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Florida Southern alumnus
receives Distinguished Graduate Award
Frederic Ruffner launched greeting card company

LAKELAND, Fla. (Feb. 28, 2002) - Florida Southern College honors alumnus Frederic "Rick" Gale Ruffner, a 1979 graduate, at its Founders Day convocation March 15 at 10:10 a.m. in Branscomb Auditorium. Ruffner will receive the Department of Business and Economics Distinguished Graduate Award.

Ruffner is president and publisher of Avanti Press, Inc., which produces a popular line of greeting cards featuring photos of children and animals in humorous poses. He founded the company in 1980 and became its only employee. Since then it has grown to a staff of 72, distributes to 12,000 national outlets and dealers in more than a dozen countries overseas, and averages annual sales of $10-20 million. Avanti has earned its reputation for excellence in printing and product innovation, collecting over 50 graphic and product awards during the past 10 years.

About Florida Southern College
Florida Southern is a four-year, private, co-educational liberal arts college affiliated with the United Methodist Church. The college offers more than 40 undergraduate majors and a master of business administration degree accredited by the Commission on Colleges of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools. Located in Lakeland, Fla., the college is home to the largest, single-site collection of Frank Lloyd Wright architecture in the world.

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