Anderson University has received its largest-ever gift from the estate of a man who grew up on a cotton farm near Honea Path.

During the school’s May 2 commencement, university president Evans Whitaker announced the $8 million gift from the late David T. Clamp. The gift is designated to support the university’s graduate programs.

Whitaker said the university will honor the donor by naming its recently established graduate program in ministry the David T. Clamp Graduate School of Christian Ministry.

“David Clamp was one of the finest men I have ever known,” Whitaker said. “He had a lifelong passion for Christian higher education and Anderson University in particular. He was particularly interested in providing avenues of study that prepare men and women for the ministry,” he added.

Over the last few years, Whitaker and Anderson’s vice president for institutional advancement, Dean Woods, visited often with Clamp and his wife, Jane Ferguson Clamp, at their home in Waynesboro, Va., to discuss the gift.

“He was especially proud of the way Anderson University had advanced and risen in the national rankings,” Woods said. “He saw his gift as an investment that would pay dividends far beyond his lifetime.”

The university posthumously awarded Clamp an honorary doctor of humanities degree for a life of service, stewardship, and support of Christian higher education. Mrs. Clamp was awarded an honorary doctor of humanities degree for her shared generosity in the gift.

“Mrs. Clamp is an exceedingly special individual. Not only did she lead a distinguished life of civil service, she was a faithful spouse and a dedicated, loving caretaker for her husband in the last years of his life,” Whitaker said.

One of eight children who grew up on a cotton farm just outside Honea Path, Clamp discovered early that he had a gift for managing numbers with great attention to detail. He served in the U.S. Army and, after graduating with a degree in business from Pace University in New York City, applied his accounting talent to a long career with the Civil Aeronautics Board in Washington, D.C., where he focused most of his time auditing U.S. air carriers and evaluating their operations.

The Clamps retired to Waynesboro, Va., where their home church is the historic First Baptist Church.

The Clamp Graduate School of Christian Ministry plans to launch its first offering, the master of ministry degree program, this fall. Last summer, the university hired Michael Duduit as the Clamp School’s founding dean. Duduit is a highly respected educator and editor of Preaching Magazine.

An honorary doctor of humanities degree was presented to Anderson alumnus and South Carolina state representative Dan Cooper for his public service and support of students pursuing college degrees in both private and public higher education. Whitaker praised Cooper for “discharging his public duties with the rare heart and temperament of a true statesman.”

The commencement program featured the awarding of 230 undergraduate and graduate degrees, the largest number of graduates in the university’s history. Shirley R. Jacks, a retired Anderson professor of French and Spanish of 44 years, gave the commencement address. – Anderson University