Richard W. Riley to Speak at Furman Commencement May 5

GREENVILLE, SC – Former South Carolina Governor and U.S. Secretary of Education Richard W. Riley will serve as commencement speaker when Furman University holds its graduation exercises Saturday, May 5 at 7:30 p.m. in Paladin Stadium.

The public is invited to attend.  In case of rain, the ceremony will be moved to Timmons Arena and admittance will be by ticket only.

The day will include an 11 a.m. baccalaureate service in McAlister Auditorium.  That ceremony is reserved for graduates and their guests and is not open to the public.

Furman will award approximately 680 undergraduate and graduate degrees at the commencement service, which will be broadcast live via streaming video on the Furman website (www.furman.edu).

Riley served as U. S. Secretary of Education under President Bill Clinton (1993-2001) and was elected to two terms as Governor of South Carolina (1979-1987).  He is a 1954 graduate of Furman, and currently serves as chair of the Furman Board of Trustees.

Riley is a senior partner in the law firm of Nelson Mullins Riley & Scarborough and its affiliate, EducationCounsel, with offices in South and North Carolina, Georgia, Boston, Chicago, Tallahassee and Washington, D.C.  He has been appointed distinguished professor at Furman, and serves as Advisory Board chair of the Richard W. Riley Institute of Government, Politics and Public Leadership.  In 2008, he was named one of the Top 10 Cabinet Members of the 20th century by Time magazine.

For more information, contact Furman’s News and Media Relations office at 864-294-3107.