Hardy S. Clemons

Hardy S. Clemons, trustee emeritus, is a native of Lubbock, Texas, and 1955 graduate of Texas Tech University with a degree in education. He later earned bachelor of divinity and doctor of theology degrees from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary. He converted his Th.D. to a Ph.D. in 1975 at Texas Tech, where he studied the links between the fields of psychology and theology. He did postdoctoral work at the C.G. Jung Institute in Zurich. From 1961 to 1967, he was senior pastor at First Baptist Church of Georgetown, Texas, and for the next 21 years he served in the same capacity at Second Baptist Church of Lubbock, Texas. In 1988, he became senior pastor at First Baptist Church in Greenville, from which he retired in January 2000.  He returned to San Antonio, Texas, where he became executive pastor of Trinity Baptist Church, from which he retired in August 2008.  He plans to continue a general ministry of preaching, writing and counseling.

 Active in denominational and community affairs, he has been the moderator and a member of the executive committee of the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship and has taught at the International Baptist Theological Seminary in Ruschlikon, Switzerland. He co-chaired the Religious Liberty Council of the Baptist Joint Committee on Public Affairs and is the author of Saying Hello to Your Life After Grief, published by Smyth and Helwys. He received an honorary doctor of divinity degree from Furman in 1994.

He and his wife, Ardelle, have a daughter, Kay, and two grandchildren.

Sarah Belk Gambrell

Sarah Belk Gambrell, trustee emerita, is a native of Charlotte, North Carolina, and a graduate of Sweet Briar College. She is the daughter of W. H. Belk Sr., founder of the Belk Group of stores, having served as an officer and director of Belk stores in the Southeast.  Active in arts and community organizations, she serves on the boards of the YWCA of Central Carolinas (honorary); YWCA of New York City (honorary); Parkinson’s Disease Foundation, Columbia-Presbyterian New York; North Carolina Community Foundation, Inc., Raleigh; Executive Mansion, Fine Arts Committee, Raleigh; Cancer Research Institute, New York City (honorary); Dress for Success, Inc., Charlotte; The Charlotte Museum of History (honorary);  Historic Rosedale Plantation,
Charlotte; North Carolina Transportation Museum;  and the Andrew Jackson Historical Foundation, Inc., Museum of the Waxhaws.

She serves as trustee of Queens University, Charlotte; Princeton Theological Seminary (emerita); Trinity Episcopal School, Charlotte; and William Black Home for Religious Workers, Montreat. 

She holds honorary doctorates from Erskine College, the University of North Carolina at Asheville, Furman University and Johnson C. Smith University.

Her husband, the late Charles G. Gambrell, was a 1922 Furman graduate and a member of the university’s Advisory Council. Together they established the Charles and Sarah Belk Gambrell Scholarship for deserving students at Furman.

Sarah has a daughter, Sally, and four grandsons, twins Charles and Cooper, and
Christopher and Caleb.

Thomas S. Hartness

Thomas S. Hartness, trustee emeritus, is a native of Shelby, North Carolina, who attended North Carolina State University. He moved to Greenville in 1940, when he was named general manager of a new Pepsi-Cola distributorship. Through business acumen and natural inventiveness, he made Pepsi a sales leader in the region and went on to found Hartness International, a company that manufactures packaging equipment for firms throughout the world. Having sold the Pepsi business in 1983, he now serves as chair of the board of Hartness International, a firm with some 350 employees and his sons Bobby as president and Pat as vice president.

Active on the Furman board for many years, including several terms as chair, he was general chair of the Campaign for Furman’s Future and has been a member of the Advisory Council. He has also served on the Advisory Council at Converse College and as a trustee of the South Carolina Foundation of Independent Colleges and Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. He has been a leader of First Baptist Church of Greenville, serving as both a member of the board of deacons and its chair.

In 1972, Furman awarded him an honorary doctor of laws degree.  The pavilion adjoining Daniel Dining Hall is named in honor of the Hartnesses. 

Max M. Heller

Max M. Heller, trustee emeritus, is a native of Austria who left his Nazi-occupied homeland in 1938 and came to Greenville to work as a stock boy at Piedmont Shirt Company. He founded Maxon Shirt Company in 1948 and retired in 1969 to devote his time to public service. In 1971, after two years on the Greenville City Council, he was elected to the first of two consecutive terms as mayor of Greenville. He was a candidate for the U.S. House of Representatives in 1978.

A former chair of the State Development Board, he was instrumental in the Development and Diversification of South Carolina’s economy.  He has played a leadership role in civic and community organizations, and he received the 1970 Man of the Year Award from the National Council of Jewish Women, the Distinguished Service Award from the Greater Greenville Ministerial Alliance and the Human Relations Award from the Greenville Human Relations Commission. A former chair of the Greenville Chamber of Commerce and a past member of the Furman Advisory Council, he is a recipient of the Whitney Young Humanitarian Award from the Greenville Urban League. Furman awarded him an honorary doctor of laws degree in 1975 and the Bell Tower Award in 1998.

Max and his wife, Trude, who received an honorary degree from Furman in 1999, have three children, 10 grandchildren and 14 greatgrandchildren.

Ralph S. Hendricks

Ralph S. Hendricks, trustee emeritus, was born in Bowman, Georgia, and grew up in Gray Court, South Carolina. After service in the U.S. Air Force during World War II, he returned to Simpsonville, South Carolina, where he built a flourishing building supply and hardware business and became a leading citizen, serving as the town’s mayor from 1975 to 1987. He is currently president of Hendricks Properties.

He has been active in the First Baptist Church, including terms as deacon and treasurer. A leader in both business and the community, he has been president of the Carolina Lumber Dealers Association, the Greenville Home Builders Association, the Simpsonville Chamber of Commerce and the Simpsonville Rotary. He has been actively involved with Meals on Wheels, Miracle Hill, the Salvation Army and the Boys Home of the South. He was honored as Builder of the Year in 1986 and Citizen of the Year by the Chamber of Commerce in 1988. A longtime member of the YMCA, he chaired its capital campaign. In 2000, Furman awarded him an honorary doctor of humanities degree.

Emilyn Childs Sanders

Emilyn Childs Sanders, a Greenville native, is a graduate of the University of Houston.  She did graduate work at the University of Houston School of Social Work and at the New York School of Interior Design.  In new York, she served as executive assistant to the senior minister of the Fifth Avenue Presbyterian Church.

Emilyn’s two sons, Dan, Jr. and John, and daughter-in-law, Suzanne, are Furman graduates.  Emilyn and her husband, Dan, are former chairs of the Parents Council and have served on the Advisory Council.

She is Vice Chair of the Board of Trustees of the Upcountry History Museum and member of the board of Trustees of the Greenville Museum of Art, Community Foundation, and the Metropolitan Council.

Elizabeth Peace Stall

Elizabeth Peace Stall, trustee emerita, graduated from Greenville High School and went on to Hollins College, where she graduated with honors. She serves as a lifetime trustee of Brookgreen Gardens.

Founding president of the Peace Center, she has served as president of the Community Foundation of Greater Greenville, president of the Junior League of Greenville, trustee of St. Francis Hospital, member of the South Carolina Commission on Mental Retardation and chair of the volunteer committee of the Citizens Committee for Integration of Greenville Schools. She has been a trustee at Hollins University; the South Carolina Governor’s School for the Arts and Humanities, and Presbyterian College and is a member of the First Baptist Church.

She has a daughter, two sons, and seven grandchildren.

Mary Peace Sterling

Mary Peace Sterling, trustee emerita and a native of Greenville, graduated from Randolph-Macon Woman’s College. She has been active in community and church endeavors, serving as vice president of the Junior League and regional director of the Association of Junior Leagues of America. She currently serves on the board of directors of the Peace Center for the Performing Arts. Past board memberships include Christ Church Episcopal School, YMCA Endowment Corporation, and the Upcountry History Museum.

A former member of the Furman Advisory Council, she provided the naming gift for the Charlie Peace Wing of Furman’s James B. Duke Library in memory of her father. Furman awarded her an honorary doctor of humanities degree in 2002.

A native of Greenville and a 1935 graduate of Furman with degrees in modern languages and physics, Charles Townes went on to earn a master’s degree from Duke University and a Ph.D. from California Institute of Technology. Charles joined the technical staff of Bell Telephone Laboratories in 1939 and remained there until 1948, when he joined the faculty of Columbia University.  He was named vice president and director of research for the Institute for Defense Analysis in Washington, D.C., in 1958, and was appointed provost and professor of physics at Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1961. In 1967 he was appointed to a professorship at the University of California at Berkeley, where he now holds the rank of University Professor Physics in the Graduate School.

In 1964, he was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics for his contributions to the development of the laser and maser.  He is a member of the National Inventors Hall of Fame, and Townes Auditorium in Plyler Hall of Science at Furman is named in his honor. He is a charter member of the Furman Hall of Fame.

He holds a number of honorary degrees (Furman honored him in 1960) and has received a host of prestigious awards, among them NASA’s Distinguished Public Service Medal, the National Academy of Sciences’ Comstock Prize, and the National Medal of Science, the nation’s highest scientific award. In 1999 he was included in 1,000 Years, 1,000 People:  Ranking the Men and Women Who Shaped the Millennium, a book that delineated the most important, influential and intriguing people of the last 1,000 years.Townes received the Templeton Prize in 2005 for contributions to the relation between science and religion.

Charles and his wife, Frances, have four daughters.

Robert H. Buckman

Robert H. Buckman served as Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer of Bulab Holdings, Inc., the holding company of Buckman Laboratories, from 1978 until his retirement in December 2000.  He is Chairman of the Board of Applied Knowledge Group, Inc., and Chairman of Tioga Holdings, Inc., both in Reston, Virginia.  He holds degrees from Purdue University, the University of Chicago and honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters degrees from both North Carolina State University and Asbury Theological Seminary.  He is on the Board of Trustees of Furman University in Greenville, South Carolina, the Board of Trustees of Rhodes College in Memphis, Tennessee, the Board of Directors of Church Health Center in Memphis, the Board of Directors of the LeBonheur Children’s Medical Center Foundation in Memphis, and the Board of Directors of APQC in Houston, Texas.  He is a member of the Society of Entrepreneurs (Memphis), Phi Circle of Omicron Delta Kappa, and a member of the International Editorial Board of the Journal of Knowledge Management.  In 1988 he was named was named Exporter of the Year by the Mid-South Exporters Roundtable; in 1991 was the recipient of the Cook-Halle Award in recognition of his contributions to industry and community in Memphis; in 1993 was named "Master of Free Enterprise" by Junior Achievement of Greater Memphis in recognition of his business leadership and civic contributions; in 1996 received the Outstanding Chemical Engineer Award from Purdue University; in 1996 was the recipient of the Knowledge Management Leadership Award from Business Intelligence in London; and in 1998 was named a Distinguished Delphi Fellow as a visionary behind one of the most widely cited knowledge management initiatives to date (presented by The Delphi Group of Boston).  In April 2001 he was the recipient of the Purdue University Distinguished Engineering Alumnus Award for his outstanding accomplishments in the specialty chemicals industry and his leadership in the field of knowledge management and knowledge sharing.  In 1996, under the leadership of Bob Buckman, Buckman Laboratories was recipient of the Arthur Andersen LLP 1996 Enterprise Award for Best Practices in the category of Knowledge Sharing in the Organization; in 1997, Buckman Laboratories was recipient of the 1997 Computerworld Smithsonian Award for visionary use of information technology in the Manufacturing category.  In 2000 was named one of the top ten Most Admired Knowledge Leaders for his world-class knowledge leadership contributions to his company and to the New Economy.   The study was conducted by Teleos and Work Frontiers International.  In 2000 and 2002 Buckman Labs was the winner of the Global Most Admired Knowledge Enterprises study for its strong corporate knowledge culture, knowledge leadership, and transforming corporate knowledge into shareholder value.       

Bob is an avid fisherman and enjoys snow skiing with his friends and family.  He is married to Joyce Mollerup and they have four children and eight grandchildren.

Back to Listings

Alfred G. Childers

Alfred G. Childers graduated Furman in 1980 with a degree in chemistry and obtained a Ph.D. from Indiana University in Analytical Chemistry. Childers is the former worldwide president of Pharmaceutical Development for Cardinal Health which provides development services for the pharmaceutical industry. Childers led more than 1600 employees in nine sites in the United States and internationally.
  
In April 2002, Cardinal Health acquired Magellan Laboratories Incorporated, a pharmaceutical development company that Childers and W. Lowry Caudill co-founded in 1991.  Magellan was recognized as one of the fastest growing privately held companies in the Research Triangle area and received numerous awards regional and national for growth and entrepreneurial development.   Magellan was awarded the Triangle Business Journal’s Fast 50 award for nine years and was in the Top 10 for six of the nine years.  In 1998, Childers was named Entrepreneur of the Year for North and South Carolina by Ernst and Young, The Kauffman Foundation, USA Today, and NASDAQ and was a finalist for the 1998 National Entrepreneur of The Year.

Prior to forming Magellan, Childers helped build the Pharmaceutical Development Division of Glaxo, Inc.  There he built and directed the Inhalation Analysis Department and was also responsible for analytical development of solid and parenteral products.  Before joining Glaxo, Childers was a principal investigator and research scientist at The Upjohn Company.

An active local entrepreneur, Childers is a venture partner in Southern Capitol Ventures, serves on the Life Sciences Advisory Board of the Aurora Funds and is a member of the Tri-State Investment Group.

He and his wife, Marybeth ’80, are very involved in supporting the creation of alternative educational opportunities for children, including the Magellan Charter School and the Resurrection Lutheran School. Both were founded by Marybeth.

Back to Listings

C. Jordan Clark

C. Jordan Clark was born in North Carolina and was educated at Davidson College (1977) before going on to receive a Masters degree in Art History at the University of Virginia (1980).  Following a four year stint as curator of the 3M Corporate Art Collection in Minnesota, Jordan returned to school and earned his MBA at the University of North Carolina (1986) and subsequently joined Trammell Crow Residential in Atlanta where he began a career in real estate development.

 He became a partner with TCR in 1987 and, in 1994, Jordan and his partners from Georgia, Texas, and Tennessee purchased the company holdings from the Trammel Crow family and, following a successful initial public offering, formed the NYSE-traded entity Gables Residential Trust.

At Gables, Jordan served as Chief Investment Officer in charge of all development, acquisition, disposition, construction, and brokerage activities of the firm.  During his tenure, the company grew four-fold, won numerous awards, expanded its territory, and, upon the sale of the company in 2003, had provided its shareholders an annualized total return of 15%.  Jordan was one of two Gables officers to serve on the Board of Directors of the company. 

Since his departure from Gables in 2002, Jordan has formed Jordan Clark Ventures, a private equity firm which invests in and operates rental communities in Atlanta, Ga.  In 2008, this entity had holdings valued at approximately one hundred million dollars. In addition, since 2003, Jordan has been a part-time teacher at the Lovett School in Atlanta—a private college preparatory school—where he delights in teaching AP Art History to high school juniors and seniors.  He has been a member of the advisory and parent councils at Furman and is active in Atlanta church and community affairs.

He is married to Patti Clark (Davidson 1977, UNC MBA 1979) and has three daughters including two Furman students… Graham Clark Mudd ’08 and Suzanne Clark ’11.

Back to Listings

Merl F. Code

A mathematics cum laude graduate of North Carolina A&T State University, Merl Code earned his law degree from the University of South Carolina Law School, where he was elected president of the South Carolina Law School Student Bar Association.  He played eight years of professional football in the Canadian Football League before settling in Greenville to practice law.  He is of counsel in the Greenville Law Firm of Ogletree, Deakins, Nash, Smoak & Stewart.

A Municipal Court Judge in Greenville, Merl is owner/CEO of Precision Tool Manufacturer, owner/chair of Code Insurance Associates, and president of Code & Associates, a sports management agency.

In 1984, he was selected as Young Lawyer of the Year by the South Carolina Bar Association, and in 1997, he received their Compleat Lawyer Award.  The South Carolina Business Network named him Business Person of the Year in 1996; in that same year he was honored by Vision Magazine as being one of the Top 25 Business Influencers and was awarded the Order of the Palmetto by the Governor of South Carolina.  In 1998, he received the Greenville Bar Association’s Tommy Thomason Award and in 1999, he was inducted into the South Carolina Black Hall of Fame.

In addition to Furman, Merl serves on the boards of the Palmetto Institute, Local Development Corporation, the Phillis Wheatley Association (former chair), the Greenville Urban League (former chair), the Public Defender Corporation, BB&T Bank of South Carolina and the United Way of Greenville (former chair).

Merl and his wife Denise have two children.

Back to Listings

Richard Cullen

Richard Cullen is a 1971 graduate of Furman, where he majored in Political Science and played varsity football.  He received a law degree from the University of Richmond in 1977, where he was editor in chief of the law review and a member of ODK.

Richard is the chairman of McGuireWoods LLP, a law firm with over 900 lawyers and 18 offices in the United States and abroad.  He has spent his professional career at McGuireWoods, taking leave on three occasions for public service assignments.  In 1987 he was a special counsel to the U. S. Senate for the Iran-Contra investigation.  He was appointed by President George H. W. Bush as the United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, serving from 1991 to 1993.  And in 1997, Virginia Governor George Allen appointed him the Commonwealth’s 39th Attorney General.

Richard has been appointed to a number of boards and commissions, including Richmond’s Collegiate School (K-12), the Virginia Commonwealth University School of Business Foundation, the Board of Visitors of Virginia Military Institute and the commission that revised Virginia’s criminal sentencing laws, which he co-chaired.  He was recently appointed by the Chief Justice of Virginia to the State's Judicial Council and by the Chief Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit to the Court's Advisory Committee on Rules and Procedures.  In 1998 he was awarded the University of Richmond Distinguished Alumni Award.

Richard previously served on Furman’s advisory and parents councils.

He and his wife Agnes Tullidge Cullen have four children.  Their two sons, Thomas (2000) and Richard (2007) graduated from Furman, as did Thomas’ wife Amy (2000)

Back to Listings

Aubrey C. Daniels

A graduate of Furman and founder of Aubrey Daniels International, Aubrey C. Daniels is a pioneer in introducing the principles of behavioral psychology to the workplace.  He received his doctorate from the University of Florida where he also earned his master’s degree and was a member of Phi Beta Kappa.

Aubrey is on the board of trustees of the Cambridge Center for Behavioral Studies, an associate of Harvard University’s John F. Kennedy School of Government, a faculty member of the College of Health Professionals at the University of Florida (selected as their 2004-2005 Alumnus of the Year), and a visiting professor at Florida State University.  He has also taught at Georgia State University, Emory University and Atlanta University and has presented at Oxford University in England.  His numerous awards include the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Organization Behavior Management Network for outstanding work in the field of behavioral analysis.  In 1997 he received an Outstanding Service Award from the International Association for Behavior Analysis.  On June 13, 2002, Aubrey appeared on the Pat Summerall’s Champions of Business series on the FOX News Channel.

He is the author of four books widely recognized as management classics: Bringing Out the Best in People: How to Apply the Astonishing Power of Positive Reinforcement; Performance Management: Changing Behavior that Drives Organizational Effectiveness, Other People’s Habits and Measure of a Leader.

He and his wife, Rebecca, reside in Atlanta and have two grown daughters and three grandchildren.

Back to Listings

W. Randy Eaddy

A native of Johnsonville, South Carolina, is a 1976 summa cum laude graduate of Furman University, where he was elected to Phi Beta Kappa, Blue Key and the Quaternion Society.  He received his J. D. degree from Harvard Law School in 1979, where he was an editor of the Harvard Law Review.  Randy is a senior partner in the Corporate Department of Kilpatrick Stockton LLP and has been listed for several years in Best Lawyers in America® for Corporate Law.

In addition to Furman’s Board of Trustees, Randy serves on the boards of the Winston-Salem State University Foundation, the Winston-Salem Arts Council, the North Carolina Shakespeare Festival, and the Winston-Salem Downtown Partnership, and he has served on the boards of the Alliance Theatre Company, the Georgia Legal Services Foundation, the United Way of Metropolitan Atlanta and other civic organizations.  Active in bar associations and as a writer and speaker on topics for continuing education and advancement of the legal profession, Randy is lead author of the chapter on “Diversity” in Successful Partnering Between Inside and Outside Counsel, a multi-volume treatise sponsored by West Group and the Association of Corporate Counsel.

Among other honors, Randy received the 1999 President’s Award from the Association of Social and Behavioral Scientists in recognition of his contributions to the African American community as an attorney, legal scholar and civic leader, and the 2005 Team Hope Award from the Huntington’s Disease Society of America for Corporate Management and Diversity Leadership.  Randy cites his participation in Furman’s Study Abroad Program to England, during the Fall of 1975, as his most enlightening, formative experience.

Back to Listings

David G. Ellison

David G. Ellison is a native of Knoxville, Tennessee, who graduated from Furman in 1972 and obtained an M.B.A. from the Clemson-Furman program in 1976. He is Managing Director for Northwestern Mutual Financial Network for the Upstate of South Carolina and co-owns an employee benefits firm, Group Benefit Strategies, LLC.  He has chaired the YMCA Endowment Corporation and is a past trustee of the United Way where he has chaired the Palmetto Society, its leadership-giving arm. He is a director of Southern First Bank, NA. Past chair of the Furman Board of Trustees, he has been president of the Alumni Association and the Paladin Club. In 1992, he was elected to the Furman Athletic Hall of Fame.

Dave and his wife, Frances, have three sons.

Back to Listings

Larry D. Estridge

Larry D. Estridge, a native of Rock Hill, South Carolina, was student body president at Furman and was elected to Blue Key honorary fraternity.  Graduating from Furman in 1966, he earned his J.D. from Harvard Law School in 1969. In 1967 Larry received the Hughes Trophy, awarded to the top ROTC graduate in the nation. He served for two years as an officer in the Army, including a tour in Vietnam, where he was awarded the Bronze Star.  He is an attorney in the Greenville office of the firm of Womble, Carlyle, Sandridge & Rice.

He has served as president of Citizens for Greenville and the Greenville Central Area Partnership (downtown revitalization). Larry has also served on the Board of Directors of the Greenville Chamber of Commerce.  He has also served on the governing boards of Lees-McRae College, Carolina Piedmont Foundation, Greenville Children’s Museum, the Reedy River Basin Task Force, Thornblade Club and the Greenville Symphony Orchestra.

He is a past president of Furman Alumni Association, a former member of the Advisory Council, and served on the legal task force of the Baptist Relationship Committee.  In 1984 he received Furman's Alumni Service Award and in 1997 the Distinguished Alumni Award.

Larry is married to Kim Estridge.  He has three children and seven grandchildren.

  Back to Listings

Angela Walker Franklin

Angela L. Walker Franklin, a native of McCormick, South Carolina, is a 1981 Phi Beta Kappa and magna cum laude graduate of Furman.  She completed her Ph.D. in clinical psychology in 1985 at Emory University, followed by a year long clinical internship at Grady Memorial Hospital.

Angela currently serves as Executive Vice President and Provost at Meharry Medical College in Nashville, Tennessee. In this role she serves as second in command to the President and provides administrative and academic leadership to the entire campus community which includes a School of Medicine, a School of Dentistry, and a Graduate School. Meharry was established in 1876 and this Academic Health Center has a legacy of providing access to healthcare for underserved communities.

At Meharry, Angela has administrative responsibility for Human Resources, Information Technology, Academic Support, Faculty Affairs and Development, Enrollment Management, Student Services, Institutional Research, Counseling Services, the Library, and Administrative services which include Campus Operations and Security.  She is also responsible for Strategic Planning and currently serves as Program Officer for the Title III federal grant.  In addition, she is charged with strengthening academic standards and programs across the institution, ensuring rigorous compliance with all accrediting standards and the development of new academic programs. Angela also holds the faculty rank of Professor of Psychiatry at Meharry.

Prior to her move to Meharry and Nashville in 2007, Angela served for 20 years at Morehouse School of Medicine in Atlanta, Georgia. She began her tenure there as an Assistant professor in the Department of Psychiatry, and held numerous academic and administrative positions throughout her time there.  Over the 20 years there, she served as Director of Counseling, Assistant Dean for Admissions and Student Affairs, Associate Dean for Student Affairs and Curriculum, then Vice Dean and Associate Vice President for Academic and Student Affairs. She also moved up the faculty rank to full professor of Clinical Psychiatry in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral sciences prior to her departure in June 2007. She is licensed in the state of Georgia as a clinical psychologist.

Angela completed two terms as a Furman Trustee (1999-2005) and returned to the Furman Board in the 2006-07 year.  She is currently a member of the Board of Advisors of The Oasis Center: A Youth Development Center in Nashville.  She is also a member of the Tennessee Women’s Forum. She has been actively engaged with the Liaison Committee on Medical Education (LCME) as a site reviewer for accreditation of medical schools and has also served as a SACS Accreditation Liaison lead institutional self studies for accreditation.

A former American Council on Education Fellow (2001-02), Angela is also a 2004 protégé of the Millennium Leadership Institute which is sponsored by the Association of State Colleges and Universities in preparing the next generation of leaders in higher education.  She recently participated in the Prospective President’s Workshop of the United Methodist Church affiliated Schools.

Angela and her husband, Thaddeus, have three sons (Wesley ’07, Grant and Jordan).

Back to Listings

P. Edwin Good, Jr.

P. Edwin Good, Jr. graduated from Furman in 1967 and earned his master of arts in teaching in 1969 from University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill. In 1985 he started Hampton Development Co., a retail and commercial real estate development firm based in Greenville with properties in Virginia, the Carolinas and Georgia.

He serves on the boards of the Greenville Housing Fund, Upcountry History Museum, United Way of Greenville County (past chair), Hollingsworth Funds, and Verdae Development.  He is a member of the International Council of Shopping Centers and the Urban Land Institute.

He is past chair of the Furman advisory Council and past president of the Furman Paladin Club.

Ed is married to Peggy Ellison Good, Furman class of ’67, and a former trustee. They have three sons who are also Furman graduates: Paul ’93, Matt ’96, and Jon ’97 and seven grandchildren.

Back to Listings

George C. Guynn

 Jack Guynn retired from the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta in October 2006, after a 42-year career with the organization.
For the last 11 years of his Fed career, Mr. Guynn served as president and chief executive officer of the bank with responsibilities for all of its activities, including economic research and monetary policymaking, bank supervision, and payments services.  He served on the Federal Reserve’s chief monetary policymaking body, the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC).  The Atlanta Fed’s region includes the states of Georgia, Florida, Alabama, and parts of Louisiana, Mississippi, and Tennessee.  The bank operates from six southeast cities with a staff of approximately 2000.

Before being named president in 1996, Mr. Guynn served for 12 years as the bank’s chief operating officer.  Earlier in his career, he had a variety of assignments with the Bank in Atlanta, Miami, and New Orleans.  Those assignments included payments operations, information technology, human resources, bank supervision and lending, among others.  He also held many leadership roles in the Federal Reserve System and for a number of years served as the Fed’s payments systems liaison with banking industry groups.
Mr. Guynn currently serves on the boards of directors of three public companies — Genuine Parts Company, Oxford Industries, and Acuity Brands.  He is also a director of  John Wieland Homes and Neighborhoods, a member of ING Americas Advisory Board, and a trustee SunTrust Bank’s Ridgeworth Mutual Funds.

Throughout his career and continuing into retirement, Mr. Guynn has been very involved in community activities and nonprofit groups.  He chaired the board of the United Way of Metropolitan Atlanta and chaired its successful 2004 annual campaign.  He chaired the board of the Atlanta Midtown Alliance and served on the boards of the Atlanta Community Foundation, Georgia State University’s Andrew Young School of Policy Studies, the Girl Scout Council of Northwest Georgia, the Piedmont Park Conservancy, and the Atlanta Police Foundation.  He has previously served on various advisory boards at Virginia Tech, Georgia Tech, and Georgia State University.  He continues to serve on the boards of the Atlanta Midtown Alliance, the Midtown Improvement District, the Tull Foundation, the Georgia Tech Foundation, and the Atlanta Area Council of the Boy Scouts of America.  He is a member of the boards of trustees of Furman University (Greenville, S.C.) and Oglethorpe University (Atlanta, GA), where he currently serves as Board Chair.  He is also a member of the Atlanta Rotary Club.

Mr. Guynn was born and raised near Staunton, Virginia.  He earned his bachelor’s degree in Industrial Engineering in 1964 at Virginia Tech.  He completed his master’s degree in Industrial Management at Georgia Tech in 1969, and completed the Harvard Business School Program for Management Development in 1974. 

He is married to Joanne Guynn and has three adult children and eight grandchildren.

Back to Listings

Sean P. Hartness

Sean Hartness is the Chief Operating Officer of Hartness International, one of the world's most innovative and best known packaging companies. A Greenville native, he is a 1992 graduate of the University of South Carolina.  Following graduation, Sean moved to California where he served as Hartness' Director of Sales for both the Western US and Asia.  In 1997, he returned to Greenville as Director of Operations for both the Pacific Rim and Europe.   He later served as Director of Global Sales and then General Manager of Hartness Dynac Systems. 

Sean currently serves as COO of Hartness International, Inc. and its subsidiaries, Hartness International Integration, Hartness Conveyor Systems, and robotic solutions innovator Hartness Visy Automation. 

Sean’s memberships include the University of South Carolina Alumni Association (1992-present) and the Society of International Business Fellows.  He is a board member of Greenville’s Peace Center for Performing Arts (2007-present), and is a past board member of the Community Foundation of Greenville, Inc.  He has served on the Furman Advisory Council and has been a member of the President's Club, Trustees Circle and Founders Circle.

Sean is the grandson of Tom and the late Edna Hartness.  Sean has a four year old daughter, Eugenia.

Back to Listings

David Hauser

David L. Hauser, chairman and chief executive officer of FairPoint Communications, Inc., is responsible for the management of all aspects of the corporation’s activities to ensure maximum profits commensurate with the best interests of the stockholders, customers, employees, and the communities which it serves.

Mr. Hauser joined the company as chairman and CEO in July 2009 after retiring as group executive and chief financial officer from Duke Energy. He began his 35-year career with Duke when he joined Duke Power in 1973. During his first 20 years with the company, Hauser served in various accounting positions, including controller, before assuming the role of vice president of procurement services and materials. He was named senior vice president of global asset development in 1997 and in June 1998 was named senior vice president and treasurer. Mr. Hauser served as acting chief financial officer from November 2003 until February 2004 when he was named group vice president and chief financial officer and then group executive and chief financial officer in April 2006.

Mr. Hauser earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in business administration from Furman (S.C.) University and received a Master of Business Administration degree from the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. He completed the Executive Program of Professional Management Education at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Mr. Hauser is a certified purchasing manager.

Prior to his current role as chairman, Hauser served on FairPoint’s board of directors and is a current member of the board for EnPro Industries, Inc. Mr. Hauser is also a member of the boards of trustees of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and the North Carolina Blumenthal Performing Arts Center. He is also a member of the Business Advisory Council for the University of North Carolina at Charlotte, and the North Carolina Association of Certified Public Accountants.  In August 2009,  Mr. Hauser was named CFO of the Year by the Charlotte Business Journal for his work at Duke Energy.

Back to Listings

Francie M. Heller

Francie is Managing Director in Client Relations at Chilton Investment Company, where she is head of business development for pensions and endowments. She focuses on providing investment advice and support to chief investment officers and other leaders of endowments and large corporate and public pension plans. 

Prior to Chilton Investment Company, Francie served as a Senior Managing Director and Head of the Pension, Endowment, and Foundation Services Group at Bear Stearns & Co. Inc., where she was responsible for building and fostering relationships and delivering a comprehensive array of products and services to this market.  Previously, Francie was President of MBIA Municipal Investors Service Corporation (MISC) where she created and ran all aspects of the government investment management business and had responsibility for direct marketing, sales, business/product development and client servicing for MBIA Asset Management, a $50 billion investment management division.  Francie was an education director in New York public school for many years.

Francie graduated from Boston University with a Bachelor of Science degree and earned a mater’s equivalent degree from the University of Georgia and a professional diploma (PD) from Fordham University. She holds certificates from Columbia University, Stanford University and Harvard University Executive Education programs.

She currently serves on several boards, including Today’s Students, Tomorrow’s Teachers, The Big Picture, the Westchester County Association, and the Furman University Board of Trustees where she serves as Chairman of the Investment Committee.  In addition, Francie is an advisor to the Government Finance Officers Association’s Committee on Retirement and Benefits Administration. She is a published author having written several articles on cash management and investment topics.

Francie has four children and ten grandchildren.

Back to Listings

Gordon R. Herring

Gordon R. Herring, a native of Greenville, graduated from Furman in 1965 and obtained an M.B.A. from the University of Virginia in 1970.

He served in the U.S. Army for three years, obtaining the rank of captain. Joining TeleCable Corporation in 1970 as director of research, he went on to become director of marketing and then regional operations manager in 1975, vice president in 1980 and executive vice president in 1989. After retiring upon the sale of TeleCable, he is now a private investor.

A leader in the cable television industry, he has served on the operating committee of Viewers’ Choice, as a founding member of the Board of Directors of Cable Television Administration & Marketing Society, and as a member of the National Affi liates Marketing Advisory Committee of Home Box Office. He was one of the founders of the Weather Channel. He is a former trustee of Averett College, a former member of Furman’s Advisory Council, a past chair of the Furman Board of Trustees, chaired the Campaign Executive Committee for the Forever Furman Campaign, and serves on the Hollingsworth Funds Board.

He received an honorary doctor of laws degree from Furman in 1991. In 1992 he earned the National Cable Television Association Vanguard Award for Marketing.

Back to Listings

Robert Hill

Robert Hill is a native of Knoxville, Tennessee, and a 1983 graduate of Furman University.  After graduating from Furman, he worked several years in commercial banking in Greenville, South Carolina, before becoming responsible for the day-to-day operations of Siler Brokerage Company, his family’s food brokerage business based in Knoxville.

Today, Robert serves as President & CEO of Acosta Sales and Marketing Company, headquartered in Jacksonville, Florida.  Acosta, which acquired Siler Brokerage Company in 1994, is the largest sales and marketing agency in North America, serving consumer packaged goods companies.  The company has 1,200 clients, 14,000 associates, and 65 offices across North America.

Hill is active in the Jacksonville, Florida, community. He is Chairman of the Board of Directors of Baptist Medical Center, a board member of Big Brothers/Big Sisters of North Florida, and is a 2007 graduate of Leadership Jacksonville.

Back to Listings

C. Dan Joyner

A lifelong resident of Greenville, Dan Joyner earned a bachelor’s degree in business administration from Furman, where he served as president of the student body and was voted “Student of the Year.”  Dan is an active member of the Board of Trustees at Furman.   In addition to his extensive real estate background, he has been involved in numerous community activities.

Joyner has served as the president of the Greater Greenville Chamber of Commerce, president of the Furman Alumni Association, campaign chair and president of the United Way, and Greenville County president of the March of Dimes. He has also served as Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Greenville Hospital System.  Dan was the recipient of the 2007 Distinguished Citizen Award from the Blue Ridge Council of the Boy Scouts of America.

Dan is currently serving as a member of the Board of Directors for the Peace Center, and Chairman of the Board for the Community Foundation of Greenville.  He is an Advisory Board member of Junior Diabetes Foundation and the Boy Scouts; and Board member of  the Palmetto Society of United Way.

Dan has been involved in the upstate real estate community since 1964, and is the founder and President of Prudential C. Dan Joyner Company REALTORS.  He has previously held the positions of Regional Vice President and President of the South Carolina Association of REALTORS, and is a National Director of the National Association of Realtors (N.A.R.). He was selected by N.A.R. as one of the 50 out of 1 million REALTORS for a DSA award (Distinguished Service Award).

Dan Joyner was awarded the Order of the Palmetto, (South Carolina's highest award) by the governor in 1998. He has been honored twice as Greenville’s REALTOR of the Year as well as South Carolina’s REALTOR of the Year. In 2002 he was selected as National Prudential Broker of the Year and named to the Prudential Hall of Fame. He has been named by The Greenville News as one of the top 25 most influential people in the Upstate.

Back to Listings

Carl F. Kohrt

Dr. Kohrt, a native of Illinois and ’65 graduate of Fuman University, retired from Battelle in December, 2008 after serving seven years as President and CEO.  During his tenure, Battelle now a $4B+ international R&D organization, more than doubled in revenue and includes the management or co-management of seven national laboratories for both the US and foreign government agencies.  It continues to build on its 80 year history as a leader in the commercialization of technologies for a wide-range of companies mostly in the fields of material sciences, energy, human health, and defense.

Prior to his joining Battelle in 2001, Carl spent a distinguished 29-year career at Kodak,   retiring in June 2000.  He served in numerous senior executive, international and technical positions throughout his Kodak career – including Executive Vice President and Assistant Chief Operation Officer, Chief Technology Officer, President of Greater Asia, Vice President and General Manager of the Health Sciences Division, Director of Global Photographic R&D Laboratories, R&D Manager, Project Manager, and Research Scientist.  While at Kodak, Carl led significant business initiatives in Asian markets – including major acquisitions and marketing investments in China that helped make Kodak the market leader and China Kodak’s second largest market for consumer products.

Carl received his B.S. in Chemistry from Furman University (1965) and Ph.D. in Physical Chemistry from the University of Chicago (1971).  He served as a NSF Post-Doctoral Fellow at the University of Chicago and received an M.M.S. in Management Science from the Sloan School of Management, Massachusetts Institute of Technology.  He has served as a Woodrow Wilson Fellow, a National Science Foundation Research Fellow, and a Sloan Fellow.  He is the recipient of an Honorary Doctor of Science from Furman University and from Ohio Dominican University.

Carl currently serves on the Boards of two public companies:  Scotts MiracleGro Company for which he acts as the Lead Director, and Kinetic Concepts, Incorporated.  In addition, he is the Vice Chairman of the privately held Pharos, LLC and a board member of 360ip, a Singapore listed high-tech venture-backed company.  He is currently the Chairman of two non-profit organizations in Columbus, OH: the Center Of Science and Industry and Battelle For Kids.  The latter a rapidly growing company devoted to the improvement of K-12 student performance through value-added teacher education and training.  Carl, coming from a family of educators, has increasingly devoted his time to the improvement of math and science education in the public school domain, including the formation of a unique math and science intensive public high school in Columbus, Ohio in cooperation with the Ohio State University and sixteen public school districts that is now being replicated in 9 other cities.  He and his wife Lynne are the parents of three sons, one of whom is a Furman graduate and grandparents to ten grandchildren.  They are recent residents of South Carolina and Keowee Key, Salem, South Carolina.

Back to Listings

Barbara Edith Mathews

Barbara E. Mathews is a native of Santa Barbara, California, where she attended the University of California, Santa Barbara from 1965 to 1968. She received her B.A. in 1969 with highest honors and continued her education at Tufts University School of Medicine in Boston, Massachusetts, receiving her M.D. in 1972.

She was at Harvard Medical School as a Clinical Fellow in Obstetrics and Gynecology from 1973 to 1976, Instructor in Obstetrics and Gynecology from 1976 to 1977, and as Faculty Member handling post-graduate coursework from 1977 to 1994. From 1987 to the present, she has been serving as Director and Chairperson of the University of California Los Angeles Continuing Education Division Annual Symposium on In Vitro Fertilization and Embryo Transfer. 

She has been on the board of the Channel City Club since 1990. She is a Fellow of the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, the American College of Surgeons, where she serves as Chairman of the District I Committee on Applicants, and she is a member of the American Society of Colposcopy and Cervical Pathology, where she served as a member of the Board of Directors for several years.  She is also a member of Phi Beta Kappa. She is currently in the private practice of gynecology in Santa Barbara, California.

She is married to Michael J. Zirolli.

Back to Listings

John Michael (Mike) McConnell

Mike McConnell is Senior Vice President and leader of the National Security Business for the leading consulting firm, Booz Allen Hamilton, and he is a member of the firm’s Leadership Team. Mr. McConnell served from 2007-2009 as U.S. Director of National Intelligence (DNI), a position of Cabinet rank under Presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama. As DNI, Mr. McConnell served as the principal intelligence advisor to the President and as a member of the U.S. National Security Council. 

Mr. McConnell’s career has spanned over 40 years focusing on international developments and foreign intelligence issues, first as a career intelligence officer in the U.S. Navy, as the Senior Intelligence Officer on the Joint Chiefs of Staff, as Director of the National Security Agency, and later as Senior Vice President with Booz Allen Hamilton after retiring from the U.S. Navy as Vice Admiral after 29 years of service. Over the past few years, Mr. McConnell’s area of focus has been counter-terrorism, cyber security, counter-proliferation, and foreign intelligence. While managing the U.S. Intelligence Community, a organization of 100,000 people, he had responsibility for a global enterprise and budget of over $47B.  In this capacity, Mr. McConnell had extensive interactions with the White House, the President’s Cabinet, the Congress, International Leaders, and the U.S. Business Community. 

Serving first under President George H. W. Bush and later President Clinton, Mr. McConnell served as Director of the National Security Agency (NSA) from 1992-1996. He led NSA as it adapted to the multi-polar threats brought about by the end of the Cold War. Under his leadership, NSA routinely provided global Intelligence and Information Security Services to the White House, Cabinet officials and the Congress in addition to a broad array of military and civil intelligence customers. He also served as a member of the senior leadership team of the Director of Central Intelligence to address major programmatic and substantive foreign intelligence issues from 1992 until 1996.

Prior to his service at NSA and during Desert Shield/Storm and the dissolution of the Soviet Union, Mr. McConnell served as the Intelligence Officer for the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Colin Powell and the Secretary of Defense, Dick Cheney.
Mr. McConnell holds an M.P.A. degree from George Washington University, is a graduate of the National Defense University (Global Telecom) and the National Defense Intelligence College (Strategic Intelligence), and holds a B.A. in Economics from Furman University. In addition to being a member of Phi Beta Kappa, Mr. McConnell also has been awarded three Honorary Doctorate degrees, the most recent from The George Washington University in 2008. In addition to many of the nation's highest military awards for meritorious service, Mr. McConnell has been twice awarded the nation's highest award for service in the Intelligence Community; once by President Clinton and once by President George W. Bush. He also served as the Chairman and CEO of the Intelligence and National Security Alliance (INSA).

Mr. McConnell was born on July 26, 1943 in Greenville, South Carolina where he lived, grew up and first attended college. He is married to Terry McConnell and together they have four children and seven grandchildren.

Back to Listings

Kathleen Crum McKinney

Kathleen Crum McKinney received her B.A. summa cum laude from the University of South Carolina (USC) in 1975 and her J.D. cum laude from USC School of Law in 1978. A member of Phi Beta Kappa, she was a Carolina Scholar, executive editor of the South Carolina Law Review and chair of the Honor Council. She is a shareholder with Haynsworth Sinkler Boyd, P.A. where she practices in the Greenville office of the Public Finance Department.

A member of the S.C. Bar Association and the National Association of Bond Lawyers, Kathy presently serves on the NABL Board of Directors as president-elect of the 3,700 member organization and was the 2004 chair of the NABL’s Bond Attorneys’ Workshop in Chicago. Her practice concentrates on tax-exempt higher education and healthcare revenue bonds. She has been named to Best Lawyers in America-Public Finance and Chambers USA.

She assisted the South Carolina General Assembly in the drafting of legislation for tax increment financing for municipalities and legislation designed to attract industrial development to the state and facilitate the issuance of industrial revenue bonds. She has drafted amendments to the S.C. Hospital Revenue Bond Act, has structured the first storm-water system revenue bonds in the state, structured the first accommodations and hospitality tax certificates of participation for municipalities, and structured healthcare financing for governmental and nonprofit healthcare organizations in connection with proposed acquisitions, mergers and affiliations. She has served as bond counsel in several issues for nonprofit colleges. Kathy is a member of the Society of International Business Fellows and is past president of the History Museum of the Upcountry, and one of the five original founders of the Upstate Alliance, the economic development organization for the 10 county regions.

She has served as president of the Furman University Advisory Council (2000–2002).

Kathy and her husband, Ron ’70, have two children: William 27, and
Kathleen ’09. (Furman University)

Back to Listings

Patrick W. McKinney

An Atlanta native, Pat McKinney graduated in 1971 from Georgia State University with a BBA in marketing. Upon graduation, he began a real estate career with Sea Pines Plantation Company on Hilton Head Island. His South Carolina coastal development experience also includes Kiawah Island and Wild Dunes.

In 1988, McKinney was part of a small management team who organized a group of investors to purchase Kiawah Island from the Kuwait Investment Company. For 20 years he served as president of Kiawah Island Real Estate and is now its managing partner. 

A past member of the South Carolina Board of Education from 1987-1991, McKinney currently serves on the board of the Charleston Leadership Foundation and the First Tee of Greater Charleston as well as two faith-based non-profit organizations, Water Missions International and Turning Point with David Jeremiah.

He and his wife, Pam, have three daughters. The two younger girls have Furman ties —Amy was in the Class of ’07 and Sally is in the Class of ’09.

Back to Listings

James M. Ney

James Michael Ney, a native of Atlanta, Georgia, graduated (in three years) from Furman in 1964. Just two years later he received his J.D.degree from the University of Georgia School of Law, where he was a justice on the honor court, a member of the law review editorial board and president of the student body.

He served for two years as law assistant to the presiding justice of the Supreme Court of Georgia, and subsequently served as the Clerk of the State Board of Bar Examiners and as an instructor at John Marshall School of Law. In 1968, he joined the law firm of Alston & Bird and became a partner in 1973. In 1984, he helped found the firm of Holt Ney Zatcoff & Wasserman, LLP. He was special assistant attorney general of the State of Georgia for three years, and presently serves in that capacity for the State of Ohio. He has chaired the Real Estate Section of the Atlanta Bar, receiving its first annual award of merit, and was selected for all editions of Best Lawyers in America (since 1983). The March 2000, 2002, 2004, 2006, 2007, and 2008 edition of Atlanta Magazine named him one of the “Best Lawyers in Atlanta.”

From 1987 to 2003 he served on the Board of Trustees of the Schenck School (for children with learning disabilities), including three years as chair. He has also served for seven years (three as president) on the Board of Trustees of Community Friendship, which works with mentally disabled adults. In 1995 he was the recipient of the Cobb County Chamber of Commerce award for “Outstanding Community Service.” He is a member of the Board of Trustees of the Atlanta Academy and of the Cobb County Library Foundation. He is a past president of the Atlanta Furman Club.

He and his wife, Carol, served for six years as co-chairs of the Richard Furman Society. They have three daughters, two of whom graduated from Furman.

Back to Listings

Celeste Hunt Patrick

A native of Charleston, South Carolina, Celeste Patrick attended Furman from 1973 to 1975. She was a Duke Scholar and transferred to the University of South Carolina Pharmacy School, where she received a B.S. in Pharmacy. Her husband, Charles ’76, (BA History) joined her in Columbia the next year following their wedding. Celeste received her medical degree from Medical University of South Carolina in 1982, then completed a residency and fellowship in pediatrics and perinatal/neonatal medicine.

Celeste is a Clinical Associate professor of Pediatrics, working part time in the MUSC Level 11 nursery. As owner/president of Patrick Properties, she is involved in historic preservation and real estate development, including the historic William Aiken House, the American Theater, Fish restaurant and Lowndes Grove. Celeste serves on the MUSC Alumni Board and Vice President of the Charleston Regional Arts Alliance. She has served as president of the Board of Trustees of Charleston Stage Company, and on the boards of Spoleto Festival USA, Historic Charleston Foundation, and the SC Aquarium. Celeste and her husband Charles are members of the Trident United Way Alexander de Tocqueville Society, the theater Society of 1736 (Charleston Stage), and Dance Partners (Charleston Ballet Theater). Celeste and Charles were awarded the Individual Philanthropists of the Year by the Association of Fundraising Professionals in 2006. They have also received several local and national historic preservation awards.

Celeste and Charles have two children, Laura and Charlie.

Back to Listings

Linton B. Puckett

Linton B. (Buddy) Puckett has been a driving force in the property and casualty insurance business and the risk management consulting business for many years. He is currently Senior Vice President of Wells Fargo Insurance Services USA, Inc.

After graduating from Furman, Buddy began his insurance career with Federated Mutual Insurance Company. He later spent several years as a broker with The Furman Company before founding the Puckett-Scheetz Agency in 1971. He served as president of the Independent Insurance Agents of South Carolina in 1983-84. Puckett-Scheetz was acquired by Corroon and Black in 1989. In 1990 Corroon and Black was acquired by Willis. Puckett remained with Willis until 2005. During his career with Willis, Buddy Puckett served as head of the Greenville office in addition to serving for two years at the South Atlantic Regional Executive officer. In 1997, the Greenville office of Willis was awarded the Robert F. Corroon Award as the best performing office in the country.

Buddy Puckett has spent the majority of his insurance career working with large accounts such as Alamo Rent A Car, Bowater, Incorporated, Michelin Tire USA, AutoNation , Republic Services and National Car Rental. He has served on the home office advisory boards of several major insurance carriers.

In addition to his success in the insurance industry, Puckett has been an involved community leader. He has served on the boards of the Greenville Community Foundation, the Peace Center for the Performing Arts, Metropolitan Arts Council, and the Greater Greenville Chamber of Commerce.  He has served on the United States Olympic Committee and president of The Greenville Country Club.  He currently serves on the Board of Trustees of St. Francis Hospital.  

Back to Listings

Dudley C. Reynolds

Dudley Reynolds is currently president and chief operating officer of Alabama Gas Corporation. A native of Anniston, Alabama, he attended the Anniston Academy, graduating in 1971.  He graduated from Furman in 1975 with a B.A. in history.  While at Furman, he was elected to Phi Beta Kappa and played varsity tennis for four years.  Following graduation, he attended the University of Georgia Law School in Athens, Georgia where he received his JD degree in 1978.

He is a member of the Bar Associations in Alabama, Georgia and Birmingham.  He  is a past chair of the Legal Section Managing Committee of the American Gas Association, is a member of the Board of Directors of the Southern Gas Association, is a member of the Rotary Club of Birmingham and the Monday Morning Quarterback Club. He also serves on the boards of United Way of Central Alabama, the Public Affairs Research Council of Alabama, the Metropolitan Development Board, the Regional Cultural Alliance, the Birmingham Regional Chamber of Commerce, Operation New Birmingham and the Board of Trustees of the Alabama Ballet.  He is also on the Norton Board of Advisors for Birmingham-Southern College and the Board of Governors of the Summit Club.  He is also a member of the Dean’s Community Advisory Committee of the University of Alabama at Birmingham School of Optometry.

Dudley joined Energen in April of 1980 as a staff attorney.  From this position, he was promoted to senior attorney in 1985, assistant secretary in 1985 and vice president, legal and secretary in 1987, general counsel of the company in 1991 and president and chief operating officer of Alabama Gas Corporation in 2003.

Back to Listings

Richard W. Riley

Richard W. Riley is the former U. S. Secretary of Education (1993-2001) and former Governor of South Carolina (1979-1987). Currently a senior partner in the South Carolina law firm of Nelson Mullins Riley & Scarborough, LLP, with offices also in North Carolina, Atlanta, Boston and Washington, D.C., he counsels clients and works with partners to develop strategy on complex business, governance, financial and legal matters for local, national and international clients. Dick also is a senior partner with the NMRS affiliate, EducationCounsel, LLC, that provides strategy, advocacy, policy and legal advice to education entities across the country.

With the full support of the firm, Dick remains an ambassador for improving education in the United States and abroad. He has been appointed Distinguished Professor at Furman, and serves as Advisory Board Chair of the Richard W. Riley Institute of Government, Politics and Public Leadership. He also has been named Distinguished Professor at the University of South Carolina.  The College of Education at Winthrop University bears his name, as does the College of Education and Leadership at Walden University. He also is a Distinguished Senior Fellow at NAFSA: Association of International Educators in Washington, D. C.  In addition, Dick Riley serves in an advisory and collaborative capacity with  several other entities across the nation and overseas that support education improvement.

Dick earned his bachelor's degree, cum laude, in political science from Furman in 1954 and received a J.D. from the University of South Carolina School of Law in 1959. He is the recipient of numerous education and other public service awards, as well as honorary degrees from universities and colleges in the United States and abroad.

Dick and his wife, Ann ("Tunky") Yarborough Riley, now deceased, have four children and 13 grandchildren.

Back to Listings

Leighan Roberts Rinker

Leighan Roberts Rinker, a native of Virginia, is a graduate of the University of North Carolina with a bachelor's degree in chemistry. She later earned M.Ed. and Ed.S. degrees from Florida Atlantic University, which presented her the Professional and Human Services Outstanding Graduate Student Award in 1989. In 1997 she received a doctorate in educational leadership from Florida Atlantic University and an honorary degree from Furman in 2004.

A strong advocate for children, Leighan was a professor of education at Palm Beach Atlantic College, national presenter and author in the field of early childhood education and administration. She currently chairs the Board of Directors of Beginnings of Palm Beach County and serves on the accreditation policy board of the National Association for Child Care Professionals. She is active in civic and community organizations, including Palm Beach Atlantic University's Early Childhood Education Department, Florida's Early Childhood Program Administrator Task Force, and the board of Grand Bank & Trust of Florida. From 1984 to 1996 she served on the board of Roberts Wesleyan College, which named her to its Hall of Fame in 1995. She is a member of Phi Kappa Phi, Kappa Delta Pi and the National Association for the Education of Young Children. In 1998 she received the "Champion of Higher Independent Education in Florida" award.

Back to Listings

R. Todd Ruppert

R. Todd Ruppert is president and chief executive officer of T. Rowe Price Global Investment Services, the organization responsible for the firm's institutional business worldwide, and T. Rowe Price Global Asset Management, the organization responsible for certain assets sourced in Japan. In addition, Todd is a member of the Operating Steering Committee of the T. Rowe Price Group, and director of T. Rowe Price (Luxembourg) Management S.a.r.l. and T. Rowe Price Funds SICAV.

Todd serves on the Board of Directors of Daiwa SB Investments, one of the largest Tokyo-based Japanese asset management firms, Altius Associates, a London-based private equity advisory and discretionary management firm, and the London-based Halcyon Fine Art Group.

He is also a Board member of the World Trade Center Institute of the Baltimore/Washington D.C. region and the Maryland Academy of Sciences, and is on the Advisory Boards of the American Film Institute, Armor Designs, Inc. and AIM listed company. He is a founder of the Duke of Edinburgh's Award-Young American’s Challenge and a trustee of Kenyon College, Furman University, Blair Academy, and the Garrison Forest School. He is also a member of the US-Brazil venture capital task force.

Prior to joining T. Rowe Price in 1985, Todd worked for Citicorp in corporate lending and financing. Todd earned a BA in Economics from Kenyon College, Ohio. T. Rowe Price is a global investment management company with US$387.7bn in assets under management as of 30 June 2008. Based in Baltimore, T. Rowe Price Group, Inc. is an independent public holding company with substantial employee ownership and is included in the S&P 500 Index.

Back to Listings

Frank R. Shaw

Frank R. Shaw is a native of Mullins, South Carolina, and a ’61 Furman graduate. He currently is owner and chief executive officer of Shaw Executive Services, Inc., and Canton Convalescent Center, Inc., long-term health companies.

After leaving Furman, Frank earned a masters degree at Southeastern Baptist Seminary in Wake Forest and served as minister or associate minister at churches across South Carolina and Georgia. Following receipt of his nursing home administrator’s license in 1970, he served as administrator of Kingsford Atlanta Inn until 1983.  He has also served as regional manager for Kelwynn, Inc., an executive training and communication company.

Appointed by the late Georgia Senator Paul Coverdell, Frank was a delegate to the White House Conference on Aging in 1995.  A member of the Joe Frank Harris For Governor finance and inaugural committees (1982-83), he was appointed by Governor Harris to the State Health Policy Council in 1983 where he served for four terms.  He was also appointed to the Nursing Home Advisory Committee of the Georgia Department of Medical Assistance, served as a member of the Executive Committee of the American Health Care Association, president of the Georgia Health Care Association from 1984-85, and member of the American College of Nursing Home Administrators.

Frank is a member of the Clan Shaw Society, St. Andrew’s Society of Atlanta, Burns Club of Atlanta, writer/editor of columns for www.electricscotland.com (the world’s largest Scottish informational website with 2¼ million hits monthly), and a fellow of Society of Antiquaries of Scotland.

He and his wife, Susan, a member of Furman’s Advisory Council, live in Dawsonville, GA.  They are active members of the Richard Furman Society and the Partners Scholarship Program.

Back to Listings

Stewart Spinks

A graduate of the University of Tennessee with a B.S. in marketing, Stewart Spinks founded the Spinx Oil Company in 1972 with a home heating oil delivery company and one gas station in Greenville, S.C. In 1977, Spinx opened its first independent store, marketing petroleum products under the Spinx name. Spinx became an Amoco petroleum jobber in 1984 and subsequently added the Exxon, Conoco and Sunoco brands to the petroleum offering of the company. These major brands and the SPINX private brand allow the company to supply 60+ wholesale dealer accounts in North and South Carolina as well as Georgia.

With annual sales of over $500 million, Spinx is the largest privately held gasoline-convenience retailer in South Carolina and is ranked among the top 100 U.S. convenience store chains in the country. The Spinx Company salary operates over 65 convenient
stores, offering freshly prepared food in 20+ stores.

Stewart is a board member of NACS (National Association of Conveniences Stores) and further serves on their Coca-Cola Leadership Council. He also serves the industry as a Board Member of the Society of Independent Gasoline Marketers Association (SIGMA), Greenville Tech Foundation, The Urban League, The Boy Scouts of America (Blue Ridge Council), and South Carolina Independent Colleges and Universities.

Stewart and his wife Martha are the proud parents of four sons and have eight grandchildren.

Back to Listings

Peace Sterling Sullivan

Peace Sterling Sullivan graduated from Greenville High School and the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill.  She received her master’s degree in Social Work from Fordham University.  Peace practiced as a psychoanalyst in New York City until moving to Miami Beach, Florida in 2005.  She served as Director of Development for the Training Institute for Mental Health in New York City.  She has served on the Board of Visitors of the University of North Carolina and the board of the Ackland Art Museum at the University.  Peace currently serves on the Graduate Education Advancement Board at UNC and board of the Fine Arts League of Asheville, N.C.  She has two children, Frances and Patrick, both living in New York City.  Peace lived in Argentina, Brazil and Ireland from 1972-1984.

Back to Listings

Lizanne Thomas

A 1979 cum laude graduate of Furman, Lizanne Thomas served as president of the student government and was awarded the Donaldson Watkins Medal for General Excellence. She also received her J.D. in 1982 from Washington and Lee University, where she was managing editor of Law Review.

Lizanne is managing partner of the 150 lawyer Atlanta office of Jones Day.  She also heads the firm’s global corporate governance practice in the Atlanta office. She is experienced in public and private mergers and acquisitions, corporate finance and defensive planning. She is actively involved in general corporate counseling, including advising boards of directors with corporate governance, disclosure, strategic planning and fiduciary issues.

A member of the Board of Directors of Krispy Kreme Doughnuts, Lizanne served as co-chair of the special committee charged with investigating a variety of allegations relating to the company, and is now the chair of the Governance committee.

Lizanne is a recurring panelist at director training programs and seminars, including The Director’s Forum and The Conference Board’s Directors’ Institute and speaks internationally on corporate governance. A member of the State Bar of Georgia, she served as a member of the Georgia Bar Commission on Multi-Disciplinary
Practice. Active in the community, she currently serves on the Executive Committee of the Board of Directors of the Metropolitan Atlanta Chamber of Commerce and is a member of the Atlanta Rotary Club.

Back to Listings

William R. Timmons III

Rick Timmons, a native of Greenville, graduated from Vanderbilt University in 1974 and completed his masters at the University of Chicago in 1976. He left IBM Corporation after two years and joined the family business, Canal Insurance Company, and he is a member of the third generation to manage the business. He has risen through the ranks to the positions of Secretary-Treasurer and Senior Vice President for Investments. Rick also serves in the management of several family owned enterprises that purchase, develop and manage real estate and invest in capital markets.  He is also President of Timber-Lands LP and Lullwater Syndicate, Inc., both privately-held real estate companies.

Rick serves on the boards of the family businesses and of the South Financial Group.

Canal Insurance and the Timmons family have actively supported Furman for many years. Rick’s father, Bill Timmons, who served six terms as a Furman trustee, and two aunts, Kitty Wells Timmons ’48 and Jean Timmons Pelham ’42, are recognized in the Benefactors Circle.

The family is known for sponsorship of the Furman ProAm events over a long period of time and the lead gift for Timmons Arena. They established a major scholarship in memory of William R. Timmons ’14 and his wife, Eva Timmons. Rick served on the Furman Advisory Council and he and Pat are members of the Richard Furman Society.

Rick and his wife, Pat, have three children, Brittany, William and Cliff.

Back to Listings

Charles Townes

A native of Greenville and a 1935 graduate of Furman with degrees in modern languages and physics, Charles Townes went on to earn a master’s degree from Duke University and a Ph.D. from California Institute of Technology. Charles joined the technical staff of Bell Telephone Laboratories in 1939 and remained there until 1948, when he joined the faculty of Columbia University.  He was named vice president and director of research for the Institute for Defense Analysis in Washington, D.C., in 1958, and was appointed provost and professor of physics at Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1961. In 1967 he was appointed to a professorship at the University of California at Berkeley, where he now holds the rank of University Professor Physics in the Graduate School.

In 1964, he was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics for his contributions to the development of the laser and maser.  He is a member of the National Inventors Hall of Fame, and Townes Auditorium in Plyler Hall of Science at Furman is named in his honor. He is a charter member of the Furman Hall of Fame.

Back to Listings

Baxter M. Wynn

An Atlanta native, Baxter is the Minister of Pastoral Care and Community Relations at First Baptist Church, Greenville, South Carolina.  He is a 1974 graduate of Wofford College, and also received a master of divinity degree from Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary, Master of Arts in Pastoral Counseling from Wake Forest University, and a Doctor of Ministry degree from Eastern Baptist Theological Seminary in Philadelphia.

Baxter is a recipient of the Urban League’s Humanitarian Award in recognition of his role in community-wide effort to adopt a Martin Luther King, Jr. holiday in Greenville County.  He has also been active in the United Way of Greenville County, serving as Campaign Chairman in 2000 and Board Chairman in 2003.  Baxter recently served as Campaign Chairman of the Hospice House of Greenville, and has served in leadership positions on various other boards, including, United Ministries, Alliance for Quality Education, Community Foundation of Greater Greenville, Urban League of the Upstate, Greater Greenville Chamber of Commerce, and Greenville Forward.

Baxter and his wife, Paula, have two sons, David Baxter Wynn and Hanes Jeffords Wynn.

Back to Listings

David Emory Shi

David Emory Shi, president, is a 1973 magna cum laude graduate of Furman, with M.A. and Ph.D. degrees from the University of Virginia. A member of the history faculty at Davidson College from 1976–93, and department chair for six years, he became Furman’s vice president for academic affairs and dean of the faculty in 1993.  A year later he was named Furman’s fourteenth president. His many honors include election to Quaternion and Phi Beta Kappa, and he is author or co-author of five books and many articles. He and his wife, Susan (a Furman graduate), have two children and one grandchild, Lily.

Back to Listings

Greg Carroll

Gregory Carroll joined the administration in June 1998 as vice president for marketing and public relations. Greg came to Furman from Wichita (Kansas) State University, where he was executive director of university communications. He has also served as director of marketing communications at Lynchburg (Virginia) College and as director of college relations at Marietta (Ohio) College. Greg and his wife Jill have two daughters.

Back to Listings

Tom Kazee

Tom Kazee, Provost and Executive Vice President, came to Furman in 2003 from the University of the South, where he served as Dean of the College since 1999. Prior to that, he taught in the Political Science Department at Davidson College for 18 years, serving as chair of the department for the last 10 years of his tenure. He received Davidson’s Hunter-Hamilton Love of Teaching Award in 1996. He also spent three years on the faculty at Tulane University. A 1974 graduate of Baldwin-Wallace College, he received his Ph.D. from Ohio State University.

Tom and his wife, Sharon, have two children, Nicole and Geoffrey.

Back to Listings

Mike Gatchell

Mike Gatchell, vice president for Development, joined the university in January 2006 as executive director of development. He previously served as director of the Alumni Association and director of Major Gifts at Furman from 1996 to 1999, followed by five years as senior account manager at Blackbaud, Inc. where he was a consultant for numerous fundraising organizations. He has also been vice president and COO of Medallion Group, Inc., a start-up company in Greenville that developed and marketed software for cardiology practitioners. Gatchell earned a B.A. degree in business administration from Furman in 1991 and a M.B.A. from Clemson University. Mike and his wife, Heather, have two children, Griffin and Eli.

Back to Listings

Mary Lou Merkt

Mary Lou Merkt, vice president for business affairs, came to Furman in 2003 from Sweet Briar College, in Virginia, where she served as vice president for finance and administration. Mary Lou began her career in higher education at her alma mater, Radford University (also in Virginia) where she served as director of internal audit, director of financial services, and later, assistant vice president for finance. Mary Lou is a certified public accountant and holds both a bachelor’s degree in accounting and a MBA.

She and her husband Bill have one son, Christian, a fourth grade student at the Charles Townes Center.

Back to Listings

Connie L.Carson

Connie Carson, vice president for Student Life, joined the university in February 2008.  She previously served as assistant vice president of Campus Services and Planning at Wake Forest University.  During her tenure at Wake Forest, Carson has served as the associate director of Residence Life and Housing (1987-1993) and executive director of Residential Services (1993-2006). A graduate of North Carolina State University, Carson holds a M.Ed. from North Carolina State and a MBA from Wake Forest.

Back to Listings

Bill Berg

Bill Berg is the interim Vice President for Enrollment.  He’s been at Furman since 1999.  Prior to this year, he served as Director of Planning and Institutional Research.  He previously worked in admissions and financial aid at DePauw University and started the Planning and Institutional Research Office at Rhodes College.  Bill received a B.A. in Psychology from the University of Connecticut and an M.A. in Quantitative Psychology from the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill.

Bill and his wife, Heather, have three sons, one of whom graduated from Furman in 2006 and another who is currently a sophomore at Furman.

Furman Administration Fax Numbers

President 864.294.3939

Academic Affairs 864.294.3949

Athletics 864.294.3059

Business Affairs 864.294.3479

Development 864.294.3530

Enrollment 864.294.3127

Marketing and Public Relations 864.294.3023

Student Services 864.294.2330

Back to Listings

Back to Listings

Rebecca Looper, who has worked at Furman since 1988, was named executive assistant to the president in August 2009.  She previously served as executive assistant to the provost and executive vice president.  She and her husband, James, have two children, Michael and Susan, both Furman graduates.

Back to Listings