Furman University has tapped Joseph Heritage ’07 to lead a new program that will help students and professionals excel in the workforce and their communities.

Joseph Heritage ’07

In partnership with Prisma Health, the program focuses on the design thinking concept. According to Anthony Herrera, executive director of Furman’s Institute for Innovation & Entrepreneurship, this approach places the needs of customers or end-users at the center of the creative process when designing services or solving problems. In this way, designers develop new solutions to old problems in a way that improves users’ lives.

Herrera wants to grow a culture of innovation on the Furman campus, and he believes that one of the ways to drive that change is to train students – and at some point, faculty – in this human-centered approach to design.

Students in the program will train as fellows who earn a certificate while gaining real-world experience working on actual problems. Then they’ll be able to take these skills into the workforce when they graduate. The initial cohort will be 25 students who are part of the Furman Innovation Council.

“This is The Furman Advantage through the lens of innovation,” Herrera said.

Workshops also will be open to local businesses and nonprofit organizations to help them solve their problems, with a goal of creating a design thinking innovation hub housed at the Davies Idea Exchange on the Furman campus. These workshops will bring design thinking training to Furman students, to the campus community and to the Greenville