Mercer Alumni Association Recognizes Columbus's Black for Service

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Mercer's Alumni Association honored Thomas Black (right) with the 2012 Meritorious Service Award. Accompanied by his wife, Doris, hHe was presented with the award at halftime of the Homecoming game.

MACON, GA (11/21/2012)(readMedia)-- Mercer University's Alumni Association recognized Thomas B. Black, of Columbus, with the 2012 Meritorious Service Award at the University's Homecoming. The award is presented to a supporter, alumnus or alumna of Mercer who has demonstrated his or her support of the Alumni Association and the University through his or her contribution of time, talents and financial resources.

A native of Knoxville, Black is a 1954 graduate of Baylor University and a life trustee of Mercer, serving several terms on the Board of Trustees since 1980. After graduating from Baylor, Black served two years in the Army before he went to work at his father's snack foods business. The company was acquired in 1960, and Black went on to work at what later became Tom's Foods, moving to Columbus and serving as executive vice president for 14 years. After taking early retirement, Black formed the TDJ Co., owning and operating several food establishments. He retired from this career in 1999 and served until 2006 as administrator of the Bradley-Turner Foundation, a top 10 private foundation in Georgia, which has helped to fund several projects at Mercer.

Black has had a tremendous impact on the Columbus community, serving in leadership positions with several non-profit organizations, including Columbus State University, which awarded him an honorary doctorate, and as a long time deacon at the First Baptist Church of Columbus.

About Mercer University

Founded in 1833, Mercer University is a dynamic and comprehensive center of undergraduate, graduate and professional education. The University enrolls more than 8,300 students in 11 schools and colleges – liberal arts, law, pharmacy, medicine, business, engineering, education, theology, music, nursing and continuing and professional studies – on campuses in Macon, Atlanta and Savannah – and four regional academic centers across the state. The Mercer Health Sciences Center launched July 1, 2012, and includes the University's medical, nursing and pharmacy schools and will add a fourth college – the College of Health Professions – on July 1, 2013. Mercer is affiliated with four teaching hospitals - Memorial University Medical Center in Savannah, the Medical Center of Central Georgia in Macon, and The Medical Center and St. Francis Hospital in Columbus. The University also has educational partnerships with Warner Robins Air Logistics Complex in Warner Robins and Piedmont Healthcare in Atlanta. It operates an academic press and a performing arts center in Macon and an engineering research center in Warner Robins. Mercer is the only private university in Georgia to field an NCAA Division I athletic program. www.mercer.edu

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