PASSING THE MACE

CHIEF FACULTY MARSHAL TAKES FINAL WALK

He received two national awards for his work in economic education.

Stone’s third job at Winthrop started in 1994 when he took over chief marshal duties from the late Professor of Mathematics Ed Guettler. Always a numbers guy, Stone said he had the honor of carrying the Winthrop mace in about 90 Commencement and Convocation ceremonies.

Chief Faculty Marshal Gary Stone carried the mace during the processional at a recent Commencement ceremony.

Chief Faculty Marshal Gary Stone has been front and center at Winthrop’s most celebrated and time-honored ceremonies for more than two decades.

Stone, who carried the university’s mace for the last time at the May Commencement exercises, typically led the procession at Convocation to start the academic year and then again at Commencement to celebrate student success.

He raved about the pomp and circumstance of the ceremonies.

“I love these ceremonies because they capture the excitement of freshmen and transfer students coming to Winthrop, and their excitement when they graduate with their baccalaureate or master’s degrees. Both are wonderful,” said Stone, who retires in June as an economics professor.

Stone’s enthusiasm and passion never wavered during his 43 years of teaching. He was thrilled to join the Winthrop faculty in August 1975 as he finished his graduate studies in economics at the University of North Carolina—Chapel Hill. He quickly learned that he loved teaching economics, and Winthrop was the perfect place for him.

Stone estimated that he taught more than 10,000 Winthrop graduate and undergraduate students. He also accompanied Winthrop student study tours to China, England, the Netherlands, Poland, Germany, the Czech Republic, Bolivia and Peru.

Besides teaching students about economics, he served as director of the Winthrop Center for Economic Education and taught teachers of all levels how to teach economics. He trained more than 5,000 K-12 teachers in South Carolina and other states, as well as some from Russia, Egypt, Ukraine, Croatia, Belarus, Slovakia, Latvia and Lithuania.

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Appointed to take Stone’s place as Winthrop’s Chief Marshal is Shelley Hamill, a professor in the Department of Physical Education, Sport, and Human Performance. She said Stone has been a wonderful mentor and friend. “His patience, and attention to detail, is amazing, particularly when it comes to Convocation and Commencement ceremonies,” Hamill said. “He truly loves celebrating our students and their accomplishments. I have learned a great deal from Gary and though it will be difficult to follow such a wonderful leader, I will work hard to make him proud.”

Stone’s work isn’t quite finished. This June will be his 29th year serving as a grader of the Advanced Placement Economics Exam, the longest term of any grader of these exams.

Even with Stone in retirement, Winthrop won’t be far from his family’s thoughts because they are Winthrop through- and-through. “My wife, daughter and son earned their baccalaureate degrees here,” Stone said. “My wife and daughter also earned their M.B.A. degrees at Winthrop.”

So what is Stone’s legacy? “I worked hard trying to provide quality economic education to my college students and K-12 teachers, while providing valuable service to my university and college.”

As a faculty member who was the recipient of Winthrop’s Distinguished Professor Award, Kinard Excellence in Teaching Award, Faculty Student Life Award and the College of Business Administration Teaching Award (three times), Stone can retire knowing it was a job well done.

Stone and students visited Amsterdam during one of their study tours.

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