Furman University President David Shi Announces Retirement

GREENVILLE, SC – May 13, 2009 – Furman University president David E. Shi announced today that he will retire in 13 months, at the conclusion of the 2009-10 academic year.

The 57-year-old Shi, who in 1994 became the 10th president in Furman’s 183-year history, informed the Board of Trustees of his decision at the group’s spring meeting in late April.  His 16-year tenure as president of the school will officially end June 30, 2010.

“Eighteen months ago I told the chair and vice chair of the Board of Trustees that it was time to begin planning for my retirement, so this has been a very deliberate decision,” Shi said.  “Serving as Furman’s president has been a marvelously rewarding experience, but I’ve been in this position far longer than I ever intended.

“It’s time for me to return to my first love—teaching and writing about American history, and it’s time for Furman to open a new chapter in its rich history.  Furman is poised for a very bright future, and Susan and I look forward to watching its progress.”        Shi, a 1973 Furman graduate, succeeded the late John E. Johns, who was Furman’s president for 18 years.  During Shi’s tenure, Furman has solidified its stature as one of the nation’s finest liberal arts colleges.

Applications to the university have soared 75 percent, faculty salaries have improved, the endowment has quadrupled, the academic profile of the students has risen, and the 50-year-old campus has been transformed by more than $210 million in new construction and renovation.

Shi has also built stronger ties between Furman and the Greenville community, and he has championed the university’s emphasis on engaged learning, energy conservation and environmental stewardship.

“David Shi has been a tremendous asset to Furman, and no amount of praise can accurately convey what an incredible leader he has been, both on campus, in the Greenville community, and in prominent national higher education organizations,” said Kathy Crum McKinney, chair of the Furman Board of Trustees.  “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.”  According to McKinney, the search for a new president will begin immediately, and Shi’s successor will be named prior to July 1, 2010.

Shi said he carefully timed his announcement so that Furman’s spring semester would not be disrupted and that the university’s commencement exercises would focus on the graduates.  He also wanted to ensure that the trustees would have plenty of time to prepare for his departure. 

Shi also stressed that there is still much work to be done before he leaves in 13 months.

“There are projects to complete, funds to be raised, programs to be launched and new students to welcome,” Shi said.  “So I’m very much looking forward to this next year.”A native of Atlanta, Shi joined the Furman administration in 1993 as vice president for academic affairs and dean.  Before that, he taught for 17 years at Davidson College, where he was the Frontis W. Johnston Professor of History.  He earned M.A. and Ph.D. degrees in history at the University of Virginia.

Shi 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 also co-author of the best-selling textbook, America: A Narrative History, whose eighth edition will appear in November.

In addition to being published in newspapers across the country, his numerous columns and essays are heard regularly on South Carolina Educational Radio and have been collected in a book, The Bell Tower and Beyond: Reflections on Learning and Life.

Shi is a leading figure in American higher education.  In 2006-07, he chaired the Board of Directors 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, as well as a member of the Board of Directors 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. In 2003, he received a Presidential Leadership Award from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.

Shi has also played an instrumental role in the Greenville community.  Along with Minor Mickel Shaw, he chaired Vision 2025, the long-range planning process to make the community a better place to live and work.

In 2003, he was named Greenville (S.C.) Magazine Business Person of the Year.  That same year, he and his wife, Susan, a 1971 Furman graduate who for years has been a leading advocate for quality child care and public education, received the Whitney M. Young, Jr., Humanitarian Award, the highest honor given by the Urban League of the Upstate.  They were also named among Greenville’s “Top 25 Leaders” in a community poll conducted by the Greenville News.

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