Honorary Alumni Award: Don Gordon

Furman University presented a number of major awards at its annual Bell Tower Ball Saturday, Feb. 11.

The event, which took place at the Greenville Convention Center, celebrated the accomplishments of members of the Furman community. Several alumni, a community partner and friends of the university were honored for their professional achievements and for their generosity, service and leadership to the university and community.

Honorary Alumni Award
Don Gordon

Commends individuals who are not Furman graduates but who have made significant contributions to its welfare, reputation, prestige and pursuit of excellence.

Donald Gordon has been the executive director of The Riley Institute at Furman since its inception in 1999. Under his direction, The Riley Institute has worked to advance social and economic progress in South Carolina and beyond and to provide unmatched opportunities for Furman students. Prior to his leadership of The Riley Institute, Don served as chair of Furman’s Department of Political Science and director of the study away programs in East and Southern Africa.

His academic training is in African and Middle Eastern politics, state and local government, political economy, and methodology. His main academic focus is on the political economies of distressed areas. With his wife, April, he is the author and editor of “Understanding Contemporary Africa” (now in its sixth edition), the nation’s most frequently chosen text focused on contemporary Africa, and the principal text used by the U.S. State Department in training political officers for Africa.

While on leave from Furman, he served as executive director and chief of staff of a congressional office in Florida and counsel for the House Subcommittee on the City under the House Banking and Urban Affairs Committee.

Don holds masters and doctoral degrees from the University of Florida. A native of Tampa, Florida, he now lives in Greenville and Mt. Pleasant, South Carolina.