Furman University

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Furman University

Image:Furman Wordmark.gif

Established 1826
School type Private
President David Shi
Location Greenville, South Carolina
Enrollment 2,600 undergraduate, 500 graduate
Faculty 200
Campus Suburban
750 acre (3 km²)
Athletics 17 varsity teams
Nickname Paladins
Homepage www.furman.edu

Image:Furman-belltower.jpgFurman University is a private, coeducational, non-sectarian, liberal arts university in Greenville, South Carolina, United States. Founded in 1826, Furman enrolls approximately 2,600 undergraduate and 500 graduate students on its 750 acre (3 km²) campus. Its current president is David Shi, who graduated from Furman in 1973.

The university is primarily focused on undergraduate education (only two departments, education and chemistry, offer graduate degrees). Furman University emphasizes "engaged" learning. In engaged learning, professors encourage undergraduate students to author articles, participate in internships, and volunteer in their respective fields of study. A program called the Furman Advantage was created in order to fund research projects between professors and students.

Furman is best known for its chemistry, history, music, political science, and psychology departments. The psychology, computer science, and chemistry departments have earned high marks among professional organizations spanning the sciences (social, applied, and basic), notable for a liberal arts institution of its size.

Furman University students have an unusually high acceptance rate into graduate schools. Approximately 70% of pre-medical students gain entrance to medical school, and 99% of pre-law students gain entrance to law school. Approximately two-thirds of Furman students will earn graduate degrees.

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History

Furman was founded in 1826 as a men's academy and theological institute, in Edgefield, South Carolina. The original school building from that campus resides on the current Greenville campus today. 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. Furman began construction on its new campus, just five miles north of downtown Greenville in 1956. Classes on this new campus began in 1958. Now non-sectarian, the school was affiliated with the Southern Baptist Convention until 1992.

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Campus

A 30-acre (0.1-km²) lake is at the center of the 750-acre (3-km²), wooded Furman University campus. Many academic buildings and student residences stand around the lake, including the Bell Tower. The Bell Tower figures highly in school insignias and is a replica (within 1/16th of an inch) of the Bell Tower that once existed on the men's campus in downtown Greenville. Today, the campus is anchored by its newly expanded 128,000 square foot (12,000 m²) James B. Duke Library. The American Society of Landscape Architects has named Furman one of the 362 most beautiful places in America.

For the first three years, all students are required to live on campus. During a student's senior year, he or she may be eligible to live off campus through a lottery. There are two residence complexes (called Lakeside and South Housing), as well as four housing cabins which make up Bell Tower Housing. Most juniors and all seniors live in North Village Apartments, located near the Bell Tower.

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Athletics

Furman competes in NCAA Division I athletics as the Paladins. The university is a member of the Southern Conference. In 1988 Furman won the NCAA 1-AA National Football Championship. Furman also appeared in the 1985 and 2001 NCAA 1-AA National Football Championship game, but lost (to Georgia Southern and the University of Montana, respectively). Furman and Colgate remain the only private universities that have appeared in the 1-AA Football Championship game, and Furman is the only private school that has won it.

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Notable alumni

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Majors and Concentrations

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Notable faculty

  • Christopher W. Blackwell - Classics
  • Jay Bocook - Music
  • Charles Brewer - Psychology
  • Gilles Einstein - Psychology
  • David Gross - Music
  • Mark Kilstofte - Music, winner of the American Academy in Rome's Rome Prize for 2002-2003 [1]
  • Hayden Porter - Computer Science
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Social Organizations

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Points of interest

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External links

Template:Southern Conference

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