Garrison's family told The Greenville News that Garrison died at Greenville Memorial Hospital after a brief illness.
Richard Holcombe of Robinson Funeral Home in Easley confirmed to The Associated Press that Garrison died Saturday.
Garrison was president of Tri-County Technical College from 1971 to 2003.
"Tri-County and its mission was his passion," his wife, Carol Smith Garrison, told the newspaper. "It's like he couldn't wait to get up to work each day. He was always looking for ways to improve the quality of life for people."
Tri-County board president David Wakefield said Garrison treated students like they were his own children and found creative ways to get the community to support what the school was doing.
"Don opened the door for people to step in and help students in a unique way," Wakefield said. "He made them want to be a part of what Tri-County was doing."
Tri-County offers two-year degrees and has more than 7,000 students in Pickens, Anderson and Oconee counties. The school's Pendleton campus was named after Garrison in 2002.
Garrison was born in Liberty. He earned bachelor's and master's degrees from Furman University and a doctorate from Duke University.
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