Furman welcomes new Board of Trustees members

The Furman University Board of Trustees welcomed two new members, two returning trustees and three new emeritus members at its October meeting.

Christi Byron ’91 and Matt Wilson ’86 are new members; Mike Riordan and Rick Wrenn ’74, who both served two terms from 2012 to 2018, are serving again; and Randy Eaddy ’76, Leighan Rinker ’04 and Dan Sanders joined the ranks of trustees emeriti. Francie M. Heller and Gordon R. Herring ’65 H’91 rotated off the board this year.

Byron, who majored in sociology at Furman, is president of the southeast region for NFP Corporation, an insurance broker and consultant ranked as the fourth-largest U.S.-based privately owned broker. Byron and her husband, Will, have a son, Alex ’22, who is a defender/long stick midfielder on Furman’s men’s lacrosse team. She previously served Furman as a member of Advisory Council, the Paladin Club, Parents Council, and Richard Furman Society Executive Committee and was involved with the steering committee that created the Charlotte Furman Business Series. Read her profile here.

Wilson graduated Furman with a degree in biology before completing his medical degree, residency and ophthalmic pathology fellowship at Emory University. He completed additional fellowship training in ocular oncology at St. Bartholomew’s Hospital and Moorfields Eye Hospital in London, England, and in ophthalmic plastics and reconstructive surgery at Casey Eye Institute at the Oregon Health Science University. He has worked extensively with the Department of Global Pediatric Medicine at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital to build retinoblastoma centers of excellence around the world. Read his profile here.

Riordan recently retired as co-chief executive and director of Prisma Health. Prior to the formation of Prisma Health company, he served as the chief executive of the Greenville Health System since 2006. Riordan previously served as the chief executive of the University of Chicago Hospitals and Health System and as chief operating officer for Emory University Hospital. He also served three years as an infantry officer in the United States Marine Corps. Read his profile here.

Wrenn played football for Furman and graduated with a degree in biology. He retired as the president of Premier Magnesia LLC, a privately-owned minerals and chemical manufacturing company specializing in the production of several different magnesium compounds. Since 1993 Wrenn has owned Giles Industries, which markets sodium sulfate. Read his full profile here.

As a Furman student, Eaddy was elected to Phi Beta Kappa, Blue Key and the Quaternion Society. In 1979 he graduated Harvard Law School, where he was an editor of the Harvard Law Review. He has been president and CEO of The Arts Council of Winston-Salem & Forsyth County since August 2018, when he retired after 38 years as a corporate and securities lawyer, most of which as a partner at Kilpatrick Townsend & Stockton LLP. Eaddy served on the Furman board of trustees for 22 years, beginning in 1993. Read his full profile here.

Rinker was a professor of education at Palm Beach Atlantic College and a national presenter and author in the field of early childhood education and administration. She is the founder and chairs the board of directors of Beginnings of Palm Beach County and is the former chair of the accreditation policy board of the National Association for Child Care Professionals. In 1998 Rinker received the “Champion of Higher Independent Education in Florida” award.  She currently is vice chair of the board of the M.E. Rinker Foundation and chair of the board of the David and Leighan Rinker Foundation. Read her full profile here.

Sanders is a former president of ExxonMobil Chemical Company, the former chairman of the American Chemical Council and the former chairman of the Society of Chemical Industry. He was awarded the Chemical Industry Medal for his contributions to applied chemistry in 2005. He currently serves on the board of directors of South Carolina Independent Colleges and Universities. Read his full profile here.