Trustees Emeriti
Lloyd Ellis Batson
Lloyd Ellis Batson, trustee emeritus, received his associate of arts with honors from North Greenville Junior College, bachelor of arts magna cum laude from Furman, and his bachelor of divinity and doctor of theology from Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. In 1987, he was awarded an honorary doctor of divinity degree from Furman. In 1968, he was awarded alumnus of the year by North Greenville Junior College. Later, he was awarded alumnus of the year by Southern Baptist Theological Seminary.
Ordained in 1947, he has served churches in Indiana and South Carolina, the most recent being Pickens First Baptist Church, where he retired in 1989 after 33 years there as pastor. He served in WWII in the 87th Infantry Division. He has been a trustee at Cannon Memorial Hospital and Baptist Medical Center Foundation and has served as chair of Pickens County Meals on Wheels, president of Pickens Rotary Club, president of Pickens Ministers’ Council and moderator of Pickens Baptist Association and Pickens-Twelve Mile Baptist Association. He has served as president of the South Carolina Baptist Convention, trustee and chair of the national board of the Baptist Sunday School Board of the Southern Baptist Convention and vice president of the South Carolina Baptist Pastors Conference and as a member of the Board of Associates of North Greenville College. In 1989, he was named Civitan Citizen of the Year in Pickens, South Carolina, and was a Rotary Paul Harris Fellow in the same year.
Recipient of the Furman Alumni Service Award, he has served as chair, vice chair and secretary of the Board of Trustees at Furman. He came on the Furman Board of Trustees in January 1962 and has served under the last five presidents of the university. He and his wife, Joy, have two sons, both Furman graduates.
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