GREENVILLE, S.C. — Furman University’s 2008-09 school year will officially get underway with an opening convocation Thursday, Sept. 4 at 10 a.m. in McAlister Auditorium.

Tony Arrington, the William R. Kenan, Jr., Professor Emeritus of Chemistry at Furman, will deliver the convocation address.  Furman president David E. Shi will preside.
The public is invited to attend.

The university will welcome the class of 2012, introduce the Year of the Sciences, and announce the plans for celebrating the 50th anniversary of Furman’s move to the current campus.

Furman will also award honorary degrees to John Floyd, editor-in-chief of Southern Living magazine, and Rubye J. Jones, a leading community activist in Greenville with SHARE (Sunbelt Human Advancement Resources, Inc.).  Harry Shucker, who recently retired as Furman’s Vice President for Student Services, will receive the Bell Tower Award.

The convocation will introduce the seniors who will serve as Furman Fellows for 2008-09.   The Fellows program is designed to recognize the accomplishments and contributions of five exceptional seniors each year.  Each Fellow receives a $5,000 scholarship.

Arrington, a 1960 Furman graduate, earned his M.A. and Ph.D. degrees at Harvard University.  He has been a Danforth Graduate Fellow, a Woodrow Wilson Fellow and a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.  He has also been a Visiting Professor at the University of Utah and Visiting Scientist at Los Alamos National Labs.

In 1980, Arrington received Furman’s Alester G. Furman, Jr., and Janie Earle Furman Award for Meritorious Teaching.  He has served as chair of the chemistry department (1975-81) and chair of the Furman faculty (1983-85). He is a member of the American Chemical Society, the American Physical Society, the Council on Undergraduate Research and Phi Beta Kappa.

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

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9/3/2008