Dr. Cyril B. Busbee served three consecutive terms from 1967 to 1979 as South Carolina’s twelfth State Superintendent of Education.

Dr. Busbee's most noteworthy accomplishments as state superintendent of education were:

• the initiation of the first statewide kindergarten program;
• the successful completion of school integration, effectively ending student segregation based on race;
• the expansion of the state's free textbook program to include all grade levels; and
• the opening of fifty-six vocational centers for high school students.

Two South Carolina schools, an elementary school in his hometown of Wagener and a middle school in Cayce, were named after Dr. Busbee.

Dr. Busbee obtained his bachelor's and master's degrees from the University of South Carolina (USC) and was awarded honorary doctorates of law from Wofford College and USC. He was also superintendent of the Brookland-Cayce school district, a classroom teacher, principal, and the president of the S.C. Education Association, S.C. Association of School Administrators, and the S.C. High School League. After retiring as state superintendent, he worked as director of the C&S National Bank and Lexington Medical Center and as a consultant to the president of USC.

Dr. Busbee died in September 2001.