Salmond Receives Service Leadership Award

May 19, 2011

Salmond Receives MEBA Service Leadership Award

Dr. Jasper Salmond is the recipient of the Midlands Education and Business Alliance (MEBA) 2011 Service Leadership Award. Created to commemorate MEBA’s 20 years of service in the Midlands, the award recognizes an individual who exemplifies MEBA’s mission to build and strengthen connections among education, business, community and faith to promote economic development and enhance the quality of life in the Midlands. A community leader, true public servant and champion of public education, Salmond is the longest serving member of MEBA’s board of directors and the first recipient of the Service Leadership Award.

Salmond was presented with the award at MEBA’s Salute to Service and Leadership in Education held Thursday, May 19, 2011. Mayor Steve Benjamin served as the keynote speaker. Jamie Devine, vice chairman of the Richland One Board of School Commissioners, and Jim Reynolds, a past Chair of MEBA’s Board of Directors, offered remarks about Salmond’s leadership and dedication to MEBA and the Midlands community. Students from Richland One Works presented Salmond and his wife, Thelma Brooks Salmond, hand-made gifts as a token of their appreciation for his many contributions to Richland School District One.

“The secret to MEBA’s success is the trust that has been built between our education leaders and our business leaders,” said Reynolds. “Having lived in both worlds, Jasper provided steady guidance and quiet counsel as that trust was nurtured, tested and firmly established. He helped us all understand we share common values and a shared vision of helping all students prepare for success in life.”

Born in South Carolina during the Depression and raised in a three-room house without plumbing or electricity, Jasper Salmond’s life is a testament to his work ethic, vision and unwavering dedication to helping young people achieve their potential. When he was just over a year old, Salmond experienced the devastating loss of his father. While walking his bicycle across a street in Camden, James Salmond was intentionally struck by a racially-charged driver who mistook James for another man who had allegedly chastised him earlier that day. No inquest was ever held, and Salmond’s mother was left to raise their two boys, Jasper and Bill, alone. It is mother, Dora Salmond, whom Jasper Salmond calls his “motivator” and credits with instilling strong values and providing focus to his life in the interest of others.

Salmond’s formal education began in a one-room school with seven grades taught by one teacher, continuing through high school where he graduated as valedictorian. He attended Benedict College where he was student body president and graduated magna cum laude with a Bachelor of Arts degree in education. Salmond went on to receive a master’s in educational supervision and administration from the Teachers College of Columbia University in New York.

Salmond began his professional career as a public school teacher, and his devotion to education and students continued as he served as a junior high school assistant principal and principal of three elementary schools. Salmond also served in the armed forces, stationed in Europe as a non-commissioned military police officer for the US Army, and finally as a United Nations contact for Wilbur Smith Associates, an international consulting firm.

In addition to MEBA, Salmond has served on numerous boards including Richland School District One, the Greater Columbia Chamber of Commerce, Palmetto Health Alliance, Midlands Technical College, Benedict College, United Way of the Midlands, the Central Carolina Red Cross Chapter as chair, Midlands Middle College and as president of the South Carolina School Boards Association. He is the recipient of numerous awards including the Order of the Palmetto, World Affairs Global Award, Alpha Phi Alpha Man of the Year, and the Charles Drew Award, and was inducted into the prestigious Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU) Alumni Hall of Fame.

View photos from MEBA's Salute to Service and Leadership in Education.

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