Jim Hurst, Woody Truitt Named Honorary Members Of Delta Mu Delta

Mar. 10, 2010

Michelle Eubanks, UNA, at media@una.edu, 256.765.4392 or 256.606.2033

FLORENCE, Ala. - Jim Hurst, president of Gobble-Fite Lumber Company in Decatur, and Woody Truitt, entrepreneur and business consultant, will be named honorary members of the Delta Mu Delta international honor society in business administration at a ceremony on campus this afternoon.

Delta Mu Delta, founded in 1913, is the highest national recognition a business student can earn. The honor society, affiliated with the Association of College Business Schools and Programs (ACBSP), fulfills the purpose of promoting higher scholarship in training for business and to recognize and reward scholastic attainment in business subjects. Delta Mu Delta membership provides recognition for a lifetime. Hurst, who grew up in Lawrence County, is a 1955 graduate of Florence State Teachers College (now the University of North Alabama) with a major in accounting and minor in economics. He served in the Military Police Corps in the U.S. Army from September 1955 to September 1957, at which time he was honorably discharged with a rank of 1st Lieutenant. He then worked for the State of Alabama Banking Department as a bank examiner until 1960. Hurst was hired by Gobble-Fite Lumber Company as head bookkeeper Feb. 1, 1960. Since then, he has also served as corporate secretary and treasurer and, since 2002, as president. Hurst was one of the 12 founding directors of First American Bank in Decatur. He served on the bank's board of directors and also as chairman of the bank's Audit Committee for more than 20 years. Truitt, of Florence, is a graduate of the Louisiana State University School of Banking. He also attended NACVA's Accredited Business Valuation Analyst program. Truitt received an MBA degree from Jacksonville State University, which included a semester of studies in the graduate business program at UNA. Truitt is co-owner of two off-campus textbook stores serving UNA. He is also a business consultant through his company TruMarketing. Truitt is owner of a licensed product management company, Brand Management International LLC; a business education company, Business Educators of America; and three Web sites offering licensed products to consumers. Before establishing his consulting business, Truitt spent 18 years with TeeJays Manufacturing Company, holding positions as chief financial officer, chief operations officer, director and sales and marketing and board member. His professional background also includes positions as president and chief executive officer of a federal savings and loan association and president and CEO of a commercial bank. Truitt also holds a real estate broker's license and has developed residential and commercial properties. UNA students named to Delta Mu Delta this afternoon include:

Juniors

ATHENS - William Kirk Shannon FLORENCE - W. Thomas Corum, Jared Fowler, Dillon Hodges, Qingwei Kong, Megan Danielle Mayhall, Christopher M. Michael, Anna Alaine Peck, Emily Lauren Pounders, Heather Unger-Robertson, Minh Pham Thanh Vu and Alesha Marie Willis GOODSPRING, Tenn. - Melanie Carole Smith MUSCLE SHOALS - Shelley F. White SELMER - Chelsea Leigh Campbell SPRUCE PINE - Addie Grissom SULLIGENT - Jordan Roberts TUSCALOOSA - Molly West

Seniors

FLORENCE - Abdulqader AL Showaikhat, Alison Nicole Manning, Jessica E. Sandlin, John P. Sercel, Laurie Lee Johnson and Harshani Kulatunga GARDEN CITY - Crystal Cupp HODGES - Whitney Caress Stidham MUSCLE SHOALS - Jennifer Y. Bragwell and Leann M. Jeffreys PHIL CAMPBELL - Meredith Dawn Glasgow RED BAY - Rebecca Whitehead TUSCUMBIA - Andrew Williams Posey and Rhonda Leigh Stegall

MBA Students

ATHENS - Neelam Acharya BEARDEN, Ark. - Alice Lynn Sullivan BELLEVUE, Wash. - Chiho Lai CARY, N.C. - Edward Victor Zorek CLANTON - Gordon Todd Vaughan DECATUR - Jonathan Cornett Norris EUTAW - Mary Katherine Cannon FLORENCE - Kenneth Melvin Davidson, Mitsutaka Hino, Duy Anh Luong and Xian Zhang HAMPTON COVE - Gary D. Walton HOSCHTON, Ga. - Edward Lawrence Warner HUNTSVILLE - Anh Huy Tran Nguyen MADISON - Brooke Berg MILWAUKEE, Wis. - Bradley O. Browne NORTH FREEDOM, Wis. - Kyle Joel Berra OWINGS MILLS, Md. - Adolf Onwuka Nanyel PULASKI, Tenn. - Tina M. Newell RUSSELLVILLE - Corey Michael Hatton SHEFFIELD - William Christopher Allen STAR, N.C. - Lisa E. Davis STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. - Ryan Michael Callahan TORONTO, Ontario, Canada - Kristi Ann Kennedy WAYNESBORO, Tenn. - Andrew Thomas Helton WINFIELD - Tiffany Estes Overton

About The University of North Alabama

The University of North Alabama is an accredited, comprehensive regional state university offering undergraduate, graduate, and doctoral degree programs through the colleges of Arts, Sciences, and Engineering; the Sanders College of Business and Technology; Education and Human Sciences; and the Anderson College of Nursing and Health Professions. Occupying a 130-acre campus in a residential section of Florence, Alabama, UNA is located within a four-city area that also includes Muscle Shoals, Sheffield, and Tuscumbia. UNA Athletics, a renowned collegiate athletics program with seven (7) Division II National Championships, is now a proud member of NCAA Division I as part of the Atlantic Sun and United Athletic conferences. The University of North Alabama is an equal opportunity institution and does not discriminate in the admission policy on the basis of race, color, sex, religion, disability, age, or national origin. For more: una.edu and una.edu/unaworks/.