Theme: Go Big

TEDxFurmanU is striving to find and present the next big ideas in Greenville, South Carolina. The speaker lineup includes professors and students from Furman University, speakers from the Greenville area, and from across the country.

Furman University: Harper Hall
3300 Poinsett Highway
Greenville, South Carolina, 29613
United States

Adrienne Burris

Founder/Program Director of Greenville Wordsmiths

Adrienne is the founder of Greenville Wordsmiths, a nonprofit that empowers kids to discover and share their voices by making them published authors. She just returned to South Carolina from getting her Masters degree at Goldsmiths, University of London, where she researched the subject of her talk.

Cam Pascual

Cofounder and Director of Innovation, Food Recovery Network

Cam Pascual is a cofounder and the Director of Innovation at Food Recovery Network, a nonprofit that unites college students across the country in recovering the surplus, unsold food from food businesses and donating it to hunger-fighting nonprofits. Since cofounding Food Recovery Network as a student group when she was 19, the organization has grown to become the largest student movement against hunger with chapters at 170 colleges and universities in 40 states.

Eiho Baba

Associate Professor of Philosophy and Asian Studies at Furman University

Glen Courtright

Founder and CEO of EnviroFlight

Glen Courtright, founder of EnviroFlight, is passionate about solving big problems.  He spent much of his career connecting the dots, asking questions, trying innovative ideas in order to create new and better solutions. His career spans telematics, wireless telecommunications, renewable energy, automotive, aerospace, and a few things from his military days that he really can’t talk about.

Lexie Harvey

Furman University class of 2018, communications and Political Science double major.

Lexie Harvey is a sophomore Political Science and Communications double major at Furman University from Nashville, Tennessee.

Mark Wexler

Founder of Not For Sale, Just Business, REBBL, and the San Francisco-based Invention Hub business incubator

Mark Wexler is an an entrepreneur who found his vocational calling while working with street children in Durban, South Africa. Over the past decade he's helped start over a dozen for-profit and non-profit ventures - all created to help scale positive social and environmental impact. He serves as the executive director of the global anti-slavery organization, Not For Sale. Wexler is also a founding partner in the international investment group, Just Business. He also helped found the San Francisco-based Invention Hub which incubates social enterprises.

Patrick Tuttle

Pastor at St. Anthony of Padua Church & School, Chaplain at Furman University

Father Patrick is a Franciscan friar and Roman Catholic priest. Father Patrick currently serves St Anthony's Church in school and African-American parish with gospel liturgy in downtown Greenville, Furman University’s Catholic campus ministry, the City of Greenville Police Department, and the monastery of St Clare.

Ray Garner

Furman University class of 2018, physics major.

Ray is a sophomore physics major at Furman University. He is an aspiring astrophysicist with hopes of one day working for NASA. He is the current treasurer of the Furman Astronomy Club and has published his own book, “The Night Sky: A Guide to the 88 Constellations.”

Scott Henderson

William R. Kenan, Jr. Professor of Education at Furman University

Dr. Scott Henderson is the William R. Kenan Jr. Professor of Education at Furman. He holds a Ph.D. in history and has lectured & written extensively on modern civil rights movements

Susan Bennett

The Voice of Siri

Susan Bennett is a singer, musician, and voice talent.  You may know her better as the original voice of Siri.

Timothy Hanks

Professor of Chemistry at Furman University

Professor Tim Hanks joined Furman University in 1990 and teaches organic chemistry and materials science. His educational philosophy is centered on the idea that science is best learned by doing. In keeping with this idea, he has served as a research mentor for more than 110 Furman undergraduates and 20 masters students. He has held visiting professorships at Clemson University, in Grenoble, France and Wollongong, Australia and has delivered lectures based on his student’s work in 15 countries across the globe.

Tindall Ouverson

Furman University class of 2018, Sustainability major.

Tindall Ouverson is a Sustainability Science major who has worked extensively with Furman's compost program at the Shi Center for Sustainability since her freshman year. She hopes to spread her passion for compost to others far beyond the raised beds of the Furman Farm.