With David Shi planning to step down next spring, Furman launches the quest for its 11th president

Moore, Vince

Roberts, John

Stewart, Jim

English

Furman University

Furman MagazineVolume 52Issue 2 Summer 2009 Article 106-1-2009A Tough Act to FollowJim StewartFurman UniversityVince MooreFurman UniversityJohn RobertsFurman UniversityFollow this and additional works at: https://scholarexchange.furman.edu/furman-magazineThis Article is made available online by Journals, part of the Furman University Scholar Exchange (FUSE). It has been accepted for inclusion in FurmanMagazine by an authorized FUSE administrator. For terms of use, please refer to the FUSE Institutional Repository Guidelines. For more information,please contact scholarexchange@furman.edu.Recommended CitationStewart, Jim; Moore, Vince; and Roberts, John (2009) "A Tough Act to Follow," Furman Magazine: Vol. 52 : Iss. 2 , Article 10.Available at: https://scholarexchange.furman.edu/furman-magazine/vol52/iss2/10Jeremy FlemingFUrmAn | SUmmer 2009    15 hortly after David Shi announced May 13    that he would retire as president of Furman   at the close of the 2009-10 academic year, university trustees formed a committee that will play a lead ing role in selecting the next president.The university’s new leader, they acknowl-edge, will have large shoes to fill, as during the  15 years of the Shi administration Furman has solidified its stature as one of the nation’s finest liberal arts colleges.Under Shi’s direction the uni versity has moved to the national forefront in such areas  as engaged learning, energy conservation and environmental stew ardship.  Since he assumed  the presidency in 1994, applications to the uni-versity have increased 75 percent, faculty salaries have improved dramatically, the endowment has quadrupled, the academic profile of the student body has risen, and the 50-year-old campus has been transformed by more than $210 million in new construction and renovation.  Shi, a 1973 Furman graduate, and his wife, Susan Thomson Shi ’71, have also strengthened ties between Furman and the Greenville community.Kathleen Crum McKinney, chair of the Furman board of trustees, says, “No amount  of praise can accurately convey what an incred-ible leader David Shi has been on campus, in the Greenville community, and in prominent national higher education organizations.  We will miss him tremendously, but we also know that he  and Susan have worked tirelessly on behalf  of the university these past 15 years.  He has earned his retirement — and the opportunity  to simplify his life.”The 16-member committee, which includes A Tough Act to Followrepresentatives from all Furman constituencies, will provide direction for the presidential search.Trustee Richard Cullen ’71 chairs the com-mittee.  He is joined by six other trustees — McKinney, David G. Ellison ’72, Angela Walker Franklin ’81, Carl F. Kohrt ’65, Richard W. Riley ’54, and Baxter M. Wynn — and former board member William B. Howes ’59.  Ellison, Kohrt and Howes are past chairs of the board.Professors Brian Goess (chemistry), Kailash Khandke (economics/Asian Studies and assistant dean for study away and international education) and faculty chair Suzanne Summers (business and accounting) are also on the committee.  Other members are Connie Carson, vice president for student life; Clare Folio Morris ’83, president of the Alumni Association Board of Directors; and student liaisons Chadé Franklin ’11 and Patrick Wallace ’11.  Susan Zeiger, the univer- sity’s internship program director, is the staff liaison.The committee began meeting in early June and held campus forums during the summer  to seek input from faculty, staff and students.  “Our thought is that we would do the really  hard screening of candidates in August and  Sep tember and begin interviewing soon there-after,” McKinney says, adding that a decision could come by the end of the calendar year.McKinney says that Furman is following search guidelines established by the Association of Governing Boards of Universities and Colleges, a Washington, D.C.-based association that serves academic governing boards and senior level administrators.  Susan Resneck Pierce of Aca-demic Search, Inc., president emerita of the University of Puget Sound, is a consultant  to the search committee.Shi, who turned 58 August 19, joined  the Furman administration in 1993 as vice president for academic affairs and dean.  He  had spent the previous 17 years at Davidson College, where he was the Frontis W. Johnston Professor of History.  He holds M.A. and Ph.D. degrees from the University of Virginia.A widely read newspaper columnist  and essayist, he is the author of several books, including The Simple Life: Plain Living and  High Thinking in American Culture (1985)  and Facing Facts: Realism in American Thought and Culture (1996).  He is co-author of the best-selling textbook America: A Narrative History.In 2006-07 he chaired the board for the National Association of Independent Colleges and Universities.  He is currently a member  of The Chronicle of Higher Education/New York Times Higher Education Cabinet and is on the board of the Association of American Colleges and Universities.  He is also a board member  of Second Nature, the non-profit organization responsible for administering the Presidents’ Climate Commitment.  He received a Presi-dential Leadership Award from the Andrew  W. Mellon Foundation in 2003.For a list of highlights of David Shi’s tenure  at Furman, visit www.furman.edu/president.   For additional information about the presiden- tial search and how you can provide nominations, visit www.furman.edu/newpresident.  Compiled by Jim Stewart from reports  by Vince Moore and John Roberts.With David Shi planning to step down next spring, Furman launches the quest for its 11th president.Jeremy FlemingFUrmAn | SUmmer 2009    15 hortly after David Shi announced May 13    that he would retire as president of Furman   at the close of the 2009-10 academic year, university trustees formed a committee that will play a lead ing role in selecting the next president.The university’s new leader, they acknowl-edge, will have large shoes to fill, as during the  15 years of the Shi administration Furman has solidified its stature as one of the nation’s finest liberal arts colleges.Under Shi’s direction the uni versity has moved to the national forefront in such areas  as engaged learning, energy conservation and environmental stew ardship.  Since he assumed  the presidency in 1994, applications to the uni-versity have increased 75 percent, faculty salaries have improved dramatically, the endowment has quadrupled, the academic profile of the student body has risen, and the 50-year-old campus has been transformed by more than $210 million in new construction and renovation.  Shi, a 1973 Furman graduate, and his wife, Susan Thomson Shi ’71, have also strengthened ties between Furman and the Greenville community.Kathleen Crum McKinney, chair of the Furman board of trustees, says, “No amount  of praise can accurately convey what an incred-ible leader David Shi has been on campus, in the Greenville community, and in prominent national higher education organizations.  We will miss him tremendously, but we also know that he  and Susan have worked tirelessly on behalf  of the university these past 15 years.  He has earned his retirement — and the opportunity  to simplify his life.”The 16-member committee, which includes A Tough Act to Followrepresentatives from all Furman constituencies, will provide direction for the presidential search.Trustee Richard Cullen ’71 chairs the com-mittee.  He is joined by six other trustees — McKinney, David G. Ellison ’72, Angela Walker Franklin ’81, Carl F. Kohrt ’65, Richard W. Riley ’54, and Baxter M. Wynn — and former board member William B. Howes ’59.  Ellison, Kohrt and Howes are past chairs of the board.Professors Brian Goess (chemistry), Kailash Khandke (economics/Asian Studies and assistant dean for study away and international education) and faculty chair Suzanne Summers (business and accounting) are also on the committee.  Other members are Connie Carson, vice president for student life; Clare Folio Morris ’83, president of the Alumni Association Board of Directors; and student liaisons Chadé Franklin ’11 and Patrick Wallace ’11.  Susan Zeiger, the univer- sity’s internship program director, is the staff liaison.The committee began meeting in early June and held campus forums during the summer  to seek input from faculty, staff and students.  “Our thought is that we would do the really  hard screening of candidates in August and  Sep tember and begin interviewing soon there-after,” McKinney says, adding that a decision could come by the end of the calendar year.McKinney says that Furman is following search guidelines established by the Association of Governing Boards of Universities and Colleges, a Washington, D.C.-based association that serves academic governing boards and senior level administrators.  Susan Resneck Pierce of Aca-demic Search, Inc., president emerita of the University of Puget Sound, is a consultant  to the search committee.Shi, who turned 58 August 19, joined  the Furman administration in 1993 as vice president for academic affairs and dean.  He  had spent the previous 17 years at Davidson College, where he was the Frontis W. Johnston Professor of History.  He holds M.A. and Ph.D. degrees from the University of Virginia.A widely read newspaper columnist  and essayist, he is the author of several books, including The Simple Life: Plain Living and  High Thinking in American Culture (1985)  and Facing Facts: Realism in American Thought and Culture (1996).  He is co-author of the best-selling textbook America: A Narrative History.In 2006-07 he chaired the board for the National Association of Independent Colleges and Universities.  He is currently a member  of The Chronicle of Higher Education/New York Times Higher Education Cabinet and is on the board of the Association of American Colleges and Universities.  He is also a board member  of Second Nature, the non-profit organization responsible for administering the Presidents’ Climate Commitment.  He received a Presi-dential Leadership Award from the Andrew  W. Mellon Foundation in 2003.For a list of highlights of David Shi’s tenure  at Furman, visit www.furman.edu/president.   For additional information about the presiden- tial search and how you can provide nominations, visit www.furman.edu/newpresident.  Compiled by Jim Stewart from reports  by Vince Moore and John Roberts.With David Shi planning to step down next spring, Furman launches the quest for its 11th president.

A Tough Act to Follow

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A Tough Act to Follow

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