Florida Southern College - Motivational speaker Tom Harken visits FSC campus

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Motivational speaker Tom Harken visits FSC campus

Winner of Horatio Alger award speaks at convocation

LAKELAND, Fla. (Oct. 3, 2006) — Tom Harken, founder, chairman and CEO of Tom Harken and Associates, will speak to the FSC campus during the college’s convocation on Wednesday, October 4, 2006. The event will take place at 10:10 a.m. in Branscomb Auditorium.

Harken travels extensively around the country to promote literacy and educational achievement. Stricken with polio and tuberculosis as a child, Harken was forced to drop out of school and grew up functionally illiterate. Despite these setbacks, he progressed from selling shoes and vacuum cleaners to become a successful businessman, forming his own company, Tom Harken & Associates of Beaumont, Texas. The company has interests in real estate and restaurants, and employs over 800 people in one of the Southwest’s most successful restaurant chains, Casa Ole.

In 1992 Harken was one of only 10 Americans to receive the prestigious Horatio Alger Award, presented annually to individuals who have succeeded in spite of adversity. Other winners that year included Dr. Maya Angelou, Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger, former Secretary of Agriculture John Block and Blockbuster Video and sports magnate H. Wayne Huizenga.

About Florida Southern College
Founded in 1885, Florida Southern College is a private, comprehensive, United Methodist college with a liberal arts core. The college maintains its commitment to academic excellence through 38 undergraduate majors and distinctive graduate programs in business administration, education, and nursing. Florida Southern has a 13:1 student/faculty ratio, provides strong student/faculty mentorship programs, boasts 25 NCAA Division II national championships, and is ranked by U.S. News and World Report as one of the top ten Southern Comprehensive Colleges-Bachelor’s institutions and by the Princeton Review as a “Best Southeastern College.” Located on scenic Lake Hollingsworth, Florida Southern is the home of the world’s largest single-site collection of Frank Lloyd Wright architecture.

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