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Chad Prosser
Director,
South Carolina Department of Parks, Recreation, and Tourism
1205 Pendleton Street Suite 248
Columbia, SC 29201

For Media Inquiries, Contact:

Dawn Dawson-House, Public Relations and Information Director
South Carolina Department of Parks, Recreation, and Tourism
ddawson@scprt.com, (803) 734-1779

Chad Prosser is the Director of the South Carolina Department of Parks, Recreation, and Tourism (SCPRT). Prosser, an entrepreneur in the real estate and hospitality industry with previous experience as both an appointed and an elected official, was appointed to his current cabinet post by Governor Mark Sanford in February 2003.

Since taking office, Prosser has led SCPRT through a period of unprecedented change. Despite sizeable state budget cuts, the agency was able to increase its tourism marketing budget by more than 50 percent in the first year of the Sanford Administration, and has maintained that level of investment since.

Prosser is a businessperson with a wide-ranging public service background. After graduating with honors from Rhodes College and receiving a master’s degree from the Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS), Prosser was appointed to the Presidential Management Intern Program during the administration of President George H.W. Bush, serving as an International Economist and negotiator working on U.S. trade policy. He has also worked for the Atlantic Council of the United States, the U.S. Arms Control & Disarmament Agency, and the U.S. Department of State, both in Washington, D.C. and abroad.

He has served on the boards of many charities, public institutions and businesses. He is currently a South Carolina Bank & Trust Advisory Board Member, NA, a Trustee of the Verizon Heritage PGA Golf Tournament, Chairman of the South Carolina Council on Competitiveness Travel and Tourism Working Group, a Board Member of the South Carolina Conservation Land Bank, a Board Member of the Travel Industry Association of America, and, Treasurer and Board Member of Travel South USA, a multi-state tourism marketing organization.

The media have called him “forward-thinking,” a “fast learner,” “proven leader,” “understanding,” “innovative,” and a few other select things that he refuses to include in his biography. In 2002, he made history by becoming the first person ever reelected to a consecutive term as Chairman of the Horry County Council (Myrtle Beach, SC area). He resigned in 2003 to accept his current position.