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SPECIAL COLLECTIONS AND ARCHIVES
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Furman History and Traditions
Please e-mail specialcollections@furman.edu with comments & questions.
Commencement Speakers
| Year | Spring Commencement | Summer Commencement |
|---|---|---|
| 1958 | Roy Oliver McClain (Pastor, First Baptist Church, Atlanta, Ga.) | David Clarence Pulley |
| 1959 | Sidney Walter Martin '32 (President, Emory University) | Alfred S. Reid (Prof. English, Furman) |
| 1960 | John Ollie Edmunds (President, Stetson University) | |
| 1961 | Carlyle Marney (Pastor, Myers Park Baptist Church, Charlotte, NC) | Robert Cinnamond Tucker (Librarian, Furman) |
| 1962 | L.D. Johnson (Pastor, First Baptist Church, Greenville) | Henry Jackson Flanders, Jr. (Chaplain of the University, Professor of Religion) |
| 1963 | Donald S. Russell (Governor of S.C.) | John Henry Crabtree (Associate Professor of English) |
| 1964 | Theodore August Distler (President of the Association of American Colleges) | Albert Neely Sanders (Professor of History) |
| 1965 | Frank Graves Dickey (Executive Director of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools) | Carl Wesley Cobb (Associate Professor of Modern Languages) |
| 1966 | Robert E. McNair '69 (Governor of South Carolina) | Joseph Glenn McCracken (Superintendent, Spartanburg City Schools, District Seven) |
| 1967 | Abner V. McCall (President, Baylor University) | John Otts (Dean, School of Education, S.C.) |
| 1968 | Logan Wilson (President, American Council on Education) | Frank E. Kinard (Executive Director, The South Carolina Commission on Higher Education) |
| 1969 | Robert E. McNair '69 (Governor of South Carolina) | Cyril B. Busbee (State Superintendent of Education) |
| 1970 | Terry Sanford (President, Duke University) | James A. Morris (Commissioner of South Carolina Commission on Higher Education) |
| 1971 | Andrew David Holt (President Emeritus, University of Tennessee) | J. Floyd Hall (Superintendent of Education of Greenville County Schools) |
| 1972 | John Edwin Johns '47 (President, Stetson University) | Joseph Wightman (President, Erskine College) |
| 1973 | Alexander Heard (Chancellor, Vanderbilt University) | David Clarence Pulley (Director of Graduate Studies) |
| 1974 | Martha Peterson (President, Barnard College) | Howard R. Boozer (Executive Director of the South Carolina Commission on Higher Education) |
| 1975 | George Brown Tindall (Kenan Professor of History, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill) | Leon M. Lessinger (Dean, College of Education, University of South Carolina) |
| 1976 | Gordon Williams Blackwell '32 (President, Furman University) | Bill Morgan Holcombe (Superintendent, Richland Country School District One) |
| 1977 | Alastair Cameron Walker (Minister, First Baptist Church, Spartanburg) | Laurin Currie McArthur, Jr. (Professor of Education, Furman) |
| 1978 | Benjamin Lewis Barnett '46 (School of Medicine, University of Virginia) | H.E. Corley (Superintendent, Richland County School District 2) |
| 1979 | Richard Wilson Riley '54 (Governor of South Carolina) | Marguerite M. Chiles '40 (Vice President for Student Affairs, Furman) |
| 1980 | Marguerite Moore Chiles '40 (Vice President for Student Affairs, Furman) | Albert Neely Sanders (Professor of History, Furman) |
| 1981 | James A. Rogers '27 (Editor, Florence Morning News; Educator, Author) | L.D. Johnson (Chaplain, Furman) |
| 1982 | David Clyde Garrett, Jr. '42 (President, Delta Airlines) | Ernest E. Harrill (Professor of Political Science, Furman) |
| 1983 | George H.W. Bush (U.S. Vice President) | Schaefer Kendrick '37 (Professor of Economics) |
| 1984 | Ernest F. Hollings (South Carolina U.S. Senator) | Gerda Prevost McCahan '41 (Professor of Psychology, Furman) |
| 1985 | J. Peter Grace (Chairman and CEO, W.R. Grace & Co.) | Donald Gene Kubler '48 (Professor of Chemistry Emeritus, Furman) |
| 1986 | James H. Billington (Director of Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars) | Roy Truby (Superintendent, School District of Greenville County) |
| 1987 | Jean Galloway Bissell (Judge, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit) | Ann "Tunky" Riley (former first lady of South Carolina) |
| 1988 | William Lockhart Ball, III (Secretary of the Navy) | William Edward Leverette, Jr. (Professor of History, Furman) |
| 1989 | David Richmond Gergen (Editor at Large, U.S. News & World Report) | Carl Thomas Cloer, Jr.(Professor of Education and Director of Special Services Program) |
| 1990 | Pat Conroy (Novelist) | Donald Lloyd Gordon (Professor of Political Science) |
| 1991 | Gordon Rea Herring '65 (Executive Vice President of TeleCable Corporation) | David Anthony Smith (Reuben B. Pitts Professor of Religion Emeritus) |
| 1992 | Samuel Ruthven Williamson (Vice-Chancellor and President, The University of the South) | Albert Lemuel Blackwell (Reuben B. Pitts Professor of Religion) |
| 1993 | Nick Andrew Theodore '52 (Lieutenant Governor of South Carolina) | Ann Wyatt Sharp (Professor of English) |
| 1994 | Schaefer Bryant Kendrick '37 (Professor of Economics Emeritus), delivered by Mary Bethany Kendrick Tally | Marian Elizabeth Strobel (Professor of History) |
| 1995 | John Hope Franklin (James B. Duke Professor of History Emeritus, Duke University) | |
| 1996 | Josephine Humphreys (Novelist) | |
| 1997 | Robert Shaw (Music Director Emeritus and Conductor Laureate, Atlanta Symphony Orchestra | |
| 1998 | David Emory Shi '73 (President, Furman University 1994-2010) | |
| 1999 | Robert E. Stillwell '67 (Senior Minister, Buncombe Street United Methodist Church) | |
| 2000 | Keith Lockhart ’81 (Conductor, Boston Pops Orchestra) | |
| 2001 | Marshall Clement "Mark" Sanford, Jr. '83 (Governor of S.C. 2003-2011) | Robert Paul McNamara (Associate Professor of Sociology) |
| 2002 | Peter John Gomes (Harvard professor, pastor, author) | Theodore Lloyd Benson (Walter Kenneth Mattison Associate Professor of History) |
| 2003 | Kensey Susan Cone ’03, Steven Edward Buckingham ‘03 | Alvin L. Prince III (Professor of Modern Languages and Literatures) |
| 2004 | Jamie Forsh ‘04 | |
| 2005 | Jodi Marie Tovay ’05, Joseph Patrick Waters ‘05 | Elaine Cathcart Nocks (Professor of Psychology) |
| 2006 | Allison Lauren Jarrett ‘06 | C. Thomas Cloer (Professor of Education Emeritus and former director of Academic Assistance) |
| 2007 | Johanna O'Brien '07 | William James Pierce (Professor and Chair of Health & Exercise Science) |
| 2008 | George W. Bush (President of the United States) | Lon B. Knight, Jr. (Charles Ezra Daniel Professor of Chemistry) |
| 2009 | Margaret-Elliotte Czentnar ‘09 | Linda B. Bartlett (Professor of Modern Languages and Literatures) |
| 2010 | Andrew P. McCarthy ‘10 | Rodney A. Smolla (President, Furman University) |
| 2011 | Elizabeth Rivers Trenary ‘11 | Richard Letteri (Professor of Communications Studies) |
| 2012 | Richard Wilson Riley '54 (Former Governor of South Carolina) | C. Maurice Cherry (Carey Shepard Crantford Endowed Professor of Modern Languages and Literatures) |
| 2013 | Sister Margaret Ann O’Neill (Director, Art Center for Peace, El Salvador) | |
| 2014 | Carl F. Kohrt ’65 (Interim President, Furman University) | |
| 2015 | Harold C. Warlick, Jr. ‘68 (former dean of the chapel and religion professor at High Point University) | Lesley Ann Quast, Ed.D. (Professor of Education) |
| 2016 | W. Randy Eaddy ‘76 (Attorney) | John S. Beckford, D.M.A., Professor of Music |
| 2017 | Alexander Stubb ’93 (Former Prime Minister of Finland) | Katherine Palmer Kaup (James B. Duke Professor of Asian Studies and Politics and International Affairs) |
| 2018 | Frances S. Ligler '72 (Biochemist, bioengineer) | David H. Bost (professor emeritus of modern languages and literature) |
| 2019 | Eleanor Beardsley '86 (Journalist, NPR Europe) | Erik K. Ching, Ph.D. (Director of Undergraduate Research, Professor of History) |
| 2021 |
Class of 2020: Rev. Deb Richardson-Moore (author and retired pastor of Greenville’s Triune Mercy Center) Class of 2021: Angela L. Walker Franklin, Ph.D. '81 (President of Des Moines University) |
|
| 2022 | Cynthia L. Davis '84 (former Vice President, Nike. Inc. & President, Nike Golf) | |
| 2023 | Tomiko Brown-Nagin '92 (Dean of Harvard Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study; Professor of History at Harvard University) | |
| 2024 | Thomas Cullen ’00 (U.S. judge for the Western District of Virginia) |
- Last Updated: Dec 17, 2024 3:35 PM
- URL: https://libguides.furman.edu/special-collections/history-and-traditions
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