Speakers Page

Governor Henry Dargan McMaster, a longtime public servant of South Carolina, was born May 27, 1947, in Columbia, South Carolina. He received a bachelor's degree in history from the University of South Carolina in 1969 and as an undergraduate was a member of Kappa Alpha Order and the South Carolina Student Legislature.

In 1973, he graduated from the University of South Carolina School of Law, where he was on the editorial board of the South Carolina Law Review. Later that year, he was admitted to the Richland County Bar Association. He also served in the U.S. Army Reserves, receiving an honorable discharge in 1975.

Upon graduation from law school, he was a legislative assistant to U.S. Senator Strom Thurmond in Washington, D.C., and joined the law firm of Tompkins and McMaster in 1974. He was later admitted to practice before the U.S. District Court, U.S. Court of Claims, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit, and the Supreme Court of the United States. Governor McMaster practiced law for over 40 years, as a federal and state prosecutor and in private practice in both state and federal courts...

Mark Keel has served as Chief of the S.C. Law Enforcement Division (SLED) since July 1, 2011. He returned to SLED after serving as Director of the S. C. Department of Public Safety from June 17, 2008 - June 30, 2011, having previously served at SLED beginning August 31, 1979.

Chief Keel received his Bachelor of Science degree in Criminal Justice from Georgia Southern University in 1979. While at SLED, he earned a Juris Doctor degree from the University of South Carolina School of Law in 1995 and is a member of the S. C. Bar. He is a graduate of the S. C. Criminal Justice Academy, the FBI National Academy, and the FBI National Executive Institute.

A native of Barnwell, S.C., Chief Keel is a veteran law enforcement officer having more than 40 years of service. His interest in law enforcement and public service began at an early age when, as a teenager, he served as a volunteer firefighter for the Barnwell Fire Department and as a member of the volunteer rescue squad. He later served with the Orangeburg County Sheriff’s Department and the Barnwell and Denmark Police Departments before joining SLED.

Chief Keel rose through the ranks at SLED, being named Chief of Staff in December 2001. Prior to assuming that position, he was a Captain for eight years in command of tactical operations. In that position he supervised SLED’s Aviation Unit, Bloodhound Tracking Team, SWAT Team and Fugitive Task Force. He also served in the agency’s Narcotics Unit, on the Lt. Governor’s Executive Protection detail, as a SWAT Team member, hostage negotiator, the Bloodhound Tracking Team, and SLED Aviation Unit. He is a commercial helicopter pilot and has served as a certified firearms instructor, driving instructor, and hostage negotiation instructor. Chief Keel has been a Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agencies (CALEA) Assessor since 1994. He served as the Accreditation Manager of SLED from January 1996 through June 2008.

He is currently President of the Association of State Criminal Investigative Agencies (ASCIA); Co-Chairman of the state’s Commission on Advancement of Public Safety; past President of the S. C. Law Enforcement Officers’ Association (2015/2016 and 2003/2004); and former member of Lexington-Richland School District 5 School Security Committee. He serves on the Lexington-Richland School District 5 Superintendent Emergency Response Advisory Council, the Advisory Board at the Center for Advanced Technical Studies in Lexington-Richland School District 5, and Co-Chairman of the Opioid Emergency Response Team. He also serves as South Carolina’s Homeland Security Advisor and chairs South Carolina’s Law Enforcement Training Council, which is the governing body for the S. C. Criminal Justice Academy. The S. C. Baptist Convention’s Christian Life and Public Affairs Committee named him as the recipient of the 2017 Public Servant Award. Additionally, he was recipient of the S.C. Law Enforcement Officer of the Year Award in 1990 and the Strom Thurmond Award for Excellence in Law Enforcement in 2000.

Michelle Nienhius serves the state of South Carolina as Prevention and Intervention Manager for the South Carolina Department of Alcohol and Other Drug Abuse Services. This position includes planning and implementing statewide programs in the field of substance abuse prevention, as well as overseeing several state and federal grants awarded to South Carolina for substance abuse prevention. Ms. Nienhius manages the primary prevention set aside from the Substance Abuse Prevention Treatment Block Grant for the state and serves as the Project Director of the Preventing Opioid Overdose Death grant. She also manages the prevention portion of the State Opioid Response discretionary grants. Michelle is also the Project Director for the South Carolina Alcohol Enforcement Team (AET) initiative. She serves as the state representative to the National Prevention Network (NPN) and most recently served in the role of Past President of the Network.

She has presented at numerous national meetings and conferences on prevention workforce development, underage drinking, youth tobacco prevention programs, retailer education and linking prevention and law enforcement together in addressing youth substance use to include alcohol and tobacco. In January 2021, she co-authored a study published in the journal Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research, demonstrating the positive impact of the South Carolina AET program on the reduction of drinking and driving crashes among drivers under 21 years old with Michael George, Ph.D. and Steve Shamblen, Ph.D. of the Pacific Institute for Research and Evaluation, Harold Holder, Ph.D. of the Prevention Research Center and Rachel Holder, M.P.A of CHESS Health Solutions.

Ms. Nienhius completed her M.P.H. at the University of South Carolina in 2000 and an undergraduate degree in Biology from the College of Charleston in 1998.  She has worked in various roles within the state prevention system in South Carolina since 2001.    

Nigel Wrangham has been active in the fields of substance abuse treatment, prevention, and youth empowerment for over 20 years.  He develops and delivers classes on principles of positivity, youth engagement and inspiration to educators, young people, grassroots activists, law enforcement and other groups.  He teaches in the Substance Abuse Prevention Program at the University of Oregon.