Alumni often find their way back to Francis Marion.
Count Lee Daugherty (‘89) among them.
Daugherty is FMU’s new director of alumni affairs. He succeeds Julian Young (‘xxxxxx), who spent nine years in the post before retiring last summer.
Daugherty says his mission will be to roll out the welcome mat to FMU’s growing alumni base, and keep it rolled.
“We want to engage alumni in every way we possibly can,” Daugherty says. “We’ve got 22,000 alumni and they live in all 50 state and many other countries. We want them to know that they’re always Patriots and FMU is always home.”
Daugherty has a long history with FMU. He is among the university’s first legacy grads — his father graduated from FMU in 1983, just a few years before Daugherty did — and, FMU is also where Daugherty met his wife Melissa (‘90).
“Twenty-eight years after my graduation, I still have fond memories of my professors and friends,” he says. “By my junior year, all of my professors knew my name, and to me that seemed normal. However, when I would relate that to my friends who attended other universities they were incredulous. It was only then that I began to understand just how special Francis Marion was to me and other students.”
Daugherty graduated with his management degree from FMU’s School of Business and entered the banking industry. He held various positions in that field before returning in 2005 to earn a graduate degree in corporate finance and investment banking from the University of Wisconsin.
Daugherty’s financial career continued with JP Morgan Chase, among others. In 2014 he dipped his feet into the education world as the director of the BOOST Program at Florence Darlington Technical College.
Daugherty says he’s thrilled to land the position back at his alma mater and sees a bright future for FMU and its many alums.
“I cannot imagine a more exciting time to be part of the Alumni Association as a member or a director than right now,” he says. “As the 50th anniversary of FMU approaches, we’ll engage our alumni near and far with increased opportunities to gather, reminisce, give feedback to better prepare our graduates.”
