Dr. Russell Booker appointed to EOC 

Columbia -- Russell Booker has been appointed to serve as a member of the South Carolina Education Oversight Committee (EOC). Rep. Rita Allison, Chairman of the House Education and Public Works Committee, appointed Booker to replace Jamie Shuster as her business appointee to the EOC. Booker will serve on the EOC for the remainder of Shuster's term, to expire in October 2024. Shuster resigned from her position in June 2022.

Since 2020, Booker has served as the Executive Director of the Spartanburg Academic Movement (SAM), a nonprofit dedicated to doubling post-secondary educational attainment levels in Spartanburg County by 2030. Booker and his wife, Sheryl Booker, co-founded One Acorn LLC, which helps organizations, individuals, and communities foster their individual potentials through speaking engagements, workshops, and community engagement.

Booker has over 28 years’ experience in public education, including a decade spent serving as Superintendent of Spartanburg School District Seven. During this time, he was named Superintendent of the Year by the SC Association of School Administrators, South Carolina Athletic Administrators Association, and the SC Career and Technical Education Administrators.

In addition to his recognition as Superintendent of the Year, Booker has received numerous other regional, state, and national awards and distinctions. These include the 2008 Citizenship Service Award, the Whitney M. Young, Jr. Humanitarian Award (2013), and the Fretwell Award for Education Excellence (2020). In 2020, Booker received the Order of the Palmetto, South Carolina’s highest civilian honor, awarded to citizens who demonstrate extraordinary lifetime service, achievements, and contributions of statewide or national significance.

Booker received his B.S. degree in Education from Wingate University and his M.Ed., Ed.S., and Ph.D., from the University of South Carolina.

Booker and his wife are the parents of two sons: Grant, who attends the United States Naval Academy and Maxwell, who will be attending Harvard University this fall.

The SC Education Oversight Committee is an independent, non-partisan group made up of 18 educators, business persons, and elected leaders. Created in 1998, the committee is dedicated to reporting facts, measuring change, and promoting progress within South Carolina’s education system.

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