June 12th Banquet Will Honor Five Notable U of M Alumni
For release: May 24, 2004
For press information, contact Gabrielle Maxey

Five individuals will receive the University of Memphis Alumni Association's highest honors at a gala June 12 at The Peabody. Dan Palmer, Margaret Craddock, and Harold Byrd will be recognized as Distinguished Alumni; Reggie Howard will be named Outstanding Young Alumnus; and Billy Hicks will receive a posthumous award as Distinguished University Friend.

A reception will begin at 6:30 p.m., followed by the dinner and program at 7:30. The evening also will feature a silent auction and retro-inspired entertainment by the Bouffants. Proceeds will benefit scholarships and programs of the Alumni Association.

Palmer, founder of EFS Inc. and co-chief executive officer of Concord EFS, credits his alma mater for much of his success. He returned the favor in 2002 by creating the Suzanne Downs Palmer Professorship Fund for the University's Fogelman College of Business and Economics. Funds from the endowment are used to reward outstanding professors in the Fogelman College.

Concord EFS processes ATM, debit-card and point-of-sale transactions. Last year the company processed almost 7 billion transactions. Palmer founded EFS in 1982 as a subsidiary of Union Planters to provide credit card authorization, data capture and settlement services to retailers and cash-card and cash-forwarding to truck companies at truck stops.

Palmer has received a number of accolades for his leadership of the company, including his selection by Investor's Business Daily as one of the nation's top 10 CEOs. He began his career as an accountant for Deloitte and Touche in New York before becoming chief financial officer for Bayer Corp.'s Arkansas chemical firms.

Byrd is co-founder and vice chairman of the Bank of Bartlett Companies, including Bartlett Mortgage and Bartlett Travel. The Bank of Bartlett opened in 1980 and has grown to become the 17th largest bank in Tennessee. Bartlett Mortgage opened in 1983, and Bartlett Travel followed in 1987.

Byrd served three terms in the Tennessee House of Representatives from 1976 to 1982, elected as a Democrat from one of the most Republican districts in the state. From 1982 to 1984 he was a special assistant to U.S. Sen. James Sasser. Byrd is a past president of the U of M Alumni Association and Tiger Clubs and is a member of the advisory board of the Fogelman College of Business and Economics.

He serves on the board of Youth Villages and has been involved with the American Heart Association and the Memphis and Shelby County Music Commission. Byrd is a founding member of the Memphis Race Relations and Diversity Institute.

Craddock has been executive director of the Metropolitan Inter-Faith Association since 1997. MIFA is a vast social service and community development organization with a $12.5 million budget that supports some 20 programs. It provides food for the hungry, assists people with emergency payment of utility bills, finds jobs for needy teens, acts as an advocate for the elderly, and supports a variety of community initiatives.

Craddock was instrumental in establishing Estival Place, a program that offers transitional housing and job- and life-skills training to help homeless families become self-sufficient. She was MIFA's associate executive director from 1992-97 and director of housing and legal affairs from 1988-92. She earned a master's degree in urban anthropology and a law degree from the U of M.

Howard's story is truly one of perseverance. Now a member of the Miami Dolphins, he was the starting cornerback for the NFL's Carolina Panthers in Super Bowl XXXVIII against the New England Patriots. That has to be considered quite a feat for a player who was a walk-on at the U of M.

The real miracle is that the former Tiger could walk at all. In a U of M game against the University of Alabama at Birmingham, Howard took a knee to his helmet and broke two vertebrae. Doctors didn't think he would play again.
Not only did he recover from the neck injury, he was also a walk-on with Carolina and ended up playing in the Super Bowl last January.

Hicks, who died in February, was founder, owner, and president of Hicks Convention Services and Special Events. The company creates award-winning events, meetings, trade shows and conventions throughout the U.S. Hicks coordinated everything from boat shows to a black-tie Liberty bowl dinner, the Memphis in May Barbecue Cooking Contest and the Blues Ball.

In December 2003 he organized a New Orleans parade in recognition of the U of M's first bowl appearance in more than 30 years. For his support of Tiger athletics, Hicks was inducted into the M Club Hall of Fame in 2001, receiving the Dr. C.C. Humphreys Golden Tiger Award.

Hicks donated time and money to dozens of charities, including the Make-a-Wish Foundation, St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, the International Children's Heart Foundation and the Variety Club of Memphis. He lent his creativity to such events as the Muscular Dystrophy Association's Labor Day Telethon, United Cerebral Palsy's Great Chef's Tasting Party, and the Shrine Circus.

For reservations or more information about this year's event, call 901-678-5314.

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