Furman University - History

History

Furman was founded in 1826 at Edgefield, SC as a Men's Academy and Theological Institute. It relocated in Greenville, South Carolina in 1850. It was named for Richard Furman of Charleston, SC, a prominent minister and president of the first Baptist convention in America, the Triennial Convention. The original school building from that campus was transported to the Greenville campus, where it still stands. In 1933, students from the Greenville Women's College began attending classes with Furman students. Shortly thereafter, the two schools merged to form the present institution.

In 1956 Furman began construction on its new campus, just five miles (8 km) north of downtown Greenville. Classes on the new campus began in 1958. Now a private, secular university, Furman was founded by, and affiliated with the South Carolina Baptist Convention and the Southern Baptist Convention until separating in the 1991 - 1992 school year. The university's motto remains Christo et Doctrinae (For Christ and Learning). According to Furman University's official website, the university "is rooted in the non-creedal, free church Baptist tradition which has always valued particular religious commitments while insisting not only on the freedom of the individual to believe as he or she sees fit but also on respect for a diversity of religious perspectives...". Furman University is part of the Duke Endowment. The Duke Endowment is a private foundation established by industrialist and philanthropist James B. Duke. The market value of the Duke Endowment's assets have grown to approximately $3.5 billion. From 1924-2007, the Duke Endowment has given Furman $110 million, which is 5% of the Duke Endowment's total awards.

The current president is Rodney A. Smolla, formerly the Dean of Washington and Lee University's law school. He became the 11th president of the university, effective July 1, 2010. replacing David E. Shi, a 1973 alumnus of Furman. Shi has been a national leader in colleges' working to promote sustainability and to become carbon neutral.