Furman University holds 2019 graduation exercises
May 13, 2019
Furman University awarded 637 undergraduate and master’s degrees and presented its top academic honors during graduation exercises Saturday, May 11 in Timmons Arena.
The Donaldson-Watkins and the Bradshaw-Feaster Medals for General Excellence are awarded each year by the faculty to outstanding senior graduates. Caroline Maria Daly, a neuroscience and religion major from Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, received the Donaldson-Watkins Medal, while the Bradshaw-Feaster Medal was awarded to Laurin Elizabeth Bixby, a sociology major from Edmond, Oklahoma.
Daly and Bixby also received the Scholarship Cup, given to the outstanding scholars of the senior class, as did Jack Harrison Ligon, a politics and international affairs major from Atlanta, Georgia, and Quincy Daniel Mix, a history major from Palmyra, Virginia.
The university also presented the Alester G. Furman, Jr., and Janie Earle Furman awards for meritorious teaching and advising.
The teaching awards went to Rhett Bennett Bryson, professor of theatre arts, and Linnea Ruth Freeman, assistant professor of biology and neuroscience.
The advising awards were presented to Susan Smart D’amato, professor of physics, and Ilka Rasch, associate professor of modern languages and literatures.
Eleanor Beardsley, a 1986 Furman graduate and international correspondent for National Public Radio, served as commencement speaker. She was also awarded an honorary Doctor of Humanities degree.
The student speaker was graduate Aleah Imani-Grace King, a communication studies and politics and international affairs major from Greenville.
