List of Furman University people

The list of Furman University people includes alumni, faculty, and staff of Furman University.

Presidents

• James Clement Furman, (1859-1879)
• Charles Manly, (1881-1897)
• Andrew Philip Montague, (1897-1902)
• Charles Hallette Judson, Acting President (1902-1903)
• Edwin McNeill Poteat, (1903-1918)
• Sidney Ernest Bradshaw, Acting President (1918-1919)
• William Joseph McGlothlin, (1919-1933)
• Bennette Eugene Geer, (1933-1938)
• Robert Norman Daniel, Acting President (1938)
• John Laney Plyler, (1939-1964)
• Gordon Williams Blackwell, (1965-1976)
• John Edwin Johns, (1976-1994)
• David Emory Shi, (1994-2010)
• Rodney Alan Smolla (2010-2013)
• Carl F. Kohrt, Interim President (2013-2014)
• Elizabeth Davis (2014-present)

Notable Alumni

Science

• Brad Cox - computer scientist
• Hans Einstein - the foremost authority on the lung disease Valley Fever
• Thomas T. Goldsmith - Physicist who helped pioneer the invention of Color Television, and Inventor of the first video game.
• Valerie Horsley - biologist
• Albert Ernest Radford - Botanist, mainly known for the Manual of the Vascular Flora of the Carolinas, the definitive flora for North Carolina and South Carolina.
• Charles Townes - Nobel Prize in Physics winner, inventor of the maser, laid theoretical groundwork for invention of laser ^[1]
• John B. Watson - American Psychologist, founder of Behaviorism

Arts and theatre

• John Bloomfield - Pianist
• Jay Bocook - Composer and Arranger - Work Featured at 1984 Olympic Games
• Ben Browder - Three-time Saturn Awards winner for Best Actor on Television on Farscape
• Richard B. Cass - pianist/teacher
• Nat Chandler - Broadway and opera singer, actor
• Randall David Cook - Broadway Playwright
• Jim David - comedian on Comedy Central Presents, actor, writer
• Amy Grant - guitarist and Christian musician
• Keith Lockhart - Current conductor of the Boston Pops
• Chris Rickwood - Composer, Game Audio Network Guild award winner
• Jesse Rice - multi-platinum Nashville songwriter of Florida Georgia Line #1 hit single Cruise
• Bear Rinehart, Lead vocalist of Needtobreathe, a six time GMA Dove Award winning modern rock band
• Elizabeth Bishop - mezzo soprano with the Metropolitan Opera New York, New York^[2]
• Donald Reid Womack - Composer and Professor, University of Hawaii

Academics, writers, journalist, literature, and publishers

• Eleanor Beardsley - Journalist, NPR Correspondent from France
• Maurice Bloomfield - Austrian-born U.S. philologist and Sanskrit scholar
• Tomiko Brown-Nagin - Legal historian and professor at Harvard Law School and Harvard University^[3]
• Orville Vernon Burton - Renowned Southern Historian and author of Age of Lincoln
• Betsy Byars - children's author, winner of the Newbery Medal, a National Book Award, an Edgar Award and the Regina Medal
• Marshall Frady – Journalist, Biographer
• Lois Gladys Leppard - Author of the Mandie children novels.
• Raven I. McDavid, Jr., linguist, dialectologist
• George Singleton – Novelist
• Robert Whitlow - Author and film-maker
• Jessica Taylor - Journalist, NPR Political Reporter^[4]

Business

• David C. Garrett, Jr. - Former CEO of Delta Air Lines
• Sanjay Kumar - Former CEO of Computer Associates, sentenced to 12 years in prison for his role in a massive accounting fraud
• Herman Lay - Founder of the Lay's Corporation, later creating the largest-selling snack food company in the US, the Frito-Lay corporation
• Tyler Droll - Creator of Yik Yak

Politics and Law

• Andrew L. Abrams - Dean of Charleston School of Law
• Robert T. Ashmore - United States Representative from South Carolina
• Maurice G. Burnside - United States Representative from West Virginia
• Judy Clarke - Attorney who defended convicted terrorist Zacarias Moussaoui, "Unabomber" Ted Kaczynski, Susan Smith, 1996 Summer Olympics bomber Eric Robert Rudolph, and Jared Lee Loughner
• Richard Cullen - Former Attorney General of Virginia and high profile lawyer
• Tom Davis - South Carolina State Senator and Chief of Staff to Governor Mark Sanford.
• William Dimitrouleas (1973) - United States District Judge
• Joseph H. Earle - member of the South Carolina House of Representatives from 1878 to 1882, a member of the South Carolina Senate from 1882 to 1886, South Carolina attorney general from 1886 to 1890 and a United States Senator from South Carolina in 1897
• Willa L. Fulmer - United States Representative from South Carolina
• Michael Guest - United States Ambassador to Romania
• Wilton E. Hall - newspaper publisher and United States Senator from South Carolina from 1944 to 1945
• Clement Haynsworth - Former United States judge and an unsuccessful nominee for the United States Supreme Court
• Max Heller - mayor of Greenville, South Carolina, from 1971 to 1979; held honorary Doctor of Laws degree and Bell Tower Award from Furman, the Furman student services program is named the Max and Trude Heller Service Corps.^[5]
• Baron Hill - United States Representative from Indiana
• John Michael McConnell - Served as Director of the National Security Agency and Director of National Intelligence
• Libby Mitchell - Maine politician
• Roger C. Peace - United States Senator from South Carolina
• William H. Perry - United States Representative from South Carolina
• Richard Riley - Former Governor of South Carolina and U.S. Secretary of Education under the Clinton administration
• Thomas A. Roe, conservative philanthropist, founder of the South Carolina Policy Council.
• Madeline Rogero - First female mayor of Knoxville, Tennessee
• Mark Sanford - Former Governor of South Carolina
• John Calhoun Sheppard - The 82nd Governor of South Carolina
• Cecil Staton - Politician, businessman, member of the Georgia Senate
• Alexander Stubb - Prime Minister of Finland and leader of the Coalition Party
• Nick Theodore - Lieutenant Governor of South Carolina from 1987 to 1995
• David Tolbert - President of the International Center for Transitional Justice
• Johnnie M. Walters- Commissioner of Internal Revenue from 1971 to 1973
• Druanne White - Trial lawyer in South Carolina
• Rob Woodall - United States Representative from Georgia

Religion

• Ligon Duncan- Senior Minister- First Presbyterian Church of Jackson, MS (PCA), Moderator of the PCA General Assembly (2004), the youngest ever elected, and president of the Alliance of Confessing Evangelicals.
• Kirkman Finlay - First bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Upper South Carolina.
• Duke Kimbrough McCall - Executive Member of the Southern Baptist Convention and President of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary
• Issachar Jacox Roberts - Baptist missionary in China

Athletes

Soccer

• Ricardo Clark - Professional soccer player for Eintracht Frankfurt, 2003 MLS Rookie of the Year runner-up, member of the United States men's national soccer team
• Clint Dempsey - Professional soccer player for American team Seattle Sounders of the MLS, 2004 MLS Rookie of the Year and member of the United States men's national soccer team, only US player to score a goal in the 2006 World Cup, scored first American goal in 2010 World Cup in South Africa in 1-1 match versus England, first American player to record a hat-trick in the Premier League
• Jonathan Leathers - Professional soccer player for the MLS Vancouver Whitecaps
• John Barry Nusum - Professional soccer player for the Virginia Beach Mariners and Philadelphia Kixx
• Shea Salinas- Professional soccer player for the MLS San Jose Earthquakes
• Pete Santora - Professional soccer player for the Albuquerque Geckos and Jacksonville Cyclones
• Sergei Raad - Professional soccer player for the MLS Kansas City Wizards
• Walker Zimmerman - Professional soccer player for the MLS FC Dallas

Football

• Brian Bratton - NFL player, rookie free agent for the Atlanta Falcons in 2005, formerly a receiver for Baltimore Ravens assigned to the Cologne Centurions of NFL Europe.
• Luther Broughton - Former NFL tight end
• Dakota Dozier - NFL offensive guard for the New York Jets, drafted by the Jets in the fourth round of the 2014 NFL Draft.
• Jerome Felton - NFL All-Pro Fullback, 5th round draft pick by the Detroit Lions in 2008 NFL Draft, Furman fullback; Currently plays for Minnesota Vikings
• Louis Ivory - College football running back, won the 2000 Walter Payton Award
• Stanford Jennings - Former NFL player for the Cincinnati Bengals, scored a touchdown in Super Bowl XXIII; current New Balance sales executive
• Ingle Martin - NFL player, QB for Kansas City Chiefs
• Kavis Reed - former CFL player, head coach of Edmonton Eskimos
• Orlando Ruff - NFL player for Cleveland Browns
• David Whitehurst - Former quarterback for the Green Bay Packers
• Sam Wyche - Former NFL quarterback and head coach; led Cincinnati Bengals to Super Bowl XXIII
• Chas Fox - Former NFL wide receiver, drafted 4th round by the Kansas City Chiefs in 1986, current CEO of Back to Nature, NJ

Basketball

• Beth Couture - Head coach of the Butler Bulldogs women's basketball team
• Darrell Floyd - Two-time NCAA Consensus All-American basketball player
• Frank Selvy - Former NBA All-Star; holds current NCAA Division I record for the most points scored (100) in a single basketball game
• Derek Waugh - Head men's basketball coach at Stetson University

Golf

• Beth Daniel - LPGA Tour, World Golf Hall of Fame, 32 career victories
• Brad Faxon - eight-time winner on the PGA Tour, played on two Ryder Cup teams
• Bruce Fleisher - won the U.S. Amateur in 1968, professional golfer on the PGA Tour and the Champions Tour
• Betsy King - LPGA Tour, World Golf Hall of Fame, 34 career victories
• Dottie Pepper - Former LPGA Tour champion; current NBC and Golf Channel commentator
• Sherri Turner - Professional golfer, won the 1988 LPGA Championship

Other Sports

• Xavier Woods (Austin Watson) - Professional wrestler for World Wrestling Entertainment
• Angel Martino - Olympic Gold Medalist in swimming
• Tom Mastny - MLB pitcher, former player for Cleveland Indians, currently pitching for AAA New Orleans Zephyrs of the Miami Marlins farm system
• David Segal - Track athlete, Bronze medalist in 1960 Summer Olympics

References

External links

• Furman University
• Furman Paladins