10/31/95
By Janet McCoy (mccoyjl@mail.auburn.edu)
AU'S SCHOOL OF HUMAN SCIENCES PRESENTS QUALITY OF LIFE AWARDS
AUBURN -- Auburn University's School of Human Science has bestowed its second annual Quality of Life Awards on three leaders who have made significant contributions to individuals, family and communities.
The awards were presented during a program on Tuesday, Oct. 31, in New York City at the United Nations.
Selected for the awards were: Elmer Harris, president and chief executive officer of Alabama Power Company; Lawrence Klein, the Benjamin Franklin Professor of Economics and Finance at the University of Pennsylvania; and Don Logan, president and CEO of Time Inc. Harris and Logan are AU graduates.
"These honorees demonstrate a strong commitment to empowerment through public policy and educational programs to enhance the quality of life for us all," Auburn School of Human Sciences Dean June Henton said."We recognize these outstanding citizens whose work reflects a dedication to finding innovative and creative ways of bettering the lives of people worldwide.
"At the heart of their professional success lies a true concern for the human condition -- an inspiration to all of us, but particularly to our young people," she said. "They are powerful role models for our students in the School of Human Sciences and they exemplify the basic tenets of our school's beliefs."
Since becoming president and CEO of Alabama Power Company in 1989, Harris has been compelling state leader and a strong voice for improving the quality of life in Alabama. Under Harris' direction, Alabama Power has touched the lives of thousands of Alabamians with its contributions to education and economic development. This leadership includes creating the Alabama Power Foundation and the Alabama Business Charitable Trust Fund, Inc.
Harris is one of three community leaders who founded the Birmingham Urban Revitalization Partnership, Inc., a non-profit public/private effort dedicated to urban revitalization and addressing human needs such as child care, assistance to the elderly and low-income housing.
Harris' commitment to education in the earliest years of a child's life inspired corporate sponsors to enter into a partnership with the city of Birmingham and AU to create the Birmingham Early Learning Center.
Logan is president and CEO of Time Inc., one of the largest book and magazine publishers in the world. Since assuming the helm of Time in 1994, Logan has instituted remarkably effective children's reading programs. Time Inc.'s, Time for Kids, a condensed version of Time magazine for fourth through sixth graders, is expected to reach a readership of one million this fall. Time to Read, an early literacy program, directs children toward current events reading.
Former chairman and CEO of Southern Progress Corp. in Birmingham, Logan was one of six CEOs who raised money to fund the Birmingham Civil Rights Institute and is a trustee for the institute. While in Birmingham, he participated in the community's adopt-a-school program, visiting schools and teaching children about the publishing world and the difference quality reading can make in life.
Klein, a pioneer in the field of macroeconometric modeling and applied econometrics, developed the LINK model to fuse econometrics and government policies in the 1960s. The first person to actually apply linking econometrics to the real world, Klein won the 1980 Nobel Prize in Economics for his LINK project which integrates econometric models from about 80 countries for applied forecasting. In addition to countless applications at the national, regional and state levels, countries worldwide benefit from the LINK project, the only worldwide economic information system in use today.
Devoted to his teaching, Klein has donated his time and expertise to many corporations in return for their financial support of graduate students at Pennsylvania and elsewhere. In appreciation of his dedication, a group of nearly 200 students and colleagues who call themselves "Friends of Larry Klein" meet to discuss economic theory and publish books dedicated to their untiring mentor.
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CONTACT: Henton, 334/844-3790.