The Board of Trustees is responsible for providing governance and oversight of Furman University and for identifying, deliberating and acting upon matters of strategic importance to the university’s well-being and successful achievement of its mission and goals.
Board Members
View a current list of board members and read their biographies.
Charles Ambrose
Senior Consultant, Husch Blackwell
Kevin R. Bryant
Managing Director, Marsh McLennan
Kevin T. Byrne
President and Chief Executive Officer, The University Financing Foundation
John Cullen
Partner (Retired), Capstar Partner
Cynthia Davis
Former Vice President, Nike, Inc. & President, Nike Golf
Kristin Baucom Davies
Partner – Family-Owned Business Franchises
Lee C. Dilworth
Founder and CEO, ReVIDA Recovery Centers
Frances Ellison
RETIRED
Johnna Frierson
Associate Dean of Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion, Basic Sciences Assistant Professor of the Practice of Medical Education at Duke University School of Medicine
Jonathan Gleason
Executive Vice President & Chief Clinical Officer, Prisma Health
Christina Henderson
At Large Councilmember, Council of the District of Columbia
Kathryn Hilliard Stuart
Independent Education Consultant, Consultants in College Counseling LLC
Mark A. Kaiser
Independent Consultant
Raymond B. King
President and CEO, Zoo Atlanta
James A. Lanier Jr.
Retired Vice President, Interface
David Laxer
PRESIDENT / OWNER, BERN’S STEAK HOUSE
David May
President, Koch Investment Management; Vice President, Koch, Inc.
Anthony W. McDade
Retired Executive Director, United Ministries
Jennifer McHan Good
Denton McLane
Chairman, McLane Group
Traci Miller
CHILD AND ADOLESCENT PSYCHOLOGIST
Yendelela M. Neely
Managing Partner, Neely Legal
Jason Richards
Global Business Director, NAI Earle Furman
Paul Robertson
Managing Director, SCS Financial
Lisa Lee Rust
Retired, Rust Family Foundation
Susan Thomson Shi
Retired First Lady and Civic and Community Volunteer
Steve Spinks
Chief Executive Officer, Spinx Co.
A. Alexander Taylor
Retired Chairman and CEO, FGX International
Elizabeth B. Taylor
Lizanne Thomas
Partner (Retired), Chair of Corporate Governance Practice, Jones Day
Rachelle H. Thompson
Vice President & Chief Human Resources Officer, Carpenter Technology Corporation
C. Kemmons Wilson, III
Principal, Kemmons Wilson Companies
Matthew W. Wilson, MD, FACS
Chair, Department of Ophthalmology, University of Tennessee Health Science Center and Director, Hamilton Eye Institute
Trustees Emeriti
Trustees emeriti are former board members who have made extraordinary contributions to Furman.
Robert H. Buckman
Former CEO, Bulab Holdings, Inc.
Merl Code
Counsel, Ogletree, Deakins, Nash, Smoak, & Stewart
John C. Cothran
Retired Chair, Cothran Company and Past President, Greenville Board of Realtors and Home Builders Association
Ravenel B. Curry III
Founder and Co-CIO, Eagle Capital Management, LLC.
W. Randy Eaddy
Former President and CEO, The Arts Council of Winston-Salem & Forsyth County/Former Partner, Kilpatrick Townsend & Stockton LLP
David G. Ellison
Wealth Management Advisor, Northwestern Mutual
P. Edwin Good Jr.
Founder, Hampton Development Co.
Sean P. Hartness
CEO of Hartness Development
Francie Heller
MANAGING PARTNER
Robert E. Hill
Retired CEO, Acosta, Inc.
William B. Howes
Retired CEO, Inland Paperboard & Packaging, Inc.
Stanford J. Jennings
Southeast Central Regional Sales Manager, New Balance Athletics, Inc.
Carl F. Kohrt
Former Interim President, Furman/Former President and CEO, Battelle
Richard W. Riley
Former U.S. Secretary of Education and former SC governor
Leighan Roberts Rinker
Founder and President, Beginnings of Palm Beach County
Emilyn Childs Sanders
Member of the Board of Trustees, Upcountry History Museum
Elizabeth Peace Stall
Founding President, The Peace Center
Peace Sullivan
Retired Psychoanalyst
Rick Timmons
Secretary/Treasurer, Canal Insurance Co.
David Trone
Founder and Former CEO/President, Total Wine & More; Former U.S. House Representative
Baxter M. Wynn
Retired Minister of Pastoral Care and Community Relations, First Baptist Church
John C. Yates
Partner – Gunderson Dettmer
Staff
Meet the staff who serve as a liaison between board members and our community.
Liz Seman
Chief of Staff, Vice President for Community and Government Relations
Meagan Magnus Little
Executive Assistant for the Chief of Staff, Vice President for Community and Government Relations and the Office of General Counsel
Michelle Shaw
Executive Assistant to the President and the Provost