SPARTANBURG, S.C. – Mercer University is represented by Dr. Chris Grant and Rick Cameron on the All-Southern Conference Faculty and Staff Team, announced today.
Begun in 2016, the All-SoCon Faculty and Staff Team consists of two individuals from each of the 10 member institutions who share the common characteristics of demonstrated service to the institution and contributions to campus life and the local community. Faculty members have demonstrated strong contributions to teaching, research and/or service, while staff members are recognized for bringing out the best in others and creating conditions for success.
Dr. Grant is professor and chair of political science in Mercer’s College of Liberal Arts and Sciences. He served as a Congressional Fellow in the office of U.S. Senator Max Cleland and has regularly taken students to Iowa and New Hampshire to experience the excitement of the early stages of U.S. presidential campaigns.
Dr. Grant has authored several articles and other publications, including Our Arc of Confidence, a monograph on the evolution of the Georgia General Assembly. In 2006, he was selected as a Fulbright Scholar to the former Soviet republic of Moldova, which ignited a passion for understanding civil society in the former USSR.
He has led multiple Mercer On Mission programs in the former Soviet space and is currently working on a book about political and social conditions in the region. This past spring, he received another Fulbright award to Ukraine, which was used to teach on the faculty at the National University of Kyiv Mohyla Academy and to continue his field research.
Cameron has served on the staff at Mercer since 1997. In his current role as senior assistant vice president for marketing communications, he is the editor of several University publications, among other responsibilities.
In his more public role as “Voice of the Bears” for Mercer’s athletic programs, fans have come to enjoy Cameron’s southern lilt and phrases as he describes the performances of the University’s student-athletes. His early career included roles as publisher and editor of several small newspapers, and he also worked as a country music deejay, where he began honing his announcing craft as the voice of the Clarke Central High Gladiators in the 1970s.
In 2019, he was honored for his contributions by being inducted into the Mercer University Athletic Hall of Fame. He is married to Myra Cameron, eligibility coordinator for athletics and a member of the 2019-20 All-SoCon Faculty and Staff Team.
“The conference celebrates the outstanding work and accomplishments by these talented faculty and staff members at each of our member institutions,” SoCon Commissioner Jim Schaus said. “These are in essence the conference’s annual MVP awards for faculty and staff. We will publicly recognize these awards winners during a home men’s basketball game this year. Please take a bow for a job well done.”
All-SoCon selections from the nine other conference institutions include The Citadel’s Dr. Kevin Skenes and Stephanie Fye; ETSU’s Dr. Natalie Smith and Jeff Shell; Furman’s Dr. Scott Murr and Dr. Brad Harmon; UNC Greensboro’s Dr. Chris Kepley and Zach Smith; Samford’s Larry Harper and James Carlson; Chattanooga’s Dr. Mark Schorr and Christopher Stokes; VMI’s Col. James A. Coale and Dr. David Copeland; Western Carolina’s Dr. Alvin Malesky and Roger Turk; and Wofford’s Dr. Jameica B. Hill and Jeff Burney.
The 2020-21 All-SoCon Faculty and Staff Team will also be recognized at home men’s basketball games this season, as its members were not able to be recognized last season due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
