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About the University of South Carolina

Chartered in 1801 as South Carolina College, the University of South Carolina was the first institution of higher learning funded entirely by a state. In the years before the Civil War, it rapidly achieved a reputation as one of the best colleges--private or public--in America. 

Its faculty included Francis Lieber, editor of the Encyclopedia Americana and author of Civil Liberty and Self Government, the nationally known scientists John and Joseph LeConte, and chemist William Eller, who produced the first daguerreotype in the United States. By the 1830s, distinguished alumni almost literally filled the state' General Assembly. James H. Hammond and Wade Hampton were the most prominent of a parade of future governors, senators, judges, and generals who graduated during the antebellum period. 

With the voluntary enlistment of all students into the Army of the Confederacy, the College was forced to close in June of 1862. After re-opening in 1865, the institution went through six reorganizations and a period of closure,  while legislators, administrators, and faculties reassessed the institution's goals and struggled to define its mission. 

Finally in 1906, at the beginning of its second century, it was rechartered for the third -- and last -- time as the University of South Carolina, and charged to be "the largest and best work in education that time and place and conditions render possible." In the 20th century, the University has sought to fulfill this charge and again be recognized as one of the truly great universities in America. 

In addition to the Columbia campus, there are two primarily four-year campuses (Aiken and Spartanburg) and five primarily two-year regional campuses (Beaufort, Lancaster, Salkehatchie, Sumter and Union). Enrollment on all campuses totals over 35,000. More than 24,000 of these students are on the Columbia campus, over 10,000 of whom are graduate students. (1996-97) Additional opportunities for personal and career development are provided to the citizens of the state through outreach and continuing education activities. 

In keeping with both its nineteenth-century and twentieth-century heritage, the University continues to promote academic excellence in service to the citizens of South Carolina.

About Us: the ESRI-USC

Created in 1973, to conduct applied research in environmental and petroleum geology, ESRI–USC is an extramurally funded research institute operating within the University of South Carolina.  

ESRI-USC's expanding research capabilities related to environmental studies center on integrating geology, hydrology, and geochemistry with advanced computer applications for the characterization of groundwater and surface water systems, prediction of flow and solute transport, state-of-the-art environmental geophysics research and applications, and advanced geographic information systems development.  Our applied research program focuses on both site-specific and regional scale studies that involve field, laboratory, and modeling activities. ESRI-USC's research faculty is devoted to environmental applications of geological and hydrological principles and techniques.

Where we are

ESRI-USC is located in the heart of the University of South Carolinas' Columbia Campus at James F. Byrnes International Building, 901 Sumter Street. Occupying fourth floor in the James F. Byrnes International Building, ESRI -USC provides offices, computer laboratories and research facilities for faculty, staff and students. The Byrnes Building is located on the corner of Sumter and College Streets, directly opposite USCs' historic "Horseshoe".  

This 100,000 square-foot structure, formerly the Federal Building, was declared surplus by the General Services Administration and deeded to the University when federal offices moved to new quarters in 1980. It was renovated at a cost of $1.8 million to bring it up to state and city standards to provide a central location for USC's many international programs. The Byrnes Center has as its key concept a working relationship between natural and physical sciences and policy-relevant social science researchers in the nine-campus system. 

James F. Byrnes (1879-1972) is considered the greatest South Carolina statesman of the twentieth century. A public servant for 45 years, he served as congressman, U.S. senator, justice of the U.S. Court, U.S. secretary of state, representative to the United Nations, and governor of South Carolina. During World War II he headed the Office of War Mobilization, a position of such power that Byrnes was known as the "assistant president." Byrnes was popular among both Democrats and Republicans  because of his ability to reconcile opposing views.