Former State Rep. Harry L. Ott Jr., president of the South Carolina Farm Bureau Federation, will be the keynote speaker at Orangeburg-Calhoun Technical College’s spring graduation.
The ceremony will begin at 7 p.m. Tuesday, May 15, in the Smith-Hammond-Middleton Memorial Center on the campus of South Carolina State University.
Prior to his election as the sixth president of the SCFB in December 2015, Ott served as state director of the USDA Farm Service Agency and was a member of the S.C. House of Representatives for 15 years representing District 93, which covers parts of Calhoun, Orangeburg and Lexington counties.
As a member of the General Assembly, Ott served as minority leader, on the House Ways and Means Committee and on the Public Utilities Review Committee.
The Calhoun County farmer is a former president of the Calhoun County Farm Bureau and a former member of the SCFB State Board of Directors from Calhoun County. He has also served as chair of the Calhoun County School District Board of Trustees and on the Calhoun County Development Commission.
Ott is a lifelong member of Andrew Chapel United Methodist Church in Swansea, where he is a Sunday school teacher and on the Administrative Council. He also serves on the Palmetto AgriBusiness Council Executive Committee and Board of Directors, and is a board member on the Business and Industry Political Education Committee. He is a member of Ducks Unlimited, the Freemasons, a former Little League Baseball coach, member of the Orangeburg Arts Council and former board member of the Orangeburg-Calhoun Regional Hospital Foundation.
A 1974 graduate of Clemson University, Ott lives in St. Matthews with his wife, Linda. They have two sons, Kevin and Russell, and four grandchildren.
Hundreds of students will receive an associate’s degree, diploma and/or certificate in advanced manufacturing, nursing and health science, computer technology, business, education, criminal justice and other OCtech programs of study at the ceremony.
Registration is currently underway for summer and fall classes. For more information, visit www.octech.edu or call 803-535-1234.
