President

Meet President Conyers 

Col. (U.S. Army Retired) Alexander Conyers is the 13th president of South Carolina State University. An SC State graduate himself, Conyers has a long history with the University, also having served as interim president, acting president, and vice president for strategic alliances and initiatives prior to his official appointment to his current role.

Within 48 hours of assuming the initial position as acting president, he utilized $9.8M to clear the balances for more than 2500 SC State University students and former students. 

Under his leadership, the University has seen significant growth in record time.  The University has experienced a 32% increase in enrollment, from less than 2,000 students to over 3,000 since his arrival.   He has secured the largest state appropriations in the history of the University and led a $1.25 Million campaign, which raised $2.5 Million in just 6-months.  

Currently, he is preparing the University for its first-ever Capital Campaign; as well planning more than $100M in major construction and renovations on the campus.   

An experienced servant leader, President Conyers served over 28 years in the U.S. Army. During his decades of service, he led complex organizations in areas of leadership, recruitment, retention, training, human resources, finance and budget, safety, and accreditation. His assignments consisted of many stateside locations including two tours at the Pentagon and South Korea, Canada, Afghanistan, and Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

President Conyers previously worked for the federal government in Washington, D.C. in the Senior Executive Service, serving as the deputy assistant secretary of the Army Reviews Boards, a two-star general equivalent. 

During his time in the Army, President Conyers remained closely involved with SC State, his alma mater. He served as a member of the SC State Board of Visitors, chairman of the Student Relations Committee for the SC State National Alumni Association, and a member of the Criminal Justice Advisory Committee. He was featured as a 2016 honoree on the Stellar Alumni Calendar. He has also been inducted into the SC State ROTC Hall of Fame and as the president of the Washington, D.C., Chapter of the National Alumni Association.

A Manning, South Carolina, native, President Conyers holds a bachelor’s degree in criminal justice from SC State, a master’s degree in corrections from the University of South Carolina, and a master’s degree in public administration from Troy University. He also is a graduate of the FBI National Academy and The University of North Carolina’s Leadership, Excellence and Development (LEAD) program. He is a member of several professional associations, including the American Association of Blacks in Higher Education, and a former adjunct professor at Upper Iowa University.

President Conyers is married to First Lady Agatha Conyers, and they have two children, Ace and Aly.

The Conyers Family, Aly, Agatha, Alex and Ace.

First Lady Agatha Y. Conyers 

Agatha Youmans Conyers is a native of Hampton, SC.  She is a 1986 graduate of SC State University where she earned a bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering. She also holds a master’s degree in Human Services from Liberty University.

Her professional career includes serving as a Senior Manufacturing Engineer, Freightliner Custom Chassis Corp, Gaffney, SC; US Patent Examiner, US Patent and Trademark Office, Alexandria, VA; Liaison Engineer, Department of the Navy, Guantanamo Bay, Cuba and Substitute Teacher, Department of Defense Schools, Fort Bragg, NC.

As a military spouse, she has lived in seven different states as well as in South Korea, Cuba, and Canada. She is an avid volunteer and has served as a School Board Member at Ft. Knox, KY and she has led many organizations serving Soldiers and their families. She also served as a Girl Scout troop leader and a flag football coach.           

Throughout her many moves, Agatha always found a church home and became very active wherever she called home. She has been a member of the Missionary Society, a Vacation Bible School leader and teacher, and a leader of a youth ministry. She is also a Diamond Life Member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority Inc and was inducted into the Alpha Xi Chapter at South Carolina State University in 1983. Recently, her line sisters from 1983 donated $83,000 to SC State University in her honor.  

Agatha is married to COL (R) Alexander Conyers, currently the President at South Carolina State University and they have two children, Alexander, a 2023 SC State graduate, and Alyssa, an All-American track student-athlete at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA).