In Memoriam
Dr. James E. Privett
Nov. 7, 1938 – July 30, 2019

Dr. James E. Privett, 80, died on July 30, 2019, at his home in Bishopville, South Carolina.

Jim received his MS and Ph.D. from Purdue University, Indiana, and his BS in Chemistry and Mathematics from Butler University, Indiana. Jim was a Professor of Chemistry and the Division Chair for Science, Mathematics and Engineering and the Division Chair for Business Administration and Economics at the University of South Carolina Sumter.

Jim’s passion was teaching, and he loved his students, and his students loved him! It was no surprise that he won the Distinguished Teaching Award from the Student Government Association at USC Sumter 9 times. He also received the South Carolina Governor’s Professor of the Year and the Governor’s Award for Scientific Awareness in the State of South Carolina. He had the honor of winning the Dori Helms Award from the South Carolina Science Council.

Jim taught Chemistry all over the country and even in Saudi Arabia where he was a professor of Chemistry in Riyadh.

Jim was very active in the South Carolina Academy of Science serving as a Councilor and the Judging Coordinator for the South Carolina Junior Academy. In this role, he brought several faculty members from colleges and universities across the State of South Carolina into the Academy and mentored them on service to Science and the Academy. He also served as a judge at the middle and high school Science Fairs in Sumter County and the Region II Science Fair in Columbia, South Carolina.

Besides his love and contributions to Science, Jim’s other passions were cooking, baking and gardening. His baking skills were famous in the Science Building in Sumter, and students and colleagues looked forward to the end of the semester when he baked countless chocolate chip and peanut butter cookies and generously shared them with colleagues and students, and the coconut cake he baked for the Holiday Season.

Those who were fortunate to know Jim will miss his positivity, jokes and laughter. It is a momentous loss for his family, friends, colleagues and students. We say a fond farewell to a glorious well-lived life whose memory we will treasure forever.