SC engineering school sees record enrollment, big donation, and a new name

By Mike Switzer

Published August 7, 2024 at 6:30 AM EDT

Hossein Haj-Hariri, Dean of the Molinaroli College of Engineering and Computing at USC.

The University of South Carolina’s engineering school is setting an enrollment record with more than 1,000 incoming freshmen this fall. The college has also renamed itself after receiving a $30 million donation from an alum. Mike Switzer interviews Hossein Haj-Hariri, dean of the Molinaroli College of Engineering and Computing at USC.

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Mike Switzer

After almost 20 years, Mike Switzer retired from Wells Fargo Securities in 2001 as Senior Vice President/Investment Officer and Certified Portfolio Manager. In 1999, he and his wife, Maggie, purchased and operated for eight years the Baskin Robbins ice cream store on Forest Drive in Columbia. They grew the store from a bottom-tier operation in the Baskin Robbins franchise system to one in the top 5% nationwide within three years, tripling sales along the way. While operating the ice cream store, Mike and Maggie received patents for a portable ice cream sink and fold-down sneezeguard they invented and in 2002 started Magnolia Carts, an ice cream cart manufacturing company, which they sold in 2013.

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