Mourning Furman University is expressing heartfelt condolences for the passing of Dr. Frances Willard Pate, a revered and longtime member of the faculty who died at home on December 2. As Furman’s most senior faculty member, Dr. Pate began her remarkable tenure in the English Department in 1964 and shaped the university for six decades.
Dr. Pate’s impact at Furman and on generations of students is storied. She was a distinguished educator of writing across both first-year and advanced courses, and her steadfast belief in integrating strong writing instruction within a liberal arts framework helped elevate Furman’s English Department to be one of the leading programs in the South. A specialist in Southern literature, her Faulkner-focused course was a rite of passage for many Furman students, inside and outside the English Department. Her enthusiasm extended beyond Faulkner to courses on Flannery O’Connor, Eudora Welty, Robert Penn Warren, Alice Walker, Ernest J. Gaines, and other literary giants, drawing students year after year.
Long before Furman launched its creative writing program, Dr. Pate organized visits to campus by renowned Southern authors, including Pat Conroy, Mary Hood, Dorothy Allison, Mindy Friddle, Ellen Gilchrist, Josephine Humphreys, George Singleton, and, more recently, Jesmyn Ward. Through her efforts, Sally Fitzgerald—the biographer and friend of Flannery O’Connor—became a frequent guest at Furman. Dr. Pate also taught notable Southern writers such as Tommy Hays and Ed Tarkington, who later visited the university to read for students.
Dr. Willard Pate began her Furman career in 1964, educating Paladins for 61 years and leaving a lasting imprint on the community.
Her belief that reading Southern authors helps illuminate personal identity is well captured in her remark that “Faulkner writes what I have always known.” She conveyed that understanding to countless Furman students, many of whom hailed from the South.
Her advocacy for women writers and educators stands as a central facet of her legacy, particularly during periods when literary and cultural contributions by women were not as widely recognized. It is notable how many of the writers Pate brought to Furman were women.
Perhaps her most influential achievement was the collaboration with her colleague and future Dean John Crabtree to inaugurate Furman’s semester-long British Isles program in the 1960s. Long before study abroad was commonplace at liberal arts colleges, Pate and Crabtree forged a connection with the Shakespeare Institute of the University of Birmingham, enabling students to study the staging of plays performed by the Royal Shakespeare Company. Though the partnership has evolved over time, it endures as a testament to their forward-thinking vision. The program has afforded Furman students access to some of the world’s leading Shakespeare scholars and actors, and some of these scholars have even taught courses at Furman.
The Britain program also offered immersive study of the United Kingdom and Ireland’s history, politics, economics, English literature (in its native settings), and world drama in London. It held particular significance for students from small Southern towns and remains a cornerstone of the educational experience for English and Theatre majors. In fact, the program has served as a model for engaged-learning travel that defines a Furman education today. Dr. Pate oversaw aspects of the program up to her passing.
Beyond writing and travel programs, Dr. Pate explored visual arts in later years, playing a pivotal role in establishing Furman’s film studies program. She also developed into a celebrated photographer, with her work exhibited in notable venues across the South as well as galleries in New York and Spain. A traditionalist at heart, she often shot in black-and-white, focusing on realistic subjects—landscapes, people, and animals—drawn from her extensive travels to Italy, Cuba, South America, and the British Isles.
Her 2015 book With Animals (BazanPhotos Publishing) reveals a deep empathy for domesticated creatures. She was at work on a new photographic project exploring the evolving history of Ireland’s Aran Islands over the past four decades, a work to be published as soon as possible.
Dr. Pate earned her B.A. from Emory University (1959), an M.A. from Vanderbilt University (1961), and a Ph.D. from Emory University (1969). She is survived by two cherished cats named Faulkner and Flannery.
Her absence will be deeply felt throughout the Furman community.
