Dr. David E. Shi was named president of Furman University in 1994.  A 1973 Furman graduate, he joined the university administration in 1993 as vice president for academic affairs and dean.

Shi came to Furman from Davidson College, where he taught for 17 years and was the Frontis W. Johnston Professor of History.  He won the Distinguished Teaching Award and also served as chair of the history department from 1987 to 1992.

A native of Atlanta, Shi graduated magna cum laude from Furman with a degree in political science.  He was a member of the Paladin football team and was named to the All-Southern Conference team after his sophomore and junior years.  After graduating from Furman, Shi earned M.A. and Ph.D. degrees in history at the University of Virginia.

He is the author of several books, including The Simple Life: Plain Living and High Thinking in American Culture (1985), which was a History Book Club selection.  Two other books were nominated for the Pulitzer Prize.  He is also the co-author with the late George B. Tindall of the best-selling textbook, America: a Narrative History, now in its seventh edition.

President Shi is a prolific newspaper essayist, writing regular columns for The Greenville News, many of which have been published in other outlets such as The Christian Science Monitor, The Charlotte Observer, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, and the Philadelphia Inquirer.  His columns and essays are also heard on South Carolina Educational Radio.  He is also author of The Bell Tower and Beyond: Reflections on Learning and Life, a collection of his speeches, essays and columns.

Shi has been widely recognized for his leadership abilities as a college president.  In 2003, he was named Greenville (S.C.) Magazine Business Person of the Year.  Furman also received a $150,000 Presidential Leadership Award grant from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation in recognition of President Shi’s distinctive leadership.  In December of 2003, he and his wife, Susan, received the Whitney M. Young, Jr., Humanitarian Award, the highest honor given by the Urban League of the Upstate.  They were also named among Greenville’s “Top 25 Leaders” in a community poll conducted by the Greenville News.

Shi has received honorary degrees from Centre College and Mercer University.  In 1999, he was among an elite group of 50 college and university presidents who were recognized by the John Templeton Foundation for their outstanding leadership in the development of student character.  The previous year, Furman was awarded a $150,000 Presidential Leadership grant from the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation in recognition of Shi’s leadership.  In 2006, he chaired the Board of Directors for the National Association of Independent Colleges and Universities.  He is currently a member of the Chronicle of Higher Education/New York Times Higher Education Cabinet, which is comprised of a community of forward-thinking presidents and chancellors who are charged with identifying the key issues and trends in higher education.

President Shi is a member of Phi Beta Kappa and has been a Fellow of the National Humanities Center and the Huntington Library.  He was voted the 1994 Administrator of the Year by the Association of Furman Students.  In recent years, he has been a board member of the South Carolina Commission on Higher Education, the National Commerce Financial Corporation, the Greenville Chamber of Commerce, the Urban League of the Upstate, the Metropolitan Arts Council, and the Commerce Club.  He is past chair of the Southern Conference Council of Presidents and the Southern University Conference.

Dr. David E. Shi

2008 President's Report on Study Away

2007 President's Report on Collaboration and Research

2006 President's Report on Sustainability

You may also wish to view the 2005 Report.