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Hank Aaron and Ted Turner Named 2010 Georgia Trustees – Inducted February 2010 in Savannah

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Savannah, GA—September 1, 2009.  The Office of the Governor and the Georgia Historical Society (GHS) will honor baseball legend Henry Aaron and Ted Turner, CNN Founder and Chairman, Turner Enterprises, Inc., as new Georgia Trustees at GHS’ Georgia Days Birthday Bash and Awards Gala, in Savannah on Saturday, February 13, 2010.  Mr. Aaron and Mr. Turner are being recognized for their historic achievements, philanthropic contributions, and vast community service that have played such an important part in the story of Georgia.  They are two of the most important Georgians in post-World War II America.

“We are pleased to continue this ongoing partnership with the Governor’s office to honor distinguished Georgians,” said W. Todd Groce, GHS President and CEO.  “In being named new Georgia Trustees, Mr. Turner and Mr. Aaron will be receiving the highest honor Georgia can bestow on its citizens.”

In conjunction with the Governor’s Office, the Georgia Historical Society reconstituted the Georgia Trustees as a way of recognizing Georgians whose accomplishments and community service reflect the highest ideals of the founding body of Trustees.  The original Georgia Trustees, a governing body chartered and appointed by His Majesty King George II of England in 1732 to establish a new colony in North America, founded the Georgia colony upon the principle of Non Sibi, Sed Aliis, “Not for Self but for Others.”  They established and governed the colony with this vision until their disbandment in 1752 when Georgia became a royal colony.  Reestablished in 2009, the Governor will make an annual appointment of new Trustees whose history-making accomplishments and service reflect the original Trustees’ ideals.  Mr. Aaron's and Mr. Turner's names will be placed on the roll with the original Trustees from 1732.

The Georgia Historical Society’s annual Georgia Days Birthday Bash and Awards Gala will take place on the Riverfront in Downtown Savannah and will include dinner, dancing, and a lively and entertaining discussion with Mr. Aaron and Mr. Turner.  The Gala concludes GHS's Georgia Days, two weeks of educational offerings and events designed to bring history to life for Georgia’s schoolchildren. For ticket information please call 912.651.2125.

Henry L. Aaron is recognized as one of the true greats in Major League Baseball history. Aaron’s major league playing career spanned 23 years with the Milwaukee and Atlanta Braves and the Milwaukee Brewers.  His 755 home runs stood as the major league record for 33 years.  He was named an all-star twenty-five times, was named the National League's Most Valuable Player and World Series MVP with the Milwaukee Braves in 1957, won the National League’s Gold Glove Award three times, and received the Lou Gehrig Memorial Award in 1970.  When he retired after the 1976 season, his career statistics included records for home runs, RBIs, total bases, and extra base hits.  His contributions on and off the field continued the struggles against segregation begun by Jackie Robinson in 1947.

Mr. Aaron, a native of Mobile, Alabama, was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1982 as one of the highest ranking nominees in its history.  In 1999 he was named to the Major League Baseball All-Century Team and the editors of The Sporting News ranked Aaron fifth on their list of "Greatest Baseball Players."  

Mr. Aaron serves as corporate vice president of community relations for Turner Broadcasting, as a member of the TBS Board of Directors, vice president of business development for the Airport Network, and senior vice president of the Atlanta Braves.  In 1991 he published his autobiography, I Had a Hammer: The Hank Aaron Story, which became a best-seller.  Today he owns a BMW dealership in Atlanta and several restaurant franchises.

Mr. Aaron also serves on the board of Retail Ventures, Inc., Medallion Financial Corporation, and the Atlanta Falcons.  He is a member of the Board of Governors for Boys and Girls Clubs of America and is a member of the Board of Councilors of the Carter Center.  Along with his wife Billye, he is the founder of the Hank Aaron Chasing the Dream Foundation.  Aaron has received numerous civic awards, including the Medal of Freedom in 2002, awarded by President Bush, and the Presidential Citizens Medal, awarded by President Clinton.

Throughout his career, Robert Edward "Ted" Turner has received recognition for his entrepreneurial acumen, sharp business skills, leadership qualities and his unprecedented philanthropy.  He has stepped into the international spotlight with one accomplishment after another. Whether in billboard advertisement, cable television, sports team ownership, sailing, environmental initiatives or philanthropy – Turner’s vision, determination, generosity and forthrightness have consistently given the world reason to take notice.

Turner began his career as an account executive with Turner Advertising Company and entered the television business in 1970 when he acquired Atlanta independent UHF station channel 17. In 1976, he purchased Major League Baseball's Atlanta Braves and launched TBS Superstation, originating the "superstation" concept. The following year, Turner Broadcasting acquired the National Basketball Association's Atlanta Hawks, and in 1980, launched CNN, the world's first live, 24-hour global news network.  Over the next two decades, the company built a portfolio of unrivaled cable television news and entertainment brands and businesses.

Turner has also made his mark as one of the most influential philanthropists in the US.  He is chairman of the Turner Foundation, Inc., which supports efforts for improving air and water quality, developing a sustainable energy future, safeguarding environmental health, maintaining wildlife habitat protection, and developing practices and policies to curb population growth rates; co-chairman of the Nuclear Threat Initiative, which works to close the growing and increasingly dangerous gap between the threat from nuclear, chemical and biological weapons; and chairman of the United Nations Foundation, which promotes a more peaceful, prosperous and just world.  He also created the Captain Planet Foundation to help educate children about environmental issues.

He is chairman of Turner Enterprises, Inc., which manages his business interests, land holdings and investments, including the oversight of two million acres in 12 states and in Argentina, and more than 50,000 bison head. Along with his partner Longhorn Steakhouse founder George McKerrow, Turner launched the Ted’s Montana Grill chain, which operates more than 55 restaurants nationwide.  

He is also the recipient of numerous honorary degrees, industry awards and civic honors, including being named Time magazine’s 1991 “Man of the Year,” Broadcasting and Cable’s “Man of the Century,” American Humanist Association’s “Humanist of the Year” and one of Time magazine’s “100 Most Influential People.”

To learn more about Georgia Trustees, the 2010 Birthday Bash and Awards Gala, the scheduled educational events and offerings for the 2010 Georgia Days, and upcoming GHS programs please go to www.georgiahistory.com.