Dr. Corey Gheesling joined SHEEO in July 2025 as Associate Vice President. In this role, Dr. Gheesling is focused on building SHEEO’s workforce development portfolio to complement and engage SHEEO members in their continued efforts to meet economic and workforce demands.

Before joining SHEEO, Dr. Gheesling served as Associate Director for Workforce Development at the South Carolina Commission on Higher Education, where he led statewide efforts to align academic programs with economic and workforce development priorities, supported strategic outreach around South Carolina’s Public Agenda for Higher Education—Ascend 60×30—and advanced frameworks for transfer efficiency and credit mobility. Dr. Gheesling’s previous roles include leading the academic affairs division at the Tennessee Higher Education Commission, instructional designer and technologist at Furman University, teaching social studies, and coaching.

He is a 2025 graduate of the Furman University Riley Institute Diversity Leaders Initiative Fellowship and a former participant in LEAD Tennessee, the state’s executive leadership development program. Dr. Gheesling holds a doctorate in higher education leadership and policy from Peabody College at Vanderbilt University, a master’s degree in youth development leadership from Clemson University, and a bachelor’s degree in history and sociology with secondary educator certification from Furman University.