Our 2024–25 Honorees
South Carolina Educator Hall of Fame Inductees:
Dr. Gerrita Postlewait, The Honorable Molly M. Spearman, and
Dr. Rose Hilliard-Wilder (posthumous)
Distinguished South Carolina Public School Graduates:
Lou Brissie (posthumous), Charlie Blackwell-Thompson, and
Vanessa E. Wyche
Distinguished South Carolina Public Education Impact Award Recipient:
Mike Brenan
2025 South Carolina
Educator Hall of Fame Inductees
Dr. Gerrita Postlewait
Dr. Postlewait is a veteran public school superintendent, serving over 55 years in education, with 25 of those years as superintendent in multiple districts. Her leadership in each district led to the increase in and strengthening of programs as well as overall student achievement. She also served as the Chief K-12 Officer for a national foundation and held leadership roles at ACT Testing. In 2006, she was named Superintendent of the Year, and in 2019, she received the Lifetime Achievement Award, both presented by SCASA.
The Honorable Molly M. Spearman
Mrs. Spearman has served 45 years in public education as a teacher, assistant principal, deputy superintendent and state superintendent at the SC Department of Education, and executive director of the SC Association of School Administrators (SCASA). During her tenure as state superintendent, she delegated $200 million for new school construction in the neediest districts, and she served as President of the Council of Chief State School Officers. Mrs. Spearman also served as director of Palmetto Girls State for ten years and as director of Girls Nation for one year.
Dr. Rose Hilliard-Wilder (posthumous)
Dr. Wilder served over 40 years in education and became the first Black female superintendent in South Carolina since Reconstruction. She was honored as South Carolina Superintendent of the Year in 2014 by SCASA. In 2020, the Clarendon County School District One Board of Trustees changed the name of St. Paul Elementary School to Dr. Rose H. Wilder Elementary School. Following her death in 2022, Congressman James Clyburn gave a tribute to Dr. Wilder on the Floor of the United States House of Representatives.
2025 Distinguished South Carolina Public School Graduates
Lou Brissie (posthumous)
A 1941 graduate of Ware Shoals High School (Greenwood District 51), Mr. Brissie was a major league baseball player for the Philadelphia Athletics and Cleveland Indians. Prior to his baseball career, he served in the U.S. Army during World War II and earned the Bronze Star and two Purple Hearts. In 1957, President Dwight D. Eisenhower appointed him to the inaugural President’s Council on Physical Fitness. He was inducted into the South Carolina Athletic Hall of Fame in 1974 and received the Order of the Palmetto, South Carolina’s highest civilian honor in 1996.
Charlie Blackwell-Thompson
A 1983 graduate of Gaffney High School (Cherokee County Schools), Ms. Blackwell-Thompson serves as launch director for NASA’s Exploration Ground Systems Program, based at NASA’s John F. Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Upon being named to the position in January 2016, she became NASA’s first female launch director. On November 16, 2022, she led her team during the first launch of Artemis—an uncrewed flight test of Space Launch System and the Orion spacecraft. She is the holder of multiple patents related to launch vehicle interface standardization concepts and command and control methods and systems.
Vanessa E. Wyche
A 1981 graduate of Conway High School (Horry County Schools), Ms. Wyche is the director of NASA’s Johnson Space Center, serving since 2021. Under her leadership, Johnson Space Center was recognized by Forbes and Statista as the No. 1 best employer among Texas’ major employers for two consecutive years. She has received numerous awards including the Presidential Rank Award, two NASA Outstanding Leadership Medals, and two NASA Achievement Medals. She is an American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics Associate Fellow and an International Women’s Forum Fellow alumni.
2025 South Carolina Public Education Impact Award Recipient
Mike Brenan
Mr. Brenan currently serves as the President and CEO of the South Carolina Chamber of Commerce. He previously served as Regional President of the South Carolina Region of Truist Bank. A steadfast supporter of public education in South Carolina, he served as chairman of the South Carolina State Board of Education, Governor’s School for Science & Mathematics Foundation, and TransformSC, and as a member of the South Carolina Education Oversight Committee (EOC). He has received numerous honors including the Business Leader of the Year award by the South Carolina Chamber of Commerce in 2014.
