Skip to main content

Luke Hyde joins SCC's board of trustees

2018-01-24
Two men and a woman pose in front of a U.S. flag inside a building on SCC's Jackson Campus.
Luke D. Hyde (left), a new member of SCC’s board of Trustees, is shown here with Dr. Don Tomas (center), SCC president, and Ann Melton, clerk of superior court for Jackson County, after Hyde was sworn in on Jan. 23 at the college’s Jackson Campus in Sylva.

Luke D. Hyde, a longtime supporter and advocate of Southwestern Community College, was recently named to the institution’s board of trustees by Gov. Roy Cooper.

Already a member of the SCC Foundation’s board of directors, Hyde was sworn in as a trustee on Tuesday, Jan. 23, at the college’s Jackson Campus. The Swain County native fills the seat previously held by John Herrin, and his term runs through June 30, 2021.

“Mr. Hyde is passionate about serving our students and helping them succeed as he’s demonstrated through his work in helping us reach our $1 million Student Success endowment,” said Dr. Don Tomas, president of SCC. “I have a tremendous amount of respect for him, and we are honored to have him join our board of trustees.”

From 2015-16, Hyde served as chair for the SCC Foundation’s board. He currently practices law in Raleigh and in Western North Carolina, and he owns and manages the Historic Calhoun House Hotel in Bryson City.

He’s a longtime Rotarian and has served as board member, president-elect and president of the Capital City Rotary Club. He’s also served as membership chair for the Bryson City Rotary Club.

“The leaders of SCC know that the path to achieving the American dream is through the door of education,” Hyde said. “(They) know how properly to motivate the students who come here to walk through that door. It is my good fortune to have known and worked with almost all of the good and great leaders of Southwestern since its founding half a century ago.

“I am humbled and honored and inspired to continue this joyful work as a new member of the board of trustees,” Hyde added. “I bring commitment, I bring energy and I bring passion to this task.”

Hyde served six terms (12 years) as 11th District Chair in the state’s Democratic Party and was a longtime chairman of the Cherokee Preservation Foundation’s board. He’s a current member of the Friends of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, and he’s a charter member of the Horace Kephart Foundation.

He and his wife, Leila, have a son named Joseph Luke Hyde who serves in the Criminal Appellate Division of the N.C. Department of Justice.

For more information about Southwestern, visit www.southwesterncc.edu, call 828.339.4000 or drop by your nearest SCC location.

 

For help with the accessibility of this website, please use this form.