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Dr. Ann Shepard Winstead with SC State President Alexander Conyers.
The late Rev. Dr. David Shepard Jr. set forth an example that took three generations of his descendants into higher education.
Now his daughter, Dr. Ann Shepard Winstead, has honored his footprints by laying a path of her own in the form a $50,000 contribution to the South Carolina State University Foundation for scholarships in accounting, engineering and computer science.
“My father’s service in the United States military provided a pathway for him to receive a degree in electricity which led to his state certification in the field,” she said. “With that start, he wired houses, became a welder and dabbled in construction. Later, he taught electricity on the secondary school level until his retirement while, at the same time, serving in ministry.
“Notably, he received his bachelor’s degree at the age of 55. Because of his aptitude, I believe if an opportunity had been available to him in his early years, he would have studied engineering or been a student of one the STEM areas,” Winstead said. “He was fascinated with and passionate about designing, analyzing, building and developing.”
SC State President Alexander Conyers thanked Winstead for her generous support.
“Dr. Winstead’s devotion to this university is clear — both as a former faculty member and an alumna,” Conyers said. “She is a model of how an SC State education can strengthen and propel a person’s potential.
“It warms the heart to know she is sharing the fruits of her labors with generations of young people who are seeking similar successes,” Conyers said.
After graduating from what was then SC State’s School of Business as a business education major in 1971, Winstead successfully navigated a career in business and education. Her accomplishments were made possible by the academic foundation she received from SC State.
The university’s motto, “From here you can go anywhere,” was realized as she pursued her graduate education and earned the master’s degree and doctorate from the University of Illinois at Champaign-Urbana, Illinois.
Winstead said the sacrifices of her father – with the support of her mother, Doretha Mazyck Shepard – enabled her and her three siblings to graduate from SC State. One of his two grandsons also earned a computer science degree from the university. The other grandson is a communications graduate employed at the executive level by a top 10 technology firm, and a great-grandson is enrolled in an undergraduate computer engineering program.
“These three young men have followed in my father’s footprints, and each is a testament to his great legacy,” Winstead said.
From 2002-06, Winstead was coordinator of Statewide Leadership/Professional Development Series for Administrators for the South Carolina State Department of Education. In 2006, she returned to her alma mater as an assistant professor and coordinator of SC State’s Leadership and Professional Development Program, a position she held until her retirement in 2016.
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As she continues to work in education as a consultant, Winstead has remained a dedicated SC State Bulldog. She recently was selected to serve on the advisory council for the university’s Institute for Business, Environment, Communications and Transportation.
Winstead said her gift also was inspired by the leadership she has observed in Conyers as he aims to take her alma mater to the next level.
The Dr. Ann Shepard Winstead Scholarship will benefit students enrolled in the College of Science, Engineering, Mathematics and Transportation, as well as accounting majors in the College of Business. The first awards will be made this fall.
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“I firmly believe that young people who are highly motivated and who work hard deserve a hand up. I find purpose in assisting them,” Winstead said.
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Dr. Ann Shepard Winstead with SC State President Alexander Conyers.
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