Late C. Dan Joyner First Recipient of Riley Medal
May 2, 2012
GREENVILLE, SC – April 2, 2012 – The Furman University Board of Trusteesannounced that the late C. Dan Joyner of Greenville is the firstrecipient of the newly created Richard W. Riley Medal for Promise andAchievement.
The award will be presented at Furman’s commencement exercisesSaturday, May 5. Members of the Joyner family will accept the award.
At its spring meeting April 20-21, the Furman trustees votedunanimously to establish the medal and name Joyner, a 1959 Furmangraduate, as its first recipient. The nomination of Joyner was made bytrustee William Howes, a classmate and lifelong friend of Joyner’s.
The medal is named for Richard W. Riley, a 1954 Furman graduate whowill complete his term as chair of the university’s Board of Trustees onJune 30. Riley served as U. S. Secretary of Education under PresidentBill Clinton (1993-2001) and was elected to two terms as Governor ofSouth Carolina (1979-1987). In 2008, he was named one of the Top 10Cabinet Members in U.S. history by Time magazine.
Joyner, a successful Greenville businessman who was chairman and CEO of Prudential C. Dan Joyner Co., died in January 2012.
A former Furman trustee, Joyner was one of Furman’s most ardentsupporters. He served as vice chair of the trustees’ AthleticsCommittee and was president of the Paladin Club for three years. The C.Dan Joyner ’59 Family Athletic Scholarship is awarded annually to aFurman student-athlete with financial need. In 1986 he was elected tothe Furman Athletic Hall of Fame, and he received the DistinguishedService Award from the Southern Conference in 2007-08.
Joyner also served as president of the Furman Alumni Association andwas a member of the Planned Giving Advisory Council, Heritage Societyand Richard Furman Society. The porch at the David E. Shi Center forSustainability at Furman is named in honor of Joyner and his wife,Katherine Poole Joyner ’60. Furman presented him its Alumni ServiceAward in 1967.
