Letters: USC professor Jesse Teel made life better for many

Everybody in South Carolina is rightfully proud of the top-ranked Darla Moore School of Business at the University of South Carolina. We just lost one of the men who helped make it great, Jesse E. Teel Jr.

Jess taught marketing, statistics and some other courses on both the graduate and undergraduate levels. He received the Alfred G. Smith Jr. Award for Excellence in teaching and the outstanding PMBA Professor, both from the Darla Moore School. Upon retirement, he was named distinguished professor emeritus of marketing.

His students loved Jess for many reasons, including the cool way he dressed, his cowboy boots and the hot cars he drove. The last time we had lunch, Jess picked me up in his new garnet and black Shelby Cobra Mustang GT convertible.

It is said we all drink from wells we did not dig and we are all warmed by fires we did not build. Jess Teel was one of the ones who dug those wells and built those fires. He lived life to the lees.

This story was originally published October 2, 2016 at 6:02 PM with the headline "Letters: USC professor Jesse Teel made life better for many."