Barbara Melvin (’14)

Barbara Melvin (’14)

President and CEO, South Carolina Ports

For more than 20 years, Barbara Melvin has dedicated her talents and expertise to SC Ports, a top 10 U.S. container port, with the deepest harbor on the East Coast. Barbara worked in numerous roles at the port before becoming SC Ports’ President and CEO in 2022.

She has played an instrumental role in developing and supporting port infrastructure, which enables the port to grow and make a significant economic impact on our state. In 2024 she facilitated the reopening of the Leatherman Terminal, alongside ILA leadership, and spearheaded efforts to sell the port authority’s Union Pier property. She also led efforts to purchase the former WestRock paper mill property, as part of a broader vision to expand and modernize the North Charleston Terminal and grow capacity in the Charleston Harbor to 10 million TEUs.

Ms. Melvin was named a 2023 Leading Woman from SC Women in Leadership, and is a Riley Institute Diversity Leadership graduate, a member of the South Carolina Advisory Council of the United States Global Leadership Coalition, The Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond – Charlotte Board, the Advisory Committee on Supply Chain Competitiveness for the U.S. International Trade Administration, the Ports Caucus Advisory Board for the United States Congress, The Citadel Baker School of Business Advisory Board, Board Chair of the American Heart Association Charleston Board (2020-2021), Board Chair for Trident United Way, a Liberty Fellow, a member of the Board of Trustees for the South Carolina Governor’s School of Science and Math and a Board Member of the Intermodal Association of North America.