Bennette E. Geer

Mr. Geer was selected by James B. Duke as one of the original Trustees of The Duke Endowment in 1924. As a Furman University Trustee from 1920 to 1933, Geer secured Furman’s place as a beneficiary of The Duke Endowment. Mr. Geer, born in Anderson County, S.C., graduated from Furman in 1896 and received his M.A. in 1897. He continued at Furman on the faculty from 1897 to 1927, and was chosen as Furman’s sixth President. In World War I, he was a fuel administrator for South Carolina, and in World War II, he served as a member of the National Labor Relations Board for the textile industry. He served on the Endowment’s board until his death in 1964.