2026 Global Vision Award, honoring Dr. Fred Carter
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You are cordially invited! The Columbia World Affairs Council is pleased to present the 2026 Global Vision Award to Dr. Fred Carter, president of Francis Marion University (1999-present), executive director of the SC State Budget & Control Board (1991-1999), chief of staff to Governor Mark Sanford (2003), and senior executive assistant to South Carolina Governor Carroll Campbell (1987-1991). Dr. Carter will be honored at a black-tie gala on Tuesday, December 1, at the Columbia Museum of Art. This is our 33rd year recognizing a leader whose contributions have made a significant impact on projecting South Carolina globally.
“Fred Carter is a master of bringing people of different backgrounds together for the common good,” said Fred Monk, chair emeritus of Columbia World Affairs Council. “His leadership on the state level forged South Carolina’s global reputation. Since then, for the past three decades, he has helped create thousands of first-generation college graduates in South Carolina who are now imbued with a global perspective.”
The annual Global Vision Award Gala is the Council’s only fund-raising event, generating critical operational funds needed to continue our mission to keep SC globally connected and competitive in the year ahead. Each year, the gala is attended by South Carolina's esteemed leadership in government, law, business, education, and our globally engaged community. Please join us for the special evening and help support South Carolina's global impact - Tickets & sponsorship opportunities available now!
“This is a very special honor, made all the more meaningful by the fact that Governor Carroll Campbell, Governor David Beasley and Senator Hugh Leatherman also received it,” Carter said. “Those three were truly masterful at charming our international partners. But of course, all of those collaborative efforts would have been for naught if the Columbia World Affairs Council and college faculties across the state hadn’t been so successful in sustaining them.
“Four decades ago, Carroll Campbell reminded us that our future as a great country was dependent upon having other great countries stand alongside us. That observation has never been more relevant or timely.”
Dr. Carter is the longest serving university president in South Carolina. During his presidency, he has lead FMU through a period of extensive growth and development. He has presided over the start of two dozen academic initiatives, including the development of three doctoral programs and the creation of a School of Health Sciences. Under Dr. Carter’s leadership, FMU’s International Programs excelled to include 11 semester-long exchange programs with universities in seven different countries and travel studies to unique instructional and research sites, such as FMU’s Wildsumaco Biological Research station in Ecuador, RPTU University Kaiserslautern-Landau in Germany, the University of Prince Edward Island in Canada, Carlow College, St. Patrick’s in Ireland, the University of Burgos in Spain, De Montfort University in England, and the Rennes School of Business in France.
During his time leading the State Budget & Control Board, Dr. Carter helped establish many of South Carolina’s international state relationships, including the agreement with Rhineland Palatinate, Germany, which celebrates 30 years of partnership in 2027. Currently, he chairs the South Carolina Commission for International Cooperation and Agreements, which he helped establish, and now oversees many of the state partnerships he helped forge. Dr. Carter also supported SC’s World Class Partnership project, an international high school cultural and teacher exchange program which created more than 25 international sister schools from Socastee to Pendleton.
“President Carter continues to have a tremendous impact on the State of South Carolina,” said Bob Coble, chair of Columbia World Affairs Council Board of Directors, “The relationships he forged during his public service, and continues to nurture through his academic leadership, have positioned our state as an exemplar of prosperous international cooperation shaping the next generations of global pioneers.”
The Global Vision Award was established in 1994 and the first recipient was Governor Carroll A. Campbell. The 2025 Global Vision Award was given to David M. Beasley, recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize on behalf of the World Food Programme in his role as executive director (2017-23), South Carolina Governor (1995-99), and now Distinguished Professor of Practice & Public Service at the University of South Carolina School of Law.
“Fred Carter is a master of bringing people of different backgrounds together for the common good,” said Fred Monk, chair emeritus of Columbia World Affairs Council. “His leadership on the state level forged South Carolina’s global reputation. Since then, for the past three decades, he has helped create thousands of first-generation college graduates in South Carolina who are now imbued with a global perspective.”
The annual Global Vision Award Gala is the Council’s only fund-raising event, generating critical operational funds needed to continue our mission to keep SC globally connected and competitive in the year ahead. Each year, the gala is attended by South Carolina's esteemed leadership in government, law, business, education, and our globally engaged community. Please join us for the special evening and help support South Carolina's global impact - Tickets & sponsorship opportunities available now!
“This is a very special honor, made all the more meaningful by the fact that Governor Carroll Campbell, Governor David Beasley and Senator Hugh Leatherman also received it,” Carter said. “Those three were truly masterful at charming our international partners. But of course, all of those collaborative efforts would have been for naught if the Columbia World Affairs Council and college faculties across the state hadn’t been so successful in sustaining them.
“Four decades ago, Carroll Campbell reminded us that our future as a great country was dependent upon having other great countries stand alongside us. That observation has never been more relevant or timely.”
Dr. Carter is the longest serving university president in South Carolina. During his presidency, he has lead FMU through a period of extensive growth and development. He has presided over the start of two dozen academic initiatives, including the development of three doctoral programs and the creation of a School of Health Sciences. Under Dr. Carter’s leadership, FMU’s International Programs excelled to include 11 semester-long exchange programs with universities in seven different countries and travel studies to unique instructional and research sites, such as FMU’s Wildsumaco Biological Research station in Ecuador, RPTU University Kaiserslautern-Landau in Germany, the University of Prince Edward Island in Canada, Carlow College, St. Patrick’s in Ireland, the University of Burgos in Spain, De Montfort University in England, and the Rennes School of Business in France.
During his time leading the State Budget & Control Board, Dr. Carter helped establish many of South Carolina’s international state relationships, including the agreement with Rhineland Palatinate, Germany, which celebrates 30 years of partnership in 2027. Currently, he chairs the South Carolina Commission for International Cooperation and Agreements, which he helped establish, and now oversees many of the state partnerships he helped forge. Dr. Carter also supported SC’s World Class Partnership project, an international high school cultural and teacher exchange program which created more than 25 international sister schools from Socastee to Pendleton.
“President Carter continues to have a tremendous impact on the State of South Carolina,” said Bob Coble, chair of Columbia World Affairs Council Board of Directors, “The relationships he forged during his public service, and continues to nurture through his academic leadership, have positioned our state as an exemplar of prosperous international cooperation shaping the next generations of global pioneers.”
The Global Vision Award was established in 1994 and the first recipient was Governor Carroll A. Campbell. The 2025 Global Vision Award was given to David M. Beasley, recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize on behalf of the World Food Programme in his role as executive director (2017-23), South Carolina Governor (1995-99), and now Distinguished Professor of Practice & Public Service at the University of South Carolina School of Law.
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Where is it happening?
Columbia Museum of Art, 1515 Main Street,Columbia, South Carolina, United States
Event Location & Nearby Stays:
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Host or PublisherThe Columbia World Affairs Council
