WCU remembers chancellor and Furman alum David Belcher

David Belcher, a 1979 Furman alumnus and beloved chancellor of Western Carolina University, died Sunday at the age of 60 from brain cancer. A native of Barnwell, South Carolina, Belcher graduated from Furman with a degree in piano performance. After receiving a master’s degree in the field at the University of Michigan in 1981, he studied in Vienna, Austria before earning his doctorate at the University of Rochester’s Eastman School of Music in 1989.

Belcher was appointed chancellor at WCU in 2011 after serving as provost and vice chancellor for academic affairs at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock. During his tenure at WCU, the university’s enrollment climbed by 18 percent to 11,000 students.

WCU will hold a memorial June 23 at 1 p.m. at WCU’s Fine and Performing Arts Center. According to a story in The News & Observer, the family has requested that memorial gifts be directed to foundation endowments of Western Carolina University, Furman University, University of Arkansas at Little Rock and Missouri State University.