Nephron Pharmaceuticals CEO Lou Kennedy receives honor from USC

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The University of South Carolina College of Arts & Sciences Institute for Southern Studies announced on Tuesday that Lou Kennedy, CEO of Nephron Pharmaceuticals in West Columbia, is  the 2023 honoree of the McNair Conversations on the American South.

Kennedy will be interviewed live before an audience at the USC School of Law Karen J. Williams Courtroom for a podcast associated with the event at 6 p.m. Wednesday, March 1, according to a news release. The interview will be done by Mark Smith, the institute’s director.

“I can’t think of anyone more deserving and better suited than Lou Kennedy for this honor,” Smith said. “I look forward to discussing what it takes to succeed in business, in particular at a life sciences company in the aftermath of a once-in-a-lifetime pandemic, with a university alumnus who has proudly supported Carolina and its causes for many years.”

Every year, the Institute for Southern Studies hosts The McNair Conversations on the American South.  Made possible by the generosity of the state’s late Governor RobertMcNair, the McNair Conversations are a live podcast interview honoring people who have made a lasting and significant contribution to the American South. 
They are recorded in front of an audience and broadcast on the Institute’s highly successful Take on the South podcast series.

“I am grateful to be recognized by the university I love, and I look forward to joining Dr. Smith and audience participants for a wonderful discussion about all of the great progress South Carolina continues to make,” Kennedy said in the release. “Nephron is a source of pride for me, and I employ many lessons I learned growing up in the American South, and at Carolina, every day as a CEO.”