Dominion Honors Three African Americans in Strong Men & Women Educational Series

Three prominent African Americans, renowned for their accomplishments and leadership, are being honored today by Dominion East Ohio as part of the corporation's 13th Annual Strong Men & Women: Excellence in Leadership educational series. The honorees are being recognized at a luncheon program at The City Club in downtown Cleveland.

Throughout its service area, Dominion will honor 10 recipients this year. A Strong Men & Women celebration is being held in Cleveland to recognize three honorees from the Cleveland, Pittsburgh and West Virginia area.

  • Donald J. Campbell, first African-American NASA Center Director, Cleveland, Ohio.
  • Kenneth D. Gray, Vice President Student Affairs, West Virginia University and first African-American General Officer in the U.S. Army, Judge Advocate General's Corps, Morgantown, West Virginia.
  • The Honorable K. Leroy Irvis, first African-American Speaker of the House in the nation, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

"Dominion is proud to recognize these outstanding honorees," said Jay L. Johnson, president and chief executive officer, Dominion Delivery. "It is our hope that by honoring these superb role models, we can help inspire the next generation of future leaders to emulate the hard work, integrity, and example which made our honorees so successful in their respective fields of endeavor."

Other 2003 Strong Men & Women honorees recently recognized at an awards ceremony in Virginia include: Raymond H. Boone, founder, editor and publisher, Richmond Free Press, Richmond, Virginia; The Honorable Mary T. Christian, first African-American post Reconstruction in Hampton, Virginia House of Delegates, Hampton, Virginia; The Honorable Roger L. Gregory, first African-American Appellate Judge of The 4th Circuit Court of Appeals, Richmond, Virginia; Joe Kennedy, Jr., violinist, educator, composer, arranger and performer and one of the first African Americans in the Richmond Symphony, Richmond, Virginia; Coretta Scott King, civil rights advocate and wife of Dr. Martin Luther King, Atlanta, Georgia; Benjamin S. Ruffin, first African-American of the University of North Carolina Board of Governors, Durham, North Carolina; and The Honorable Belle S. Wheelan, first African-American female president of an Institution of Higher Education and Secretary of Education for Virginia, Richmond, Virginia.

Dominion's Strong Men and Women program, in recognition of Black History Month, celebrates the achievements of distinguished African Americans by providing all public schools and universities, as well as community, government and non-profit organizations throughout our service area, with educational resource materials free of charge. The series can be accessed on the Internet at www.dom.com (keyword strong.)

Dominion has a diversified and integrated energy portfolio consisting of about 24,000 megawatts of generation. Dominion also serves more than 3.8 million franchise natural gas and electric customers in five states. For more information about Dominion, visit the company's Web site at www.dom.com.

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