Bonner Foundation honored as Associate of the Year

RELEASED: February 5, 2009

DANVILLE, KY—At the Associates Dinner of the annual winter Centre College Board of Trustees meeting last week, the College honored The Corella and Bertram F. Bonner Foundation as the 2009 Centre Associate of the Year and Stephen A. Hodges '99 as the 2009 Young Associate of the Year in recognition of their contributions to the College.

"For the past two decades, the Bonner Foundation has been about the business of transforming the lives of hundreds of students and the culture of campus life at dozens of colleges and universities," said Richard Trollinger, vice president for college relations, at the dinner. "It has done so by providing scholarships to students who are committed to community service.

"Centre College is proud to be among the beneficiaries of the Bonner Foundation's philanthropic vision. Our partnership with the Bonner Foundation puts Centre in league with other like-minded colleges and reinforces Centre's mission of educating students for lives of learning, leadership and service," he says

Wayne Meisel, president of the Bonner Foundation, accepted the award. Meisel was on campus last April to publicly announce a $3.55 million endowment awarded to Centre to permanently establish its Bonner Scholar Program. Under the terms of the endowment, Centre will be expected to raise $1.1 million in matching funds against the Bonner Foundation's endowment of $2.45 million for a total endowment of $3.55 million. The College must raise the $1.1 million by August 1, 2010.

[Click here to watch a video of Meisel announcing the gift.]

Hodges is the third Young Associate to be recognized by the College. Born in Zambia, but raised and educated in Zimbabwe, Africa, Hodges came to the United States to enroll at Centre in 1996, following a period of study in London. He excelled in the classroom and on the basketball court and graduated in three years with a degree in economics.

A leader in the classroom, Hodges made the Dean’s List four times at Centre, and he was invited into the membership of Omicron Delta Epsilon, the economics society.

A leader on the basketball court, he set a new conference field-goal percentage record during the 1997-98 season, was named to the All-Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference second team that year, and was co-captain of the team in his senior year.

A leader on campus, he was active in the Black Student Union and served as its treasurer. He also found time to tutor a student from Tolliver Elementary School.

In recognition of his academic achievement, leadership, and community service, Hodges was elected to Omicron Delta Kappa Honor Society.

Hodges served as Centre Young Associates chairperson from 2006 to 2008. In addition to his service to Centre, he has advised the nonprofit venture Ball for All in its efforts to improve opportunities for children in Senegal and the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Following eight years of increasing responsibility in a banking career, Hodges enrolled in the master of business degree program at The University of Chicago's Booth School of Business in September 2007. He will graduate in the spring.

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Founded in 1819, Centre College is ranked among the U.S. News top 50 national liberal arts colleges. Consumers Digest ranks Centre No. 1 in educational value among all U.S. liberal arts colleges. Centre alumni, known for their nation-leading loyalty in annual financial support, include two U.S. vice presidents and two Supreme Court justices. For more, visit http://www.centre.edu/web/elevatorspeech/

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