April 25, 2017
Catherine E. Heigel will be the featured guest speaker for the Arnold School's 2017 Annual Hooding Ceremony at 9 a.m. on Thursday, May 4 at the Koger Center for the Arts. The Hooding Ceremony is for the Arnold School's master's and doctoral degree recipients. The event also includes the presentation of student, faculty and alumni awards.
The University's official ceremony for doctoral graduates will be held at 1 p.m. on Saturday, May 6. The official, university-wide commencement event for all undergraduates and master’s degree students (including those in the Arnold School) will take place at 3 p.m. on Friday, May 5.
Speaker Bio
Catherine Heigel is the director of the S.C. Department of Health and Environmental Control. Appointed to the position by the S.C. Board of Health and Environmental Control, she assumed her duties as agency director in June 2015.
A South Carolina native, Heigel holds more than 20 years of combined legal, regulatory and executive management experience. Before joining DHEC, she served as general counsel and corporate strategies officer for Elliott Davis Decosimo, LLC. As general counsel and corporate strategies officer, Heigel was responsible for managing the firm's legal, M&A and compliance functions.
Prior to her role at Elliott Davis Decosimo, LLC, Heigel spent 11 years with Duke Energy, serving in various capacities to her last role with the company as president of their South Carolina operations. During her tenure at Duke Energy, she established the first South Carolina state president's organization and worked with her team to manage the company's regulatory initiatives and strategy in South Carolina. Following her time with the company, Heigel held a position as executive vice president, general counsel and corporate secretary at the American Transmission Company, an electric transmission utility based in Wisconsin.
Heigel earned her bachelor's degree from the University of South Carolina and her law degree from The Ohio State University School of Law.