Wofford to bestow two honorary degrees during 171st Commencement

Wofford College will bestow honorary degrees on Jerry Cogan and the Rev. John Wesley Culp at its 171st annual Commencement on Sunday, May 18. Margaret Young, a 1992 Wofford graduate, member of the college’s board of trustees and a managing partner at PricewaterhouseCoopers, will deliver the Commencement address. Commencement exercises will begin at 9:30 a.m. on the lawn of Main Building.

Jerry Cogan, Doctor of Science
Cogan served as president of Milliken Research for 36 years until his retirement in 2001. He began his career at Milliken & Co. in 1961 as a chemical engineer and quickly rose through the ranks to manage the organization’s then-new chemical business. Under his leadership, Milliken Research earned more than 1,280 patents, developing breakthroughs such as Visa, a washable polyester fabric, and Millitron, a digital patterning technology for carpets. He received the American Chemical Society’s Earle B. Barnes Award for Leadership in Chemical Research Management in 1994 and the Dr. Charles Townes Individual Achievement Award in 2006 in recognition of his efforts to enhance research in the textile and chemical industries and improve his local community.

Cogan served on Wofford’s board of trustees from 1990 to 2002 and chaired the $33.3 million “Investment in People” campaign. He and his wife Sally have supported the annual operations of Wofford, as well as numerous scholarship funds and other campaigns over the past 50 years.

Heavily involved in the community, Cogan has served on the board of Habitat for Humanity, and he has chaired boards for the Spartanburg Philharmonic, Charles Lee Center Foundation and Spartanburg’s Adult Learning Center. At the age of 90, continues to volunteer with the ALC, managing new student intake and testing. He also delivers Mobile Meals and remains active in the Episcopal Church of the Advent.

Cogan holds degrees from Amherst College and Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Rev. John Wesley Culp, Doctor of Humanities
A longtime leading member of the South Carolina United Methodist Conference, Culp is the founder of Salkehatchie Summer Service, a youth outreach camp that rehabilitates homes for people living in substandard housing. Since 1978, more than 70,000 young people — many who were involved as Wofford students — have participated in Salkehatchie Summer Service, helping more than 6,500 families and updating hundreds of homes.

In addition to ministering to seven churches around the state, Culp has served on the National Shalom Committee and the United Methodist’s AIDS Fund Committee. He is the recipient of the Order of the Palmetto, the Algernon Sydney Sullivan Award for humanitarian service and the University of South Carolina Outstanding Alumnus Award. In 2011, Culp was awarded the Distinguished Alumni Award for service to the community from Emory University’s Candler School of Theology.

A native of Union, South Carolina, Culp graduated from the University of South Carolina in 1967 and earned a Master of Divinity degree from Emory University in 1971. He and his wife, Margaret, have been married for 57 years.

Margaret Young, Commencement Speaker
Young is the managing partner of PwC’s Spartanburg office with more than 25 years of experience advising privately held businesses across a range of industries. She previously served as east region leader for PwC’s private company services practice, where she oversaw a staff of 600 employees and 65 partners focused on delivering audit, tax and personal financial services to private companies with domestic and international operations. PwC is a global professional services firm with approximately 330,000 professionals in 152 countries. It is one of the Big Four accounting firms, with approximately 4,000 partners and 55,000 personnel in the U.S.

A 1992 Wofford graduate, Young currently serves on the board of trustees, where she leads the audit committee. She has also chaired the enrollment committee. She has served on the boards of the Mary Black Foundation, the Chapman Cultural Center, the United Way of the Piedmont, the Girl Scouts of South Carolina – Mountains to Midlands as well as numerous other organizations. She and her husband, Mike Young, have been generous supporters of Wofford, recently initiating a major funding initiative as members of the Parents Leadership Council to renovate and name Wofford’s track in memory of Jeremiah Tate ’17. Their son, Davis, will graduate from Wofford with the Class of 2025. They also have a daughter, Cooper.

Find the complete schedule for Wofford’s 2025 Commencement Weekend here, including links to watch livestreams of events.