Professor of Social Work To Retire

FLORENCE, SC – After a 40-year career in social work, and 17 years of teaching at Limestone College, Mary Beth Harllee, Associate Professor of Social Work, has announced her retirement.

“Everyone in the Social Work Program admires Mary Beth Harllee for her devotion to the program and to Limestone College,” said Jackie A. Puckett, Limestone’s Associate Dean and Director of Social Work.  “I have heard more than one person say that she bleeds Limestone College; that is, when she slows down long enough to bleed at all. Mary Beth is our best marketer, one of our best teachers and without a doubt one of the most positive of our faculty members. She is unique in her passion and dedication to her profession and to her clients, who are in this case, her students.”

Harllee came to Limestone’s Online & Evening in Florence in 1997, after spending ten years as the department head of CareSouth Carolina’s Alzheimer’s Program. She received her undergraduate degree in Psychology from Catawba College. She went on to receive her Master’s in Guidance and Counseling from the University of North Carolina Charlotte, as well her Master’s in Social Work from the University of South Carolina.

“The hardest part about retiring is going to be missing my students,” said Harllee, whose retirement was celebrated at the Florence Online & Evening on Oct. 15. “I will miss seeing how my students grow. I will miss them coming back to visit, and telling me that they have a job. I will miss them thanking me.”

During her tenure at Limestone, Harllee taught over ten Social Work courses. She also served as the Associate Director of Field Placement for many years. “Helping students gain first-hand experience in the field, guiding them, and watching them learn how to become social workers are some of my happiest memories,” noted Harllee, who in 2008 was named by the College as “Social Worker of the Year.”

“My experience at Limestone has been incredible,” she said. “Over the years, I have been blessed to be a part of the College, and it has been such an honor. If I had to design the perfect job, I think in many ways that Limestone fits it. Limestone is my family. It will always be one of the things that I truly treasure.”

Even in retirement, Harllee’s passion for Social Work will continue, as she will still serve as a certified trainer of the Social Work licensure exam, give consultations within the community, and help her former students in any way possible.