Bill Hewitt hadn't had any interaction with The Citadel prior to joining the School of Business Administration’s Advisory Board in 2002. But as a graduate of the U.S. Coast Guard Academy and the US Naval Postgraduate School, he said he had a strong interest “in that kind of education, because I think it is a great education.”
Hewitt, who serves as the non-executive Chairman of Polymer Group Inc (POLGA), Global Vantege, Inc, and Water Missions International, attributes his place on the board to Dean Earl Walker.
“I met Earl and was impressed with what he wanted to do and where he wanted to take The Citadel,” he said. “I was honored when he asked me to join the board and I was even more honored when he asked me to be the first chair.”
“Bill Hewitt has been a seminal force in the creation, ongoing operations and success of The Citadel School of Business Administration Advisory Board,” said Dean Walker. “Bill has not only led this board with energy, passion and commitment, he has also been enormously generous with his time and his resources.”
The role of the Advisory Board is two-fold, Hewitt said, and the school has been successful to both ends. The first aspect is fundraising for the school. Second, he said, is giving another level of feedback on "ways that help make the School of Business Administration better, broadly, and that means better for the students, both undergraduate and graduate, and to help to spread the reputation of the school, to help to enhance that reputation, any number things like that."
Hewitt has served as CEO of the Union Corporation (UCO) and was a founding partner of the First Manhattan Consulting Group, a premier management consulting firm serving the financial services industry. Bill has been active in the Charleston community, serving as a Trustee of the Medical University of South Carolina (MUSC), immediate past Chairman of the Spoleto Festival, USA, past Chair of the MUSC Health Sciences Foundation, and Senior Warden of St. Michael's Church among others.
The Citadel awarded Hewitt an honorary doctorate in business administration in 2004 and also inducted him into its chapter of the Phi Kappa Phi, the premier academic achievement organization.
“Without Bill’s encouragement and imagination, we would never have enjoyed the success we have had in the Citadel School of Business Administration over the last five years,” said Dean Walker.
Hewitt and his wife Laura live in Charleston and have four grown children and 14 (soon to be 15) grandchildren.
