RICHMOND, Va. – For the 17th consecutive year, nine prominent African Americans selected for their accomplishments and leadership will be honored by Dominion through its Strong Men & Women: Excellence in Leadership educational series.

This year’s recipients will be honored at an awards ceremony at 7 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 18 at the Richmond Marriott Hotel. Strong Men & Women highlights the accomplishments of selected African-American role models and converts their stories into an educational series distributed during Black History Month to more than 12,000 schools across Dominion’s natural gas and electric franchise service areas in Virginia, northeastern North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania and West Virginia.

"These outstanding individuals all became leaders in their chosen fields through desire and determination," said Thomas F. Farrell II, president and chief executive officer. "Their impressive achievements demonstrate excellence in action. We honor them because they are extraordinary role models for our youth."

The 2007 honorees are:

• Billy K. Cannaday Jr. – Virginia’s first African-American superintendent of public instruction, Richmond, Va.
• Paul B. Higginbotham – first African American on the Wisconsin Court of Appeals, Madison, Wis.
• Sheila C. Johnson – philanthropist, entrepreneur and CEO of Salamander Hospitality, The Plains, Va.
• Charles F. Lovell Jr. – first African-American president of the Virginia Board of Medicine, Norfolk, Va.
• Marc H. Morial* – president and CEO of the National Urban League, New York
• Dawn Staley* – renowned player of the Women’s National Basketball Association and all-America at the University of Virginia, Philadelphia, Pa.
• Jerry Sue Thornton* – president of Cuyahoga Community College, Cleveland, Ohio
• Blair Underwood – television and motion picture actor and producer, native of Petersburg, Va., Sherman Oaks, Calif.
• Dwight L. Williams – first African-American “National Young Engineer of the Year” for the National Society of Professional Engineers, Laurel, Md.

*Attending the Cleveland, Ohio, ceremony Feb 8.

African-American high school students participated in the Strong Men & Women: Excellence in Leadership student essay-writing contest. In September, seniors were invited to write essays about an African-American leader featured in the Strong Men & Women series. Winners receive a Dell laptop computer and their schools each receive a $1,000 cash award.

This year’s essay winners are:

• Heaven Berhane – JEB Stuart High School, Fairfax County, Va.
• Chelsea Roach – Southside High School, Chocowinity, N.C.
• Yolanda Sumner – Richmond Technical Center, Va.
• Jillian Walton – Governor’s School for the Arts, Norfolk, Va.

Information about Strong Men & Women can be found on the Internet at www.dom.com, keyword "strong."

Dominion is one of the nation's largest producers of energy, with a portfolio of about 28,000 megawatts of generation, about 6.6 trillion cubic feet equivalent of proved natural gas reserves and 7,800 miles of natural gas transmission pipeline. Dominion also operates one of the nation's largest underground natural gas storage systems and serves retail energy customers in 11 states. For more information about Dominion, visit the company's Web site at www.dom.com.

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Editor's note: Biographies of the honorees will be available at the awards ceremony. Video b-roll, sound bites and media kits will be on hand for television stations; a downloadable image of the honorees’ portrait is available on www.dom.com; and photographs will be available after Jan. 23.