Dr. Gainey Receives State-Wide Education Award

Limestone College Executive Vice President Dr. Karen Gainey was recently recognized with a prestigious award from the South Carolina Women In Higher Education.

Dr. Gainey received the 2016 Martha Kime Piper Award during a dinner and reception in her honor on Thursday, Feb. 25, in Charleston, as part of the SCWHE Annual Conference.

The Martha Kime Piper Award, named for the first female President of a public higher education institution in the state, is given annually to recognize a woman with a record of advancing and supporting women in higher education and the education of women in South Carolina.

Presidents of higher education institutions across South Carolina are contacted annually to nominate a qualified candidate from their institution. A Committee of the Executive Board of South Carolina Women in Higher Education selects the Piper Award Winner from among the nominees.

Dr. Gainey became Limestone’s Vice President for Academic Affairs in 2005, and was also named Executive Vice President in 2008.  She came to Limestone in 1994 as Associate Professor of English.

She has served as Chair of the Department of English and Modern Languages, as Chair of the Division of Arts and Letters, as Associate Dean, and as Academic Dean. Since 2001, she has been Montague McMillan Professor of English.

Dr. Gainey earned a B. A. from Clemson University; an M. A. from California State Polytechnic University, Pomona; and a Ph.D. from the University of Tulsa.

Dr. Piper became Winthrop College’s first female President in 1986. At that time, Winthrop had not yet gained university status.