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Horatio Alger Association Announces New Members to its Board of Directors
Seven Lifetime Members Take Leadership Role to Ensure Future of Organization

Washington, DC – (June 2, 2008) – The Horatio Alger Association of Distinguished Americans announced today that seven new members were elected to serve on its Board of Directors.

The Horatio Alger Board of Directors is comprised of 56 lifetime Members who are responsible for ensuring the Association’s mission of keeping the American Dream alive.

“The addition of these members to our Board reflects the Association’s desire to maintain forward-thinking strategies,” said Dennis R. Washington, Chairman Emeritus. “Each new Board Member is critical to the growth and development of the Association.”

The following Board Members were elected by the Association membership to serve until 2012:

• Doris K. Christopher, Founder and Chairman, The Pampered Chef, Ltd.  After starting Kitchen Shows in the basement of her home as a stay-at-home mom, Christopher went on to create The Pampered Chef, Ltd. a $500 million company geared toward entertaining in the home, selling kitchen tools and discussing unique food products. She is also a celebrated author. Christopher has been a Horatio Alger Member since 2006.
• Sam Fox, U.S. Ambassador to the Kingdom of Belgium, Founder, Harbour Group.  Fox had a modest upbringing in Desloge, Missouri.  After pursuing a higher education at Washington University, he started the Harbour Group, a privately owned company that acquires, consolidates, and develops manufacturing companies for long-term investments. Fox has been a Horatio Alger Member since 2005.

The following elected Board Members will serve until 2013:

• Joe L. Dudley, Sr., President and CEO, Dudley Products, Inc.  A nationally recognized humanitarian, Dudley struggled with academics throughout his younger years.  With the support of his family and a steadfast dedication to education, he graduated from North Carolina A&T University, and went on to open a chain of beauty supply stores, beauty salons, and beauty colleges. Dudley has been a Horatio Alger Member since 1995.
• Craig Hall, Chairman and Founder, Hall Financial Group.  Despite a childhood struggle with epilepsy, Hall showed an amazing work ethic and above average entrepreneurial skills. By 27, he wrote his first book and started his first foundation. Hall Financial Group, which includes numerous venture capital investments, now has more than $500 million in liquid assets. Hall has been a Horatio Alger Member since 2007.
• Melvyn N. Klein, Melvyn N. Klein Interests.  Klein assisted Vice President Hubert Humphrey in his presidential bid before becoming a senior partner of the investment firm Donaldson, Lufkin and Jenrette. He originated the idea of creating capital pools for principal investing, which helped transform America’s free enterprise system. Klein has been a Horatio Alger Member since 1996.
• Boone Pickens, Chairman, BP Capital Management. Pickens helped champion a new era of corporate accountability in the mid-1980s through several acquisitions by his company Mesa Petroleum Co. Today, Pickens operates BP Capital, which manages one of the nation’s most successful energy-oriented investment funds with more than $4 billion under management. Pickens has been a Horatio Alger Member since 2006.
• Chris Thomas Sullivan, Founder and Chairman, OSI Restaurant Partners Inc. After attending the University of Kentucky, Sullivan worked hard and eventually moved his way up the restaurant management business. In 1988, Sullivan and his partners opened the first Outback Steakhouse and eventually formed OSI Restaurant Partners Inc. OSI currently generates $4 billion annually from more than 1,200 restaurants. Sullivan has been a Horatio Alger Member since 2007.

The Horatio Alger Association announced transitions to its 2008-2010 executive committee in April of this year with David L. Sokol, Chairman of MidAmerican Energy Holdings Company, assuming the position of President and CEO of the Association, and Joseph Neubauer, Chairman and CEO of ARAMARK Corporation, ascending to Chairman of the Association.

About the Horatio Alger Association:

Founded in 1947, the Horatio Alger Association of Distinguished Americans continues to fulfill its mission of honoring the achievements of outstanding individuals in our society who have succeeded in spite of adversity and of encouraging young people to pursue their dreams through higher education. The Horatio Alger Association offers three annual scholarship programs: the National Scholarship Program and state scholarship programs available to high school seniors in all 50 states, and the Horatio Alger Military Veterans Scholarship Program for U.S. veterans of the Afghanistan and Iraq conflicts. The Association awards more than $12 million annually in college scholarships and has given over $62 million to deserving students since 1984. For more information about the scholarships, please visit www.horatioalger.org.

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