SC Science Academy Director Dies in I-26 Collision

The executive director of the South Carolina Science Academy was one of two men who died after a head-on collision on Interstate 26 Wednesday night. 

Nathan R. Yon, 39, of Newberry, was traveling west on I-26 in a 1989 Toyota pickup when he was struck by a 2004 GMC pickup traveling east in the westbound lane. 

Yon began work with the public charter school in 2011, assisting with the charter writing process and leading the academy's charter committee through the planning process and implementation of the school, according to its website. 

The SC Science Academy is a publicly funded school and learning laboratory that focuses on science, technology, engineering, mathematics, according to its website.

The academy released the following statement Thursday:

It is with great sorrow that The Board of Directors of the South Carolina Science Academy announces the death of our Executive Director and Chairman of the Board Nathan Yon.  Mr. Yon was a graduate of Newberry College with a Bachelors of Arts in History and received Masters of Education Degrees from Clemson University in Administration and from Columbia College in Divergent Learning.  He was a celebrated and innovative educator at many schools across the state.  Mr. Yon believed in community involvement to make our world a better place.  He has been a member of the Rotary Club, Lions Club, Chamber of Commerce, Junior Chamber of Commerce and Exchange.  He touched many lives in ways we may never know.  The Board of the South Carolina Science Academy will make a decision as to the future of the South Carolina Science Academy in the very near future.  The thoughts and sympathies of the SCSA Community are with the Yon family.

The academy is set to open its doors in August in the former Parisian store in Richland Mall on Forest Drive. The school would serve grades six through eight, adding one high school grade each year.