2022 Alumni Award Winners

Anton Gunn is a former senior advisor to President Barack Obama and a leading expert on Socially Conscious Leadership. Early in his career, he was the first African American from his district elected to the South Carolina Legislature.

Anton is a graduate of the University of South Carolina where he played football for the Gamecocks. He also earned a master’s degree in Social Work from USC and was a Resident Fellow at Harvard.

He is the bestselling author of The Audacity of Leadership and The Presidential Principles and has been featured in TIME Magazine, the Wall St Journal, INC Magazine, BBC, NPR, and on Good Morning America.

Anton was named one of the Ten Most Influential Minority Executives in Healthcare by Fierce Healthcare.

An international keynote speaker and the CEO of 937 Strategy Group, Anton has worked with renowned organizations like Mercedes-Benz Vans, KPMG, Rock Ventures, Highmark Health, Verizon Wireless, Aetna, T-Mobile, Sonepar, Danaher, Emory Healthcare, Blue Shield of California, and The Boeing Company.

Anton is a Certified Speaking Professional (CSP), a designation earned by the top echelon of professional speakers and held by fewer than 10% of the members belonging to the International Federation for Professional Speakers.

As a business management consultant and serving on multiple boards, he has spent his life helping leaders build diverse, high-performing teams, and world-class workplace culture.

Brigadier General Andrew C. Gaineyis currently serving as the Deputy Commanding General – Operations of the 3rd (French) Division in Marseille, France.

Upon graduation from the University of South Carolina in 1992, he was commissioned as a Field Artillery officer and has since served in a variety of key leadership positions throughout the United States, Europe, and the Middle East.

During his career, he has had the distinct privilege to lead Soldiers in combat in both Iraq and Afghanistan. BG Gainey commanded troops at the Brigade and Battalion level, most notably as the Commander of the 1st Battalion, 7th Field Artillery Regiment, Fort Riley, Kansas, and later as the Commander of the 17th Field Artillery Brigade (HIMARS) at Joint Base Lewis McChord, Washington.

While serving as the Deputy Commanding General (Maneuver) of the 1st Infantry Division, he commanded the 1st Infantry Division Headquarters (Forward) in Poland.

BG Gainey’s staff experience includes Executive Officer to the Vice Chief of Staff, Army, Senior Military Assistant to the Undersecretary of Defense and Military Assistant in the Office of the Secretary Defense.

He holds a Bachelor of Science degree from the University of South Carolina, a Master’s degree from Kansas State University, and a Master’s degree from the United States Marine War College.

He credits most of his career accomplishments to the leadership and mentorship he received from the University of South Carolina ROTC Department.

Following in the footsteps of her parents, Donna J. Walker graduated from the University of South Carolina, where she earned a bachelor’s degree in pharmacy and her master’s in business administration.  Donna began her career working with her dad as a pharmacist at Cedar Terrace Pharmacy in Columbia, S.C. Subsequently, she moved to Washington, D.C. to work for the American Pharmacists Association, the national professional society for pharmacists. After receiving her MBA, she joined 3M Pharmaceuticals in Minneapolis. She held various leadership positions within the pharmaceutical division, including sales, marketing, and international management. Later, she served as the North American Sales and Marketing Director for the 3M Telecom Division in Austin, Texas.

In 1997, Donna and her husband, Mark Pulido, founded the Pulido Walker Foundation, which is focused on youth development. In addition to her activities with Pulido Walker Foundation, Donna has been involved with numerous other community and professional organizations including American Pharmacists Association, Austin Diagnostic Medical Center, Alliance Healthcare Foundation, Rancho Santa Fe Foundation, Rancho Santa Fe Community Center, San Diego Social Venture Partners, and San Diego Grantmakers. She is past Chair of the Boys and Girls Clubs of San Francisco, past Chair of the Rancho Santa Fe Women’s Fund and past President of The Bishop’s School Parent Association. Currently, Donna chairs the Grant Review Committee of the Napa Valley Vintners.

In 2013, Donna and Mark agreed to create and endow the Walker Pharmacy Leadership Scholars launching a student leadership initiative to identify, educate, and recognize top pharmacy student leaders at the University of South Carolina.

Donna and Mark are the proprietors of Pulido~Walker Estate Vineyards and Winery –a Napa Valley limited production family winery specializing in extraordinary single vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon and Chardonnay. They live in Yountville, California and have one son, Chas.

James B. Johnson, Jr. and Elaine M. Johnson established The Ann Johnson Institute (AJI) for Science, Technology and Society at the University of South Carolina, in honor of their late daughter, Ann. The AJI was established in 2017 and is dedicated to building diverse communities for the study of technology, medicine and science in past and present societies.

James is a 1954 graduate of Vanderbilt as well as a 1959 University of Pennsylvania Wharton School MBA graduate. Elaine is a 1959 graduate of San Jose State University and did graduate study in library science at Kean University. After several years of active duty in the Navy, James worked in New York for more than thirty years at J.P. Morgan & Co. Elaine was a librarian at Kent Place School in Summit, New Jersey. After their respective retirements in 1993, the Johnsons moved to Statesboro, GA, where they currently reside. Their older daughter, Ann, taught history and philosophy at USC for a number of years before her death in 2016. Their younger daughter, Katherine Lewandowski, is a professor of geology at Eastern Illinois University. The Johnsons, along with Katherine, worked with former Dean Lacy Ford of USC’s College of Arts and Sciences to establish The Ann Johnson Institute (AJI) for the Study of Science, History and Society. Today, The AJI aims to fund interdisciplinary communities for research and pedagogy, as well as serve as a place “where members of the academic community, students, and those outside the University feel welcome, valued and at ease.”

A native of Philadelphia, Peter McCausland graduated from the University of South Carolina, earning a bachelor’s degree in history in 1971. He graduated, cum laude, from Boston University School of Law in 1974. A gentleman farmer and philanthropist, Peter and his wife Bonnie have two children and six grandchildren.

After graduation, Peter practiced law for two years with a law firm in Philadelphia and for five years as general counsel of an industrial gas company, before he started his own firm, McCausland, Keen, and Buckman, in 1982. In that year he also acquired a small industrial and medical gas company in Connecticut which would eventually become the public company, Airgas Inc., the fifth largest industrial, medical, and specialty gas company in the world. As chairman and chief executive officer, Peter led the successful defense of Airgas and its
shareholders against the longest hostile takeover attempt in history, 2009-2011. That defense, the subject of many law school and business school case studies and featured in a recently published book, Merger Masters , is generally thought to be responsible for the decline in hostile takeover attempts in recent years. In response to a second hostile approach, Airgas was sold in 2016 to the French company, Air Liquide. Airgas returned 19 percent per year, compounded, to its shareholders, since its initial public offering in December of 1986.

In 2009, Peter and Bonnie purchased the 470 acre Erdenheim Farm in southeastern
Pennsylvania, to save it from development. The farm dates back to 1630 and was previously owned by William Penn, founder of the colony that would become the state of Pennsylvania. Since its inception, the farm has been in continuous agricultural use. Fruits and vegetables are grown on the farm and animals are raised there, including sheep, cattle, goats, hens, donkeys, and thoroughbred racehorses.

The McCauslands’ generous gifts to the university, both personally and through the McCausland Foundation, established the McCausland Brain Imaging Center and the McCausland Faculty Fellowship, creating numerous opportunities for faculty and students, while supporting innovation and scholastic development. The McCausland Brain Imaging Center provides state-of-the-art-technology to perform high-resolution brain imaging studies. The McCausland Faculty Fellowship program enhances the student experience and the careers of faculty as the premier faculty fellowship program in the university’s College of Arts and Sciences. In addition, Peter previously served on former University President John Palms’ advisory council and currently serves on the university’s College of Arts and Sciences’ Board of Visitors. The McCausland Foundation focuses on education especially for vulnerable youth, medical research and conservation.

Peter has served on numerous non-profits boards over the years, including, the Fox Chase Cancer Center, the Philadelphia orchestra, the Independence Seaport Museum, the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, the Morris Arboretum, Springside School, the Eisenhower Exchange Fellowships, and the Nantucket Land Council.