Dean Rodney Smolla named new president of Furman
By: Michael Bargar
Issue date: 1/22/10 Section: News
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Retiring President David Shi was on hand to congratulate his successor for attaining what he called "the best job in education." Smolla will become only the 11th president in Furman's 184 year history when he assumes office on July 1.
"Furman may not be my life's alma mater, but it is now my life's cause," said Smolla, who graduated from Yale in 1975 and Duke Law School in 1978.
In his wide-ranging address Smolla quoted the Apostle Paul, Irish rock band U2, writer John Milton and American "philosopher" Yogi Berra. He recited the university's proud history and shared his vision of Furman as a "community bound by a shared aspiration to lead what Teddy Roosevelt called the strenuous life - to lead lives of intellectual vigor and moral compass."
Smolla himself has led a strenuous life - first as a football admit to Yale, then graduating first in his class from Duke. He has taught law at more than a half dozen universities, was the law school dean at both the University of Richmond and Washington and Lee. He is one of the country's foremost legal experts on First Amendment issues. One of his most notable cases, later turned into the movie "Deliberate Intent," starring Timothy Hutton as Smolla, involved a suit against the publishers of "Hit Men," a book that gave advice to murderers.
Smolla said he was moved to apply for Furman's top position after visiting the university with his stepson Miles last year.
"When you as a parent start to visit and come to orientation and so on, you get to know a lot about it," he said. "The values of Furman seemed to be very much my own values."
For his own part, Miles Taylor, now a freshman economics major, said, "I'm really happy for him. I think he's happy to be somewhere where he can make a difference."
Smolla was chosen after a months long search process that whittled down a pool of 80 applicants to 13 semi-finalists. Three finalists then each visited Furman in early December. During his visit, Smolla answered questions from groups of staff, students and faculty in public forums.