Elizabeth Davis, Ph.D., became Furman University’s 12th President on July 1, 2014.
Dr. Davis previously served as Executive Vice President and Provost of Baylor University in Texas, where she oversaw the university’s 11 schools and colleges as well as more than a dozen research centers and institutes. Her responsibilities at Baylor included leading the university’s most recent strategic visioning process, managing a $235 million Academic Affairs annual budget, and overseeing a faculty of more than 935 members. She was also a Professor of Accounting and member of the Baylor faculty since 1992.
Her other administrative roles at Baylor included serving as Vice Provost for Financial and Academic Administration (2004-2008), Associate Dean for Undergraduate Business Programs (2003-04), and Acting Chair of the Department of Accounting and Business Law (2000-2001). She also served two years as Interim Provost (2008-2010) and, in 2012, assumed interim leadership of Baylor’s Development office while the university was searching for a new vice president.
During her time at Baylor, her teaching honors include receiving the Hankamer School of Business Teaching Excellence Award and the Mortar Board Circle of Achievement Award. Davis’ scholarly work has appeared in leading journals, and she most recently co-authored the textbook Managerial Accounting with her husband Charles Davis. She is a recipient of the Lybrand Gold Medal awarded by Management Accounting. Before joining Baylor, she spent three years at Arthur Anderson & Co. in New Orleans.
Davis received her Bachelor of Business Administration degree from Baylor in 1984 and earned her Ph.D. from Duke University in 1992. She has delivered hundreds of addresses throughout the U.S. on issues involving higher education, university leadership, and financial management.
She and her husband, Charles, have two children, Chad and Claire.
You may send your congratulations to her via Twitter @ebeth930 with #WelcomFurmanPres
