Here are 5 things to know about former USC leader Eddie Floyd

With a moment of silence on Thursday morning, the South Carolina House of Representatives honored Eddie Floyd, USC’s longest-serving board member, who passed away at 92 years old.

“It’s a sad day today,” Rep. Phillip Lowe, R-Florence, said. “He passed after a long illness. He’s had a great life.”

A USC undergraduate, influential donor and philanthropist, Floyd raised millions of dollars for Republican state and national presidential candidates, and supported some Democrats too.

Here are some notable things Floyd did:

Longest serving board member at USC

Floyd resigned from the University of South Carolina’s Board of Trustees in 2024, but not before becoming USC’s longest serving board member.

He joined in 1982 and served on the board for 42 years.

Between 1992-1996, Floyd served as chairman to the board.

Football building named after him

The Floyd football building next to Williams-Bryce stadium, which houses staff and the support team for the Gamecocks, was named after Floyd and his wife, Kay, who died in July 2023. It was constructed in 1994.

USC President Michael Amiridis said last year, when Floyd left the Board of Trustees, that “he has been a great advocate for all South Carolinians who want to advance in life through knowledge and one of the biggest supporters of our Gamecocks.”

Apologized for owning a Hitler art piece

Floyd was a long-time avid art collector. Maybe too good of one.

In 2017, he ditched an Adolf Hitler painting on display at his house and apologized.

“I’m truly sorry if I upset anybody,” Floyd said to The State at the time. “It really upset me; I’ve lost sleep over it.”

His Florence home was filled with paintings and sculptures. Floyd said he only bought the painting to complement two other paintings he had by World War II leaders – British prime minister Winston Churchill and U.S. Gen. (later president) Dwight Eisenhower.

A distinguished heart surgeon

After earning his undergraduate degree at USC in 1956, Floyd attended medical school in Charleston and did his surgical residency at the LSU School of Medicine in New Orleans.

Floyd moved to Florence, which is where he started his medical practice and became known for his advanced work in vascular surgery.

“He was one of the most productive and effective residents we ever had on staff,” an LSU surgery professor told Carolinian magazine in 1992. “He would have been a tremendous asset to our medical school, but it’s clear that he’s been an asset to South Carolina.”

Former tobacco farmer

Floyd was born into a family of tobacco farmers during the Depression in rural South Carolina. After becoming a physician, he remained a tobacco farmer who at one time grew a sizable crop in the Pee Dee section of the state, an area known for tobacco cultivation. It was as much as 932,000 pounds at one point, according to reports.

This story was originally published January 15, 2026 at 2:38 PM.