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Cindy Davis ’84 set to deliver Commencement address


Last updated April 28, 2022

By Jerry Salley ’90

Cindy Davis ’84, former vice president of Nike Inc. and former president of Nike Golf, will address Furman’s Class of 2022 during the Commencement ceremony May 7 at Paladin Stadium.

Before joining Nike, Davis, who also holds an MBA from the University of Maryland, was a senior vice president of the Golf Channel, CEO of the Arnold Palmer Golf Company and vice president of the LPGA. Sports Illustrated named her one of the “50 Most Powerful People in Sports” in 2013. She serves as a board member and adviser for a number of companies in the footwear, apparel, restaurant, manufacturing, and health and wellness industries.

Cindy Davis '84 during her collegiate golfing career

Cindy Davis ’84 during her collegiate golfing career

A current member of the university’s Board of Trustees, Davis was an economics major and standout collegiate golfer at Furman, where she was three-time All-American and runner-up at the 1983 NCAA Championships. The Davis and Faxon Training Facility, dedicated earlier this year at Furman’s REK Center for Intercollegiate Golf, is named in honor of her and fellow Paladin golfer Brad Faxon ’83.

The Commencement ceremony for the Class of 2022 is scheduled to begin at 7:30 p.m. after the traditional procession of regalia-clad students down Furman Mall to Paladin Stadium. Davis’s address will follow performances from the Furman Singers and the Furman Symphonic Band, an invocation by University Chaplain Vaughn CroweTipton, and a welcome from Furman President Elizabeth Davis, the presentation of awards.

After Cindy Davis delivers her address, President Davis will confer the undergraduate and graduate degrees. The ceremony will close with a performance of the alma mater, a benediction and a postlude.

For more information on the events of Commencement Weekend, click here.

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