before he takes office July 1.

After Winthrop’s Board of Trustees unanimously voted to hire Mahony on Friday, Boyd said the campus has been planning for a presidential transition since August. She anticipates Mahony won’t have a “steep learning curve,” because he showed a solid understanding of the university when he visited late last month for interviews.

“He came extremely well-prepared,” Boyd said, adding that Mahony asked good questions and listened carefully. Soon, she said, Winthrop’s leaders will schedule introductory meetings for Mahony with government officials, key donors, alumni and community leaders, and other friends of the university.

Right now, “the most effective thing I can do is to continue to do my job as the provost and acting president,” she said.

Boyd – a 30-year Winthrop employee who rose through the university ranks after starting as an English professor – was tapped to step into the president’s role after President Jamie Comstock Williamson was fired in June. The quick departure of Winthrop’s 10th president after a lengthy search was a tough blow to the campus after 24 years of stability under now-retired President Anthony DiGiorgio.

Boyd didn’t want the president’s job, but she accepted when trustees asked her to serve until an 11th president could be found. Almost immediately, Boyd set the tone for the current academic year as one in which Winthrop would continue its day-to-day mission of educating students without dwelling on the presidential controversy or being consumed by worry over the school’s future.

During the school’s traditional presidential opening address last fall, Boyd said she would make sure Winthrop had “a year of action.” As acting president, she made strides with a campus-wide salary study group looking to increase employee pay, she kept fires burning on enrollment growth and fundraising fronts, and she announced a 10 percent budget freeze and major review of Winthrop’s spending – a move to free up money for big initiatives such as new marketing strategies.

She rallied her campus troops – “Team Winthrop,” she dubbed them – and pledged that the “mission-critical” work of South Carolina’s fifth-largest public university would not be harmed by a presidential turnover. Winthrop trustees have said Boyd has stepped up to lead at a delicate time in the school’s history.

“I could never have done any of this without their help,” Boyd said, referring to Winthrop’s faculty, staff and trustees. Those people gave Boyd a standing ovation inside a packed board room Friday as trustees recognized her service.

It was an emotional moment for Boyd and many others in the room. Her garnet “Team Winthrop” bracelet peeked out from under her jacket sleeve as she grabbed a tissue and dabbed at tears while colleagues stood and clapped in appreciation.

Boyd ‘beloved’ at Winthrop

Last week, those who know Boyd best on campus described her service to Winthrop as one of humble leadership, unwavering dedication and commitment to do the right thing.

“Everyone knows Debra loves Winthrop and will do her best for it,” said English professor Jo Koster. “I don’t think Debra ever imagined herself as an academic administrator, but she has stepped up every time she’s been asked to ... and done a great job.”

Campus employees say Boyd is fair, honest, intelligent and conscientious.

“I don’t think anyone on campus could have done a better job than she has,” Koster said. “She deserves everyone’s thanks and support.”

As acting president, Boyd assumed all the daily responsibilities of the university’s top administrator, but she never moved into the president’s office across the hall from her own in Tillman Hall. Over the past three decades, Boyd has watched four Winthrop presidents serve from that room.

This past year, she occasionally used the president’s office for meetings with her staff, but she did her work from 115 Tillman Hall – office of the provost and, historically, office of the vice president for academic affairs. She retained her provost salary, taking on the extra presidential duties without a pay raise.

One of her colleagues described Boyd as a “selfless servant-leader.” At Winthrop, Boyd did not seek but instead was asked to serve in the many promotions she has received – first to dean, then to provost, then to acting president, said Karen Kedrowski, dean of the college of arts and sciences.

“The leadership literature shows that sometimes the best leaders are those who don’t seek leadership positions but for whom leadership is thrust upon them,” she said. “This is the case with Debra.”

As a leader, Boyd “shies away from the limelight and lets her actions speak for themselves,” Kedrowski said, adding that Boyd’s “first priority is always the students and the institution; she doesn’t think of herself.

“That’s why she is so good at her job and why she is so beloved.”

Boyd holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees in English from Appalachian State University. She earned her doctoral degree in English from the University of South Carolina. Her academic expertise is in Renaissance literature, William Shakespeare and Christopher Marlowe’s plays. At Winthrop, Boyd has taught freshman composition, technical writing and literature.

In a public thanks to Boyd for agreeing to serve until Mahony takes office, trustees Chairwoman Kathy Bigham said last week, “I can’t imagine a better leader for our next president as he transitions and for all of us as we do so, as well.”

This story was originally published March 14, 2015 at 5:47 PM with the headline "Winthrop colleagues thank Boyd; prepare to welcome Mahony."