James “Jim” Cuthbert Self, Greenwood Mills, Inc., executive and a trustee of The Self Family Foundation, died Sept. 14. He was 78.

A native of Greenwood and graduate of The Citadel, he served in the Army from 1941 to 1946. That year he became actively involved in managing the family mill, succeeding his father as president in 1955. Greenwood Mills is one of the oldest and largest privately owned companies in South Carolina. It operates six textile plants in the Greenwood area and denim operations in Liberty, Georgia and Tennessee. It also has textile companies in Venezuela, Pakistan, Argentina and Mexico.

Also a real estate developer and remembered for his business acumen as well as his generosity, he was awarded the Order of the Palmetto and was inducted into the South Carolina Business Hall of Fame.

The Self Family Foundation, a Life Member of the Society of 1824, is a longtime supporter of the MUSC Health Sciences Foundation, including gifts to the Hollings Cancer Center and to the Gazes Cardiac Research Institute. Self was also an individual benefactor, providing support for the Hanna Retinal Research Laboratory in the Storm Eye Institute. The lab, is named for Dr. Charles B. Hanna, Sr., a 1944 College of Medicine graduate, general surgeon in Spartanburg, former MUSC board of trustees chairman and Society of 1824 Fellow. Hanna, Self’s roommate at The Citadel, said of Self, “Jim Self was my college roommate and a lifetime friend with a heart as big as a watermelon. The Medical University held a special place in his heart, and those feelings were the basis for his generous philanthropic support to the Health Sciences Foundation. He was a true inspiration in his unselfish dedication of his time, energy and resources.”

Surviving are one son; two daughters including Dr. Sally Self, a pathologist at MUSC; 11 grandchildren; and two great-grandchildren.

“Jim Self was a personal friend of mine and a good friend of the Medical University. He was an astute businessman and a backbone of our domestic textile industry. His love of medicine, however, was reflected in his generous support of MUSC, and he passed that love onto his children, one of whom is an outstanding member of our faculty. As long as this institution exists, his legacy of compassion and service will continue to benefit future generations of South Carolinians,” said MUSC president Dr. James B. Edwards.