Benjamin B. Dunlap

Benjamin Bernard "Bernie" Dunlap (born December 3, 1937, in Columbia, South Carolina) is an American author and academic, who was the president of Wofford College from July 2000 to 2013.

Early days and education A native of Columbia, South Carolina, with an affinity for extinction, Dunlap drowned and was resuscitated at the age of 13 and, amidst a succession of medical emergencies, had a near-fatal motorcycle accident when he was 33.

In keeping with that existential pattern, Dunlap played football and ran track at the University of the South (Sewanee). He graduated in 1959 summa cum laude. He attended Oxford University as a Rhodes scholar and Harvard University as a graduate student in English language and literature. He received his Ph.D. from Harvard University in 1967. During his Oxford days, Dunlap’s closest friends included Alan Coren, Melvyn Bragg, and Kris Kristofferson. Among his many awards for work in film and television are a national Emmy Award nomination, two CINE Golden Eagle Awards, a First Place Award in the Samuel G. Engel International Film & Television Drama Competition, and a Parents' Choice Award.

Honors In 2007, Dunlap was among "50 remarkable people" invited to present at the prestigious TED (Technology, Entertainment, Design) conference in Monterey, California. He joined such notables as former President Bill Clinton, former NBA star and author Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Richard Branson, founder of the Virgin Group, author Isabel Allende, and singer/songwriter Paul Simon. In January 2006, Dunlap received an honorary degree from his alma mater, the University of the South (Sewanee). In 2010, he was presented with the South Carolina Governor’s Award in the Humanities.

Personal life Dunlap married Anne Boyd Dunlap in 1963; they have three children. He and his family lived in Thailand for two and a half years, where he picked up his love for the game of Sepak Takraw, a cross between soccer and volleyball played on a doubles' badminton court.