Former longtime Winthrop president, Rock Hill leader Anthony DiGiorgio dies
Former Winthrop University president Anthony DiGiorgio died Wednesday in Tucson, Ariz., according to a message from Winthrop.
He was 79.
DiGiorgio led Winthrop for 24 years. The student center on campus is named in honor of DiGiorgio and his wife Gale.
“It is with a heavy heart that I write you today to share the passing of Tony DiGiorgio,” Winthrop’s Interim President George Hynd wrote in a prepared statement. “It’s difficult to put into words how much Tony did for Winthrop because his influence and vision touches every inch of the campus even today.”
According to family members, DiGiorgio had been undergoing treatment for esophageal cancer since late March. In a provided statement, his family said the immediate cause of death was a pulmonary embolism.
DiGiorgio is survived by his wife. His daughter Darrah DiGiorgio Johnson and grandchildren Gabriella Grates, Beckett Johnson and Jack Johnson live in San Diego, according to the statement. DiGiorgio’s daughter Dina died in 2007.
Vistoso Funeral Home in Oro Valley, Ariz. is handling funeral arrangements.
In DiGiorgio’s memory, donations may be made through the Winthrop Foundation to The Mary Grace and Antonino DiGiorgio Endowed Scholarship. The scholarship honors the president’s late parents.
DiGiorgio, a Pennsylvania native, began his career in education in 1963 as an English teacher at Belleville Senior High School in New Jersey, according to Winthrop. He later worked for Purdue University, where he earned his master’s and doctoral degrees.
In 1970, DiGiorgio began a 19-year stint at the College of New Jersey. He was named Winthrop’s president in 1989, according to the school.
DiGiorgio was named Winthrop’s President Emeritus and Distinguished Professor in 2013, when he retired as president. He retired from the university in 2017.
Under DiGiorgio’s leadership, Winthrop grew from a regional college to a university offering programs in multiple areas of study.
Winthrop has been recognized for student programming, academic excellence, a commitment to racial diversity and strong financial standing. DiGiorgio oversaw expanding Winthrop’s campus and improving the university’s partnership with Rock Hill leaders.
S.C. Rep. Tommy Pope, R-York and Speaker pro tem of the S.C. House of Representatives, is a former member of the board of trustees at Winthrop who worked with DiGiorgio for years.
“Tony had a vision for Winthrop, to bring it from its humble beginnings to the well-recognized institution it is today,” Pope said. “It was an honor to serve with him.”
Hynd said DiGiorgio and Gale aimed to provide the best college experience for Winthrop’s students.
“His leadership helped transform Winthrop into the national caliber university that it is today. His unwavering vision, commitment to diversity, demand for academic excellence and focus on Winthrop’s beautiful buildings and grounds are his legacies that will remain for years to come,” Hynd said in the statement.
“He always encouraged the Winthrop community to leave the university a better place for them having been a part of it, and I can say without a doubt that Tony left Winthrop a much better place because of his years of steadfast leadership.”
Glenn McCall, current chairman of the Winthrop board of trustees who worked with DiGiorgio on several projects for the school, said DiGiorgio was a visionary who led the charge for Winthrop academically, in the community, and in the state and nation.
“It is with great sorrow that we learned of the passing of Dr. DiGiorgio today,” McCall said. “He was a great leader, a man of strength and a visionary for Winthrop University. Dr. DiGiorgio will be greatly missed and we will be forever grateful for his care and love for Winthrop.”
Kathy Bigham, vice-chair of the Winthrop board of Trustees, said she and her family are deeply saddened by DiGiorgio’s passing. Bigham is a longtime trustee board member and past president who worked with DiGiorgio for years and stayed close with DiGiorgio and his family.
“Tony DiGiorgio was a wonderful man who loved Winthrop University and the students and staff,” Bigham said.
Gary Stone, professor of economics, worked with DiGiorgio for many years. He said a fond memory is seeing the joy the president had in welcoming students to the university and seeing them walk across the stage at graduation.
“Tony always enjoyed those key ceremonies,” Stone said. “He looked forward to them. He made everyone else enjoy them as well.”
Rock Hill Mayor John Gettys, who was the DiGiorgios’s next-door neighbor, called DiGiorgio a giant figure in the shaping of both Winthrop and Rock Hill.
“Tony DiGiorgio had a vision for the greatness of Winthrop that was a part of the vision for the greatness of the city of Rock Hill,” Gettys said. “He is one of the reasons that the school, and the city, have achieved so much in the last quarter-century. He was a leader.”
S.C. Rep. Gary Simrill, R-Rock Hill, and House Majority leader in the S.C. General Assembly, is a 1991 Winthrop graduate who has known DiGiorgio for more than a quarter century.
DiGiorgio’s unrelenting push as a campus and community leader to make Winthrop and Rock Hill top destinations for students and success is a legacy that will live on forever, Simrill said.
“I first met Dr. DiGiorgio when he handed me a diploma,” Simrill said. “Then 24 years later, I had the privilege to present him a resolution upon his retirement. Dr. DiGiorgio was a consummate professional and resolute in his quest to make Winthrop University the best it could be.
“The legacy he and Gale left, not only at Winthrop but the entire community, is indelible. I join others in mourning the passing of one of Winthrop’s greatest leaders.”
DiGiorgio served on multiple regional and state boards, including the York County Regional Chamber of Commerce, the Rock hill Economic Development Corporation and the National Collegiate Athletics Association, according to Winthrop.
Kyle Kallander, Big South Commissioner, said DiGiorgio had a large impact on the conference.
“Tony was truly a man of vision, and had a huge impact on the development of the Big South Conference as a two-time Conference President and chair of our Membership Committee. He wasn’t a founding father of the Conference, but he might as well have been,” Kallander said in a prepared statement. “That was the magnitude of his influence on the Big South.”
Gettys said he and his family are deeply saddened by the loss of a city, community and South Carolina leader.
“You can look at what we have done and are working on -- Knowledge Park, other cooperative projects with Winthrop -- and Tony DiGiorgio was a part of the action to make those happen.”
Former Rock Hill Mayor Doug Echols, who led the city during most of DiGiorgio’s tenure as Winthrop president, said DiGiorgio left a mark on the school and city that remains and will always remain.
The school increased its enrollment, added intercollegiate athletics at the highest levels, and added to the campus, Echols said. Winthrop’s stature as one of the great universities in the state and nation rose with DiGiorgio, Echols said.
“Tony DiGiorgio was a friend to me and a friend to this city,” Echols said. “The wonderful campus is an integral part of Rock Hill and York County. He believed that the school and city could grow together.”
More, Echols said, DiGiorgio cared deeply about the students at the school and the community.
“This is a man who touched thousands of lives,” Echols said. “He made a difference in their lives. Tony left a huge mark on the school, its students and staff, and this community.”
This story was originally published May 21, 2020 at 5:11 PM.
