ELON COLLEGE – Furman Moseley, a 1956 Elon College alumnus, and his wife, Susan, have a made a $1 million pledge to the college in honor of Nick Theos, Moseley’s former football teammate.
Moseley, a Spartanburg, S.C., native who is chairman of an international paper company based in Seattle, has been one of Elon’s biggest benefactors. In 1994, he and Susan donated $1 million to the college, which named its new campus center in their honor.
The majority of the gift will help finance an on-campus football stadium and athletic facilities. An archway at the stadium’s entrance will be named in honor of Theos, a Charleston, S.C., native. Theos and Moseley both played guard on the college’s football team in the 1950s.
After graduating in 1956, Theos served as principal at Bishop England High School in Charleston for 25 years before retiring earlier this year. The school dedicated its development office in his name and the Catholic diocese gave him an honorary bishopship.
Both Theos and Moseley attended Elon because of the efforts of John L. Georgeo, a 1945 Elon alumnus from Charleston, who also played football at Elon and later was an assistant football coach at a high school in Mt. Pleasant, S.C.
A portion of Moseley’s gift will be added to the John L. Georgeo Scholarship Fund, which Moseley established in 1981, to raise it to the $500,000 level. The scholarship goes to students who are outstanding in their chosen field, including leadership in athletics.
Moseley is chairman of Simpson Paper Co. and president of Simpson Investment Co. Simpson is an international producer of building products, paper, pulp and plastic pipe with more than two dozen manufacturing operations in 11 states.
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