MEHARRY HONORS PRESIDENT, BOARD MEMBER WITH SALT WAGON AWARD
John Maupin Jr. and Rabbi Randall Falk Honored atTenth Annual Circle of Friends Gala, co-chaired by HCA's Jack O. Bovender Jr. and Nashville Community Leader Simone Sheats
April 7, 2006 

NASHVILLE, Tenn. - When Dr. John Maupin and Rabbi Randall Fall arrived at the Tenth Annual Circle of Friends Gala on April 6, only one of them expected to go home with Meharry Medical College's most prestigious award - but the College had other ideas.

In a surprise presentation, Meharry Board of Trustees Chairman Milton Jones and Vice Chairman Aubrey Harwell Jr. conferred the Salt Wagon Award on Maupin, president of Meharry since 1994.

"I can't believe I'm speechless," said the usually erudite Maupin as Jones and Harwell were joined on the Hilton Downtown Nashville stage by other Board of Trustee members in making the presentation.

Earlier in the evening, Falk - also a Trustee of the College and Rabbi Emeritus of The Temple in Nashville - received the award, which is presented for acts of kindness and commitment to the mission of Meharry. Falk was the key individual whose vision helped launch The Circle of Friends in May 1997. Comprised of respected business, community and civic leaders, including Meharry alumni, administrators and faculty, The Circle of Friends provides annual support to the historically black health professions school.

In making the surprise presentation to Maupin, Harwell cited some of the highlights of his 12-year presidency: Student pass rates on national qualifying board exams are the highest in the College's history; sponsored research and research-related funding has quadrupled from $9 million in 1994 to almost $36 million today; new centers to research health disparities in women's health, HIV/AIDS and optimal health have been created; and Meharry's capital campaign generated $127.5 million, the second highest total to-date raised by any historically black college or university in the country. The tenth gala marked the first gathering of The Circle of Friends since the conclusion of the campaign this past June.

In March, Maupin announced he will be leaving Meharry June 30 to assume the presidency of another historically black health professions institution, Morehouse School of Medicine in Atlanta. Although he is leaving the presidency of Meharry, he said, he will continue to be a supporter. "I'll continue to be a Circle of Friends member, and will be back for future Circle of Friends events," he said.

Co-chairing the Tenth Annual Gala were Jack O. Bovender Jr., chairman and chief executive officer of HCA Inc., the nation's leading provider of health care services, and Simone Sheats, noted for her community leadership in Nashville and wife of Meharry alumnus Jimmy B. Sheats, D.D.S., Class of 1974.

In an emotional musical tribute, musician-songwriter-arranger Jerry Peters performed his "Going in Circles," a hit for the Friends of Distinction in the early 1970s. Peters is a personal friend of Maupin and has spent his 30-plus-year career working with luminaries such as Kirk Whalum, Quincy Jones, Gladys Knight, Luther Vandross, Diana Ross, Patti LaBelle, Marvin Gaye and many others.

The Salt Wagon Award takes its name from the circumstances that led to the founding of the College. In the 1820s, a teenaged Samuel Meharry was alone, hauling a wagonload of salt through the wilderness. As night was approaching, his wagon became mired in mud, unable to go further.

A free black family - whose name was never known - helped young Samuel by putting him up for the night, providing him with food and helping him free his wagon the next morning. As Sam Meharry so often said in recounting what he told his rescuers, "I have no money now, but when I can, I will repay you.or members of your race."

Fifty years later, when the Methodist Church and the Freedmen's Aid Society were seeking support to establish a medical college that would train the recently freed slaves to be physicians, Sam Meharry remembered his pledge. He and his four brothers contributed approximately $30,000 in cash and property to establish the Meharry Medical Department of Central Tennessee College, the forerunner to Meharry Medical College.

Leading supporter for the Tenth Annual Circle of Friends Gala was Titanium Sponsor HCA Inc. Additional support was provided by Silver Sponsors BellSouth, Diversified Trust, Ingram Industries, Merrill Lynch and Porter-Walker LLC; Bronze Sponsors Oseman Insurance Agency, Chubb, Taliafaro Inc. and Xerox; and additional sponsors Baptist Healing Trust, Matthews Medical Books and O'Charleys.

Meharry Medical College is the nation's largest private, independent historically black institution dedicated solely to educating health science professionals. The College is particularly well known for its uniquely nurturing, highly effective educational programs; preeminence in health disparities research; culturally sensitive, evidence-based health services; and significant contribution to the diversity of the nation's health professions workforce. Black Issues in Higher Education's ranking of institutions annually lists Meharry as a leading national educator of African Americans with M.D. and D.D.S. degrees and Ph.D. degrees in the biomedical sciences.

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Meharry Medical College is the nation’s largest private, independent historically black institution dedicated solely to educating minority and other health professionals. The College is particularly well known for its uniquely nurturing, highly effective educational programs; emerging preeminence in health disparities research; culturally sensitive, evidence-based health services; and significant contribution to the diversity of the nation’s health professions workforce. Black Issues in Higher Education’s ranking of institutions annually lists Meharry as a leading national educator of African Americans with M.D. and D.D.S. degrees, and Ph.D. degrees in the biomedical sciences.