Biology graduate named Distinguished Alumnus of the Year

Bernie Mazyck, Class of 1981 in biology, is the 2024 CSU Distinguished Alumnus of the Year for 2024. He and other alumni were recognized at Chapel Oct. 2.

Mazyck is president and chief executive officer for the South Carolina Association for Community Economic Development.

This year is the  30^th Anniversary of the S.C. Association for Community Economic Development, and Mazyck has served as its first and only president and chief executive officer. SCACED is the state’s trade association and funding intermediary for community-based economic development and financial institutions focused on building wealth in low-wealth communities in South Carolina. 

Mazyck helped to launch SCACED in 1994 with four organizations. Now SCACED has 200 member organizations serving all 46 counties of South Carolina. Through its network of members and partner organizations, SCACED strives to improve the quality of life for poor families and communities by providing innovative and sustainable solutions to low-wealth communities in South Carolina.

SCACED and its member organizations have developed projects valued at over $200 million, with an economic impact in South Carolina of over $400 million. Through SCACED’s members and partners, over 2,500 families purchased their first home, CED organizations created over 6,000 jobs, and thousands of poor families built wealth in rural and distressed communities in South Carolina. Mazyck also served as the chief architect of the passage of the South Carolina Community Economic Development Act. This landmark piece of legislation authorizes the South Carolina General Assembly to provide grants, loans and tax credits to certified community economic development organizations in South Carolina. This is one of the first pieces of legislation that provides state support directly to community-based organizations working in poor and rural communities of South Carolina.

Mazyck is also a graduate of the Interdenominational Theological Center in Atlanta, Georgia with a Master of Divinity degree, with a concentration in ministry with the poor. In 2000, he completed the Program for Senior Executives in State and Local Government at the John F. Kennedy School at Harvard University.

Currently he serves on the following Boards: Chairman, Charlotte Branch Board of the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond (Richmond, Va.); Coastal Community Foundation (Charleston); Rural Resource Coalition of South Carolina, South Carolina Community Capital Alliance, The Opportunity Center (Charleston); Office of Rural Health (Lexington, S.C.); Connectional Ministries of the United Methodist Church of South Carolina, and Epworth Children Center.

Mazyck is the recipient of numerous awards including the 2024 Joseph P. Riley Leadership Award from the Charleston Metro Chamber of Commerce, 2021 and 2022 50 Most Influential by Charleston Business Magazine, 2023 Emanuel Nine Award for Volunteerism from the S.C. Chapters of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc., 2020 Community Development Association Leadership Award from the National Alliance of Community Economic Development Associations, and the 2021 Servant Leadership Award from the S.C. Commission for Minority Affairs. He is also the 2004 recipient of the Order of the Silver Crescent from Governor Mark Sanford and the 2014 recipient of the Order of the Palmetto from former Governor Nikki Haley. The Order of the Palmetto is the state’s highest civilian honor for service to the state.

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