The Columbia World Affairs Council announced Dr. Fred Carter, president of Francis Marion University, as the 2026 Global Vision Award recipient. He will be honored at a black-tie gala on Tuesday, December 1, at the Columbia Museum of Art, for a lifetime of public service and leadership that has advanced South Carolina’s interest and influence around the world. This is the 33rd year the Columbia World Affairs Council has presented the award to a leader whose contributions have made a significant impact on projecting South Carolina globally.
Dr. Carter is the longest serving university president in South Carolina. He assumed the presidency of Francis Marion University in 1999, leading the university 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 Kaiserslautern-Landau in Germany, the University of Prince Edward Island in Canada, Carlow College in Ireland, the University of Burgos in Spain, DeMontford University in England, and the University of Rennes in France.
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