Archive for category: Volunteer of the Year

The Clemson Alumni Association is proud to announce Bharat Ganesan of Greer, South Carolina, as the recipient of the 2025 Frank Kellers III Volunteer of the Year Award, one of the Association’s highest honors recognizing outstanding service and dedication to the Alumni Association.

A 2009 graduate with a B.S. in Industrial Engineering and an MBA from Emory University, Ganesan currently serves as President of the Greenville Clemson Club, where his leadership has significantly expanded alumni engagement and community impact. Under his direction, the club hosted a record number of events this past year, including Clemson Day at The Drive, Welcome to the City, Clemson Celebrity Softball Game, Annual Toy Drive, and multiple watch parties and social gatherings. He is also spearheading the club’s first-ever Pickleball Tournament, scheduled for October 2025.

The Volunteer of the Year Award is selected by the Clemson Alumni Association staff and is presented annually to a Clemson alumnus/a who has demonstrated exceptional volunteerism and service to the organization throughout the year.

“Bharat exemplifies what it means to be ‘Ever Loyal,’” said Tim Britton, who nominated Ganesan for the award. “His energy, creativity, and commitment to Clemson are unmatched. He doesn’t just show up—he leads, he inspires, and he delivers.”

Beyond his local club leadership, Ganesan has served in multiple roles within the broader university community and the Clemson Alumni Association, including serving as a current director on the organization’s board. As a student, he was President Pro Tempore of the Undergraduate Student Senate, founder of Clemson Students Against Multiple Sclerosis, and a member of the Academic Integrity Committee and Dixon Fellows. Professionally, he is a Sr. Product Line Manager at AFL Global, where he continues to build bridges between Clemson and the business community through recruitment, research collaboration, and alumni engagement.

His nominators describe him as a “go-to leader,” “a connector,” and “a tireless advocate for Clemson.” Whether organizing events, mentoring young alumni, or fostering university partnerships, Ganesan’s impact is felt across generations of Tigers.

For more information about the Clemson Alumni Association and its programs, visit alumni.clemson.edu.

Mary Roberts Barron of Clemson has been chosen by the Clemson Alumni Association to receive the 2023 Frank Kellers III Volunteer of the Year Award, an accolade that acknowledges outstanding volunteerism and service to Clemson University.

Barron was selected for her extensive support of both the alumni association and the university, as well as her steadfast advocacy for initiatives promoting Clemson. Graduating with a degree in financial management from Clemson in 1978, she furthered her education by earning a master’s in art & teaching-English from Winthrop in 1992. Before pursuing her teaching degree, Barron had a successful career in Marketing at BellSouth in Raleigh, NC. She later transitioned to teaching English for 18 years at Highland School of Technology and Clover High School. In 2017, Barron and her husband, Charles Barron ’76, moved to Clemson, where she began volunteering at Clemson Community Care.

Barron’s involvement expanded as she became a volunteer and board member with the Ft. Hill Clemson Club, taking on roles such as membership and communication chair, vice president, and eventually, club president. During her tenure, she orchestrated the 2023 Ft. Hill Recruiting Wrap-Up event, which raised $100,000 for the Ft. Hill Clemson Club Endowment. This endowment benefits students in Pickens and Oconee Counties attending Clemson.

A former Tiger Band Twirler, Barron is presently serving a six-year term on the Clemson University Tiger Band Association Board, the alumni branch of the university band. She played a pivotal role in organizing the 2023 Tiger Band Reunion.

Beyond her volunteer contributions at Clemson, Barron has dedicated herself to various church and community leadership roles in Belmont, NC, and Clemson. In addition to herself and her husband, Charles, Barron’s two daughters, Katie Barron Hubbard and Meg Barron Denham, also graduated from Clemson.

The Clemson Alumni Association has presented the Frank Kellers III Volunteer of the Year Award annually since 1988 to show recognition and appreciation to individuals who have a passion for service and building the Clemson family. The award is named for Frank Kellers III, a member of Clemson’s Class of 1957.

The Clemson Alumni Association, an open-membership, nonprofit organization since its inception in 1896, connects members of the more than 154,000-strong Clemson family, inspiring pride, celebrating achievement, providing service and strengthening relationships with Clemson University and each other.

The Clemson Alumni Association has selected Raymond H. Anderson, Jr. of North Charleston to receive the 2018 Frank Kellers III Volunteer of the Year Award. The award recognizes a Clemson University alumnus for outstanding volunteerism and service to the university.

The Clemson Alumni Association chose Anderson for his extensive support of the alumni association and the university along with his unwavering advocacy for initiatives promoting Clemson.

Left to right: Mike Dowling, President of the Clemson Alumni Association Board of Directors; Ray Anderson, Volunteer of the Year; Wil Brasington, Executive Director of the Clemson Alumni Association.

An architecture graduate of Clemson in 1974, Anderson is the Special Assistant to the Mayor for the City of North Charleston. He has served as Chairman of the Clemson University Board of Visitors, on the Clemson University Foundation Board, and is currently serving on the Clemson Alumni Association Board of Directors. Anderson actively participates in Clemson’s legislative advocacy program, serves on the Clemson University Restorative Institute Advisory Board and volunteers with the Charleston County Clemson Club Board of Directors and the Clemson in the Lowcountry Board of Directors.

In addition to his volunteer efforts at Clemson, Anderson has provided significant financial contributions, including an estate gift to endow support of university-wide unrestricted scholarships and a gift to the Endowment for the School of Architecture Travel Grant in Aid. He is a major gift donor to the Zucker Family Graduate Education Center in Charleston; and has provided gifts to ClemsonLIFE, the President’s Fund-Leadership Circle and Barker Scholars.

In addition to serving Clemson, Anderson has had a great impact in his community. He served on the North Charleston Planning Commission and was elected to North Charleston City Council for two terms. He was appointed to the first Charleston Naval Complex Redevelopment Authority from 1993-1995, a member of the American Institute of Architects, and a member of the South Carolina City County Manager Association, the Urban Land Institute and a former member of the SC National Heritage Corridor.

Prior to serving as assistant to the Mayor, Anderson worked for the Charleston County School District, where he developed the District’s Guide to Architects/Engineers, Educational Program Specifications, Program Guidelines and the Middle School Team Concept.

Left to right: Bran O’Rourke, Vice President for Development and Alumni Relations; Ray Anderson, Volunteer of the Year

The Clemson Alumni Association has presented the Frank Kellers III Volunteer of the Year Award annually since 1988 to show recognition and appreciation to individuals who have a passion for service and building the Clemson family. The award is named for Frank Kellers III, a member of Clemson’s Class of 1957.

The Clemson Alumni Association, an open-membership, nonprofit organization since its inception in 1896, connects members of the more than 154,000-strong Clemson family, inspiring pride, celebrating achievement, providing service and strengthening relationships with Clemson University and each other.

CLEMSON, South Carolina – The Clemson Alumni Association has selected Lily Eyraud of Charlotte to receive the 2016 Frank Kellers III Volunteer of the Year award. The award recognizes a Clemson alumnus for outstanding service and volunteerism to the university.

Eyraud previously served as chair of the engagement committee for the Clemson Young Alumni Council and currently serves as the communications lead for the Charlotte Clemson Club. For two years, she served as the Charlotte Clemson Young Alumni Council representative. Eyraud was also named to Clemson’s Young Alumni Council’s Roaring 10 this year for her continued efforts to uphold the university’s core values of honesty, integrity and respect.

Eyraud also serves the Charlotte community as a member of the United Way of Central Carolinas Young Leaders board since 2013. She has mentored and developed leaders as the regional recruitment coordinator for Gamma Phi Beta Sorority, and she was previously president of the sorority’s Charlotte alumnae chapter and education adviser for the Zeta Sigma chapter at the University of South Carolina.

Eyraud graduated from Clemson University in 2012 with a Bachelor of Science in financial management and a minor in accounting. A Certified Financial Planner, she is currently pursuing a Master of Business Administration through the Cross Continent Program at Duke University. Eyraud works as a retirement financial planner at TIAA-CREF, where she analyzes client finances up to $4 million in net worth. She also coordinates with TIAA-CREF’s director of community relations to enhance the company’s impact on the community through the United Way.

The Clemson Alumni Association has presented the Frank Kellers III Volunteer of the Year Award annually since 1988 to show recognition and appreciation to individuals who have a passion for service and building the Clemson family. The award is named for Frank Kellers III, a member of Clemson’s Class of 1957.

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Clemson Alumni Association
The Clemson Alumni Association, an open-membership, nonprofit organization since its inception in 1896, connects members of the 140,000-strong Clemson family, inspiring pride, celebrating achievement, providing service and strengthening relationships with Clemson University and with each other.

The Clemson Alumni Association has honored Bryn Smith (2002) with the 2013 Frank Kellers III Volunteer of the Year Award, the highest and greatest expression of appreciation extended to an individual by the Alumni Association staff for outstanding service and volunteerism. Smith graduated in May 2002 in graphic communications and has been thoroughly involved in developing an alumni community in New York City’s Manhattan, where she lives. During her time at Clemson, Smith worked on Taps Yearbook as a member of the junior staff, academics editor and editor-In-chief. She also wrote for The Tiger and interned as a DJ on WSBF.

Shortly after graduating, Smith began to inquire about other alumni in the New York area. She reached out to a handful of friends and began to build a network of alumni. By mid-football season 2004, she met fellow alumna Carrie Dean and the two collaborated to have the New York/Tri-State Clemson Club chartered as an official university alumni club. “Bryn has dedicated herself to Clemson in so many ways and has proven to be one of the most passionate volunteers we have,” said Wil Brasington, senior director of the Clemson Alumni Association.

“Her efforts have helped to extend the reach of the Clemson family and strengthen the presence of Tiger alumni in the New York City metropolitan area and beyond, for which we are most grateful.”

Over the years, Smith has also served a pivotal role in assisting alumni and students in their job or internship searches. She also helped them find places to live and meet other alumni across the country when their jobs took them out of the New York area. She has connected with parents of current students to make them feel welcome and a part of the Clemson family.

Smith has been working with the other ACC club presidents in the New York City area for the past seven years to build an ACC alumni group. This group gets together occasionally to promote camaraderie and networking within the conference. The Alumni Association has presented the Frank Kellers III Volunteer of the Year Award annually since 1988 to show recognition and appreciation to individuals who have a passion for service and building the Clemson family. The award is named for Frank Kellers III ’57, longtime leader of the Northern California Clemson Club and tireless supporter of Clemson Clubs around the world.