FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

MOREHOUSE COLLEGE RECEIVES $1 MILLION OF MULTI-MILLION DOLLAR PLEDGE FROM ENTREPRENEUR HERMAN J. RUSSELL

ATLANTA, November 3, 1999 - Morehouse College is one of four colleges to benefit from the generosity of Atlanta entrepreneur Herman J. Russell, chairman of H. J. Russell & Company. Morehouse, Clark Atlanta University, Georgia State University and Tuskegee University will each receive $1 million, which must be matched, for entrepreneurial programs, lectures and facilities.

Morehouse College will use the $1 million gift to create a lecture series, develop a curriculum emphasis in entrepreneurship, and support construction of the Leadership Center at Morehouse College, which will house the entrepreneurship program, said President Walter E. Massey. "Both the entrepreneurship lecture series and the space in the new facility occupied by the program will be named in honor of Herman Russell. We are very pleased to have the Russell name prominently associated with an initiative so vital to our long-term strategy of establishing and maintaining business leadership development as a center of excellence at Morehouse."

Of the 900 students enrolled in the Department of Economics and Business Administration at Morehouse, 351 are finance majors, 207 are management majors, 162 are marketing majors, 45 are economics majors and 125 are accounting majors. About 22 percent of those students complete the College's enterpreneurship course prior to graduation. The department is accredited by the American Association of Schools and Colleges of Businesses (AASCB). As a result, Morehouse is among only a handful of liberal arts colleges in the country that have AASCB accreditation with Beta Gamma Sigma (the highest academic honor society for Business majors) and a chapter of Phi Beta Kappa.

Russell, who was joined by his wife, Otelia, and three children at the news conference at his company's headquarters, spoke of his beginnings and why making this contribution had such personal significance.

"I've enjoyed considerable success as an entrepreneur. I want to encourage others to become business owners as a viable alternative to the traditional corporate career route," Russell said. All four institutions have agreed to work together to launch an annual lectureship series which will carry Russell's name. Additionally, the four institutions are exploring opportunities to develop a joint internship program for the students enrolled in their courses.

"You will find no finer colleges than Clark Atlanta, Morehouse, Tuskegee and the Robinson College at Georgia State," Russell said. "My goal is to provide additional resources to encourage their students to become entrepreneurs. I am confident that my gift will be used to foster both business growth and partnerships between the colleges in the area of entrepreneurship."

One of the most distinguished institutions of higher education, Morehouse College is the nation's only historically black, private liberal arts college for men. Founded in 1867, the College enrolls approximately 3,000 students and confers bachelor's degrees on more black men than any other institution in the world. In addition to offering 36 majors in the humanities, natural and social sciences, Morehouse provides a number of programs and activities to enhance its challenging liberal arts program, including the Leadership Center at Morehouse College, the Morehouse Research Institute, and the Andrew Young Center for International Affairs.

Prominent alumni include Martin Luther King Jr., Nobel Peace Prize laureate and civil rights leader; Maceo Sloan, chairman, president and CEO of Sloan Financial Group Inc.; Sheldon "Spike" Lee, filmmaker and president of 40 Acres & A Mule Productions; Maynard H. Jackson, president of Jackson Securities and the first African-American mayor of Atlanta; Roy Terry and Rudolph Terry, president and executive vice president of Terry Manufacturing Co.; Nathaniel Bronner, founder of Bronner Brothers Beauty Cosmetics; and Nima A. Warfield, the first African-American Rhodes Scholar from an historically black college or university.

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