Emilyn Childs Sanders, a Greenville native, is a graduate of the University of Houston. She did graduate work at the University of Houston School of Social Work and at the New York School of Interior Design. In New York, she served as executive assistant to the senior minister of the Fifth Avenue Presbyterian Church.

Emilyn's two sons, Dan, Jr. and John, and daughter-in-law, Suzanne, are all Furman graduates. Emilyn and her husband, Dan, are former chairs of the Parents Council and have served on the Advisory Council.

Emilyn remains on the Board of Trustees of the Upcountry History Museum where she is dedicated to the American History Book Club, which she founded in 2008. She is also President of the South Carolina Historical Society and a member of the Board of Trustees for the Upstate Independent Film Society.