Thomas Ariail Receives Adjunct Faculty
Presidential Award at Tri-County Technical College

CONTACT: LISA GARRETT, EXT. 1506

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 5/12/2003
(By Lisa Garrett)

PENDLETON --- Tommy Ariail, a Textile Management Technology instructor at Tri-County Technical College, is the recipient of the 2003 Adjunct Faculty Presidential Award at the College.

This award is given annually at the faculty/staff convocation to the adjunct faculty member who is recognized for excellence in teaching, who has consistently high student evaluations and who supports the philosophy and goals of the College.

Mr. Ariail, of Spartanburg, began teaching classes at Tri-County two years ago following his retirement from a 30-plus year career in the textile industry. In addition to teaching a heavy day and evening course load, he took on additional administrative duties when Department Head Jim Wilson was seriously injured in a fall last year.

Mr. Ariail has taken an active part in all phases of departmental activities by advising students, working with the advisory committee, and working on currilcum development projects including distance learning courses. He and Wilson completely redesigned "Fundamentals of Textiles" classes to meet the changing needs of the industry and to make the course more compatible with Clemson University's introductory textile courses. The course has become a model for all future textile distance learning development.

"Tommy has devoted many hours beyond those expected to keep the department operating smoothly," said Dr. Don C. Garrison, president of Tri-County. "He has been very helpful in working through the details of allocating textile scholarship funds, as well as identifying additional adjunct instructors and coordinating the operation of the instructors," he said.

"He is a highly effective instructor in the classroom, and he cares about the students, thus he has the respect of the students in the program," said Dr. Jim Wood, who chairs the College's Industrial and Engineering Technology Division. "He embodies all of the attributes that the College seeks in quality instructors. He is dependable, hard working, dedicated to student success, and extremely knowledgeable in textiles."

Mr. Ariail began his career at Mayfair Mills (in Baily) after graduating from Clemson University in 1961 with a degree in Textile Engineering. He was plant manager at that plant for more than 20 years when he moved to Spartan Mills (Rosemont plant) where he was manager for six years. He was plant manager of Beal Manufacturing in Reno, N.C., for two years before retiring in July of 2001.

He remains active on the Southern Textile Association Board of Governors and is past president of the Southern Textile Association.

He is a lay leader at Arcadia Methodist Church, where he has been a member for more than 30 years. He and his wife, Lavana, have seven children and seven grandchildren.
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