May 20, 1999
Contact: Deborah Lucas, 934-8946
Downloadable photos: www.uab.edu/news
MAYOR OF SAN FRANCISCO,
LOCAL BUSINESS LEADER RECEIVE
HONORARY DEGREES AT UAB JUNE 6
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. " San Francisco Mayor Willie Brown Jr. and Birmingham business leader H. Corbin Day, chairman of Jemison Investment Co., will be honored during graduation ceremonies at 2 p.m. Sunday, June 6, at UAB (University of Alabama at Birmingham) Bartow Arena, 617 S. 13th St. Some 2,058 graduates are expected to receive their degrees during the ceremony. Both Mayor Brown and Mr. Day will receive the honorary degree Doctor of Humane Letters, and Mayor Brown will give the commencement address.
Mayor Brown took office as San Francisco's 40th mayor on Jan. 8, 1996, becoming the first African-American to hold the city's highest office. His successful first-time bid for mayor came after 16 successful re-election bids and a 31-year career in the California legislature, where for the last 15 years of his tenure he was Speaker of the Assembly. Mayor Brown, an avid supporter of education and civil rights initiatives, was described by Newsweek magazine as one of the 25 most dynamic mayors in America. He will share his experiences and perspectives in remarks to the graduates during the UAB ceremonies.
"Mayor Brown's long and productive career as an elected official with a broad constituency is without parallel in the United States," said UAB President W. Ann Reynolds. "The story of his life, from poverty to prominence, is an example of the power of education to transform people's lives. In turn, he devotedly delivered major support to education in California for three decades. He never gives up, and he has always helped the underserved."
Mayor Brown was born into Depression Era poverty in 1934 in Mineola, Texas. Selling shoes and taking on other odd jobs, he worked his way through San Francisco State University in
1955 and went on to earn his Juris Doctor from Hastings College of Law, University of California, in 1958. He built a thriving law practice amid the backdrop of the Civil Rights Era and the tumultuous 1960s before taking public office.
H. Corbin Day grew up in New Jersey and earned his bachelor's degree from Brown University in 1959 and his MBA from Wharton Graduate School of the University of Pennsylvania in 1963. Upon graduation from business school, Mr. Day joined the New York investment banking firm of Goldman, Sachs & Co., where he became a partner in 1971. In 1986, he left Goldman Sachs to become vice chairman and director of Jemison Investment Co. Inc., one of Alabama's largest private companies. In 1988, Mr. Day was named chairman of the board.
Throughout his career, Mr. Day has been heavily involved in a variety of educational and cultural enterprises. In Birmingham, Mr. Day and his wife, Dorothy Jemison Day, and Jemison Investment have been active supporters of the cultural and educational community and have made significant contributions to UAB in support of its role as an academic, cultural and economic leader in the community.
"Through his leadership, Corbin Day has demonstrated the importance, and the success, of bringing together cultural and educational components for the betterment of the entire community," Reynolds said. "He has given tirelessly of his time and business expertise to help UAB move forward and provide ever greater and wider opportunities to our students and all of the members of our community."
A gift from the Days and Jemison Board of Directors was crucial in completing the Alys Robinson Stephens Performing Arts Center and the concert hall named in memory of John S. Jemison, Jr., Mrs. Day's father and founder of Jemison Investment Co. Inc. Mr. Day also has given generously of his time and talents as a member of the UAB President's Council and as a member of the board of directors of the UAB Research Foundation and the Health Services Foundation.
Mr. Day also is a trustee/board member of the Birmingham Museum of Art, the Alabama Symphony, the McWane Center, and Birmingham-Southern College. In addition, he is chairman of the Alabama Symphony Association's Endowment and Chairman of the Art Fund Inc.
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