W. Randy Eaddy ‘76 awarded the Gordon L. Blackwell Alumni Service Award
The Furman University Alumni Awards Luncheon occurred on October 22, 2021 over Homecoming Weekend. One of the three awards honored during that ceremony was the Gordon L. Blackwell Alumni Service Award, which was awarded to W. Randy Eaddy ‘76.
The Alumni Service Award is named for the late Gordon L. Blackwell ’60, a trusted friend and leader of Furman University. Blackwell served as president of the Alumni Association Board of Directors, chair of the Development Committee of the Board of Trustees and in a variety of other leadership roles. It recognizes an individual who has dedicated extraordinary service to Furman University or the greater community, advancing Furman’s position as a private institution with a public mission.
Randy Eaddy ‘76, a retired corporate attorney and arts organization executive, legal scholar and civic leader, practiced law for 38 years – including over 20 years as a partner of Kilpatrick Townsend & Stockton LLP and three years as General Counsel and Secretary of Unifi, Inc. He retired in 2018 and served two years as President and CEO of The Arts Council of Winston- Salem and Forsyth County. Eaddy, a 1979 graduate of Harvard Law School, was an editor of the Harvard Law Review.
At Furman, he graduated summa cum laude, was elected to Phi Beta Kappa, Blue Key and the Quaternion Society, and participated in the study away program to England (with studies at Birkbeck College and the Royal Shakespeare Institute). A member of Furman’s Board of Trustees for 22 years, Eaddy was also the university’s first Black trustee, elected in 1992. He has served on the boards of numerous institutions, including the Winston Salem State University Foundation, Reynolda House Museum of American Art, the Crosby Scholars Community Partnership, the North Carolina Shakespeare Festival, the South Carolina Historical Society, the Georgia Legal Services Foundation and the Metropolitan Atlanta United Way.
Eaddy has published many articles in legal journals and participated in numerous legal education and academic symposia. His honors and awards include a 2010 induction into the Hall of Fame of Furman’s Department of Politics and International Affairs and the Presidential Award from the Association of Social and Behavioral Scientists in 1999 for his service to the African American community as an attorney, legal scholar and civic leader.
Click here to learn more and watch a video about Randy Eaddy.