Richard Furman (9 October 1755 – 25 August 1825) was a Baptist leader from Charleston, South Carolina, United States.

During the American War of Independence (1775–1783) Furman volunteered to serve in the colonial army, but was persuaded that his talents could better be used as a speaker in gaining support for the cause.

[1] After the war, Furman was a proponent of the constitutional clauses that ensured freedom of worship and removed all special privileges from the Episcopal church.

Furman ensured that the convention made education of aspiring ministers one of its basic missions, and encouraged Luther Rice in the foundation of Columbian College, now George Washington University, chartered by an Act of Congress on 9 February 1821.

In May 1789 Furman married Dorothea Burn, and this marriage produced thirteen children: Richard, Samuel, John Gano (died in infancy), Josiah, Charles Manning, Maria Dorothea, Henry Hart, Sarah Susanne, John Gano (2nd), Thomas Fuller, James Clement, Anne Eliza, and William.