MUSC Presidents

Kenneth Merrill Lynch, Sr., M.D., 1949 - 1960

Kenneth Merrill Lynch, Sr. was born November 27, 1887 in Hamilton County, Texas. He earned his M.D. from the University of Texas in 1910. Lynch moved to Charleston, South Carolina in 1913 and became a Professor of Pathology at the Medical College of the State of South Carolina South Carolina from 1913-1921 and 1926-1960. He was named Vice-Dean in 1935 and held that position until 1943 when he was named Dean of the School of Medicine. In 1949 Lynch added the title of President of the Medical College to the title of Dean. He held both titles until 1960 when he was named Chancellor. Lynch died at his home in Summerville on November 29, 1974.

John Tindal Cuttino, M.D., Interim, 1960 - 1962

John Tindal Cuttino was born August 15, 1912 in Sumter County, South Carolina. He was a 1936 graduate of the Medical College of the State of South Carolina. He served as dean of the School of Medicine from 1950 to 1959 and in 1959 was appointed executive vice president of the MCSC. From 1960-1962 Dr. Cuttino served as acting president of the Medical College. Dr. Cuttino died on January 7, 1988.

Harold Rawling Pratt-Thomas, M.D., 1962 - 1964

Harold Rawling Pratt-Thomas was born June 9, 1913 in Barnesley, Yorkshire, England. Raised in Wedgefield, South Carolina, he earned an AB from Davidson College in 1934. He graduated from the Medical College of the State of South Carolina in 1938, after which he interned and did his residency at Cincinnati General Hospital in Cincinnati, Ohio. Pratt-Thomas became an associate in the department of Pathology at MCSSC in 1940. He became an assistant professor in 1945, an associate professor in 1950, and full professor in 1955. In 1959 he became the dean of the School of Medicine, and in 1962 became president of the Medical College. Pratt-Thomas died March 29, 2008.

William Mellon McCord, M.D., Ph.D., 1964 - 1975

William Mellon McCord, M.D., Ph.D., was born in the city of Durban, in the province of Natal, Union of South Africa on January 24, 1907. He earned his A.B. degree from Oberlin College in 1928 and went on to earn his Ph.D. in chemistry from Yale University in 1931. In 1940, Dr. McCord was awarded his medical degree from Louisiana State University. On December 4, 1945, McCord joined the faculty of the Medical College of the State of South Carolina at the rank of Professor of Chemistry and Chairman of the Department of Chemistry. Upon the resignation of Dr. Harold Rawling Pratt-Thomas as President of MCSSC, McCord served as interim president starting in December 1964 until his appointment as President of MCSSC in November 1965. Dr. McCord served in this capacity until 1975. McCord died at his home in Lodge, South Carolina, on January 29, 1996, at the age of 89.

William Hagerman Knisely, Ph.D., 1975 - 1982

William H. Knisely was born in Houghton, Michigan on February 3, 1922. After studying at the University of Chicago and the University of Brussels, he received a Ph.D. from the Medical College of South Carolina in 1954. Dr. Knisely served as professor of anatomy at Duke University and the University of Kentucky (where he was also chair of the anatomy department). Dr. Knisely was also the Director of the Institute of Biology and Medicine at Michigan State University, in addition to being the Vice Chancellor of Health Affairs for the University of Texas System. After being hired as MUSC's Academic Vice President and President Elect in 1974, he was officially made President in December of 1975 and served as President until 1982. Knisely died on May 7, 2004.

William Marcus Newberry, M.D., Interim, 1982

William Marcus Newberry was born in Columbia, Georgia on November 13, 1938. He received his B.A. from Northwestern University and earned his M.D. at Emory University. Dr. Newberry joined MUSC in 1971 as an assistant professor in internal medicine and became a professor in 1975. He was appointed acting dean of the College of Medicine in October 1974 and dean in August 1975. He served as acting vice president for academic affairs in 1982, a position that was made permanent in 1984, and interim president of MUSC between May and December 1982. He retired from MUSC in 1994.

James B. Edwards, D.M.D, 1982 - 1999

James Burrows Edwards was born in Hawthorne, Florida on June 24, 1927. He graduated with honors from the University of Louisville School of Dentistry in 1955. In addition, he was president of the student body and graduating class. He then attended Graduate Medical School (1957-58) at the University of Pennsylvania for Advanced Correlated Clinical Sciences. Dr. Edwards served in many capacities at MUSC from clinical associate in oral surgery to professor of oral and maxillofacial surgery from 1970 to 1982. He was appointed President of MUSC in 1982 and served until retiring in 1999.

Raymond Seth Greenberg, M.D., 2000 - 2013

Dr. Raymond S. Greenberg received his M.D. from Duke University, his master's from Harvard, and bachelor's and doctoral degrees from the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. Prior to coming to MUSC he was part of the medical school faculty at Emory University and founding dean of the Rollins School of Public Health there. In 1995, Greenberg joined MUSC as the Vice President for Academic Affairs and Provost and in January 2000 became of President of the Medical University of South Carolina. In August 2013 Dr. Greenberg left MUSC to become Executive Vice Chancellor for The University of Texas System.

Mark Sothmann, Ph.D., Interim, 2013 - 2014

Mark S. Sothmann joined the Medical University of South Carolina in 2007 as Professor of Rehabilitation Sciences and Dean of the College of Health Professions. He previously served as the Associate Dean of the Indiana University School of Medicine from 1997 through 2004, and Dean of the Indiana University School of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences from 1997 through 2007. Dr. Sothmann received his Bachelor of Arts degree in history from the University of Northern Iowa in 1971 and his doctorate in exercise science from Purdue University in 1982. He spent 13 years on the faculty of the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee and held clinical faculty appointments in the Department of Medicine of the University of Wisconsin Medical School-Milwaukee Clinical Campus and the Department of Preventive Medicine of the Medical College of Wisconsin. Dr. Sothmann served as interim provost at MUSC beginning in July 2010 and officially appointed to the position in April 2011. In April 2013 he was named Interim President.

David Cole, M.D., 2014 -

David J. Cole, M.D. earned his medical degree from Cornell University Medical College in 1986 and completed his residency training in general surgery at Emory University. After residency, Dr. Cole completed a surgical oncology fellowship at the National Institutes of Health, National Cancer Institute Surgery Branch in Bethesda, Maryland. In 1994, Dr. Cole joined the MUSC College of Medicine as an assistant professor of surgery and in 2007 was named chairman of the Department of Surgery. He has served in a variety of faculty and leadership positions at MUSC since the mid-1990s, and earned tenure in 2001. He was named president of MUSC in April 2014.