Awards, Apr 05, 2001

The following awards have been presented for work in management, philanthropy, and volunteerism:

Community service. Alice and Leigh Gerdine have received the second Jane and Whitney Harris Saint Louis Community Award for a husband and wife who have improved the St. Louis region with their philanthropic work. Mr. Gerdine helped establish the Opera Theatre of St. Louis, and was president of Webster University (Webster Groves, Mo.) for 20 years. Ms. Gerdine was a founding mentor of the local Reading Is Fundamental program and serves on the boards of many of the city’s arts organizations. The couple designated their $25,000 prize for the St. Louis Black Repertory Company.

Disabled. The Child Welfare League of America (Washington) has named the Judson Center (Royal Oak, Mich.) as the recipient of the 2000 National Organization on Disability/Aetna Award for Disability Rights, which has a $1,000 honorarium. The center’s Living In Family Environments program helps arrange placement, training, and financial support for poor foster families to take in children with developmental disabilities, using the government funds they receive as foster parents to allow them to stop receiving welfare funds.

Philanthropy. The William E. Simon Foundation (Morristown, N.J.) awarded the inaugural Prize in Philanthropic Leadership to John T. Walton, and the first Prize in Social Entrepreneurship to Peter M. Flanigan. The Prize in Philanthropic Leadership recognizes a donor whose contributions had significant results, and awards an honorarium of $250,000 to the winner’s charity or charities. Mr. Walton, a director of the Wal-Mart Stores (Bentonville, Ark.), received the award for his work and his gift of $50-million in seed money to establish the Children’s Scholarship Fund, which offers scholarships for low-income students to attend private elementary and secondary schools. The Prize in Social Entrepreneurship honors an innovator who has improved people’s lives and includes $250,000 to the winner for unrestricted use. Mr. Flanigan, an adviser at UBS Warburg (New York), was chosen for founding the Student/Sponsor Partnership, in which a mentor provides financial and academic support for a low-income student to attend a private high school. Ninety percent of participating students go on to higher education.

Public service. The Advertising Council (New York) has presented its 2001 Public Service Award to Roger Enrico, chief executive officer and chairman of the board for PepsiCo (Purchase, N.Y.). The award recognizes business leaders who demonstrate commitment to community service and volunteerism. Mr. Enrico has asked that his annual salary be reduced to $1 so that the extra funds could be spent on “front line” employees, prompting his company to put an additional $3-million into its scholarship program for children of employees earning less than $60,000 a year.