Two awarded Shufords
Two Catawba College trustees have been honored as recipients of the prestigious Adrian L. Shuford Jr. Award for Distinguished Service.
Presentations to Claude B. Hampton Jr. of Salisbury and James L. Williamson of Charlotte were made during the colleges annual Presidents Circle Dinner held to recognize the institutions major donors.
The award is given each year to the individual who has played a major role in supporting the college and its programs through time, talent and resources.It was established in 1983 in honor of trustee emeritus Adrian L. Shuford Jr. of Conover, who died in 2000.
Catawba College President Dr. Robert Knott cited Hampton and Williamson as men who have greatly enhanced the institution by their willingness to commit to long-term service on the board. He said both had enjoyed very successful careers in the business world and are role models to be emulated.
The attributes which made them successful in business a strong work ethic, diplomacy and professionalism have also made them successful as trustees of Catawba College, Knott said.
Both Hampton and Williamson are strong supporters of the institution.Each has established a First Family Scholarship and avidly supports various capital and endowment campaigns as well as Catawbas athletic programs.
Hampton, who was born in Newton and grew up in Statesville, served in the U.S. Air Force during World War II and was decorated with the Air Medal with three oak leaf clusters.After his military service, he attended Catawba and earned a degree in business in 1948.
A year later, Hampton joined Nabisco and advanced through the Biscuit Divisions field selling organization before being named vice president of sales in 1976. In 1978, he was elected vice president of Nabisco Inc. and president of the Biscuit Division.In 1981, he was named to the additional position of senior vice president and group executive, Nabisco Brands U.S.A.
In 1985, he was named executive vice president at Nabisco, but that same year, he elected instead to take early retirement and accept an invitation to join the Catawba College Board of Trustees.He and his late wife, Edith, moved back to Salisbury from New Jersey where they had made their home, and Hampton also began serving Catawba as an adjunct professor of business education.
A former director for Chubb Life Insurance Co., Hampton has served on a variety of other business boards. In 1986, Catawba awarded him an honorary doctor of laws degree.
Hampton earned his masters degree in marketing from the School of Business and International Marketing at Syracuse University and a degree from the advanced management program at Harvard University.
He is father of two adult children and two grandchildren.
Williamson, a North Carolina native who was raised in Forest City, is a 1954 alumnus of Catawba.He earned his undergraduate degree in accounting and went on to obtain his M.B.A. from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
Williamson was a certified public accountant at Peat, Marwick, Mitchell and Co. of Charlotte and eventually became a partner in that firm.
Williamson has served as president of Catawbas Alumni Board and as a member of the Business Advisory Council of the Ketner School of Business and the Planned Giving Advisory Board.He chaired the Charlotte Alumni Campaign Organization during Catawbas Campaign for Excellence and served on the Campaign Steering Committee of another capital effort.He was a member of the Presidential Search Committee in the early 1990s.
In 1987, Catawba honored Williamson with its Distinguished Alumnus Award and tapped him for service on its Board of Trustees.In 1993, Catawba awarded him its O.B. Michael Award.
He is involved in numerous professional organizations. He was a member and president of the Charlotte Athletic Club and a member of the Charlotte Chapter of Certified Public Accountants, the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants, the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants and the N.C. Association of Certified Public Accountants.He also served on the Board of Advisors for Providence Day School.
Williamson and wife Joanne, are parents of two daughters and are members of Hawthorne Lane United Methodist Church in Charlotte.
Hampton and Williamson are the 27th and 28th recipients of the Shuford Award. Others and the year in which they received the award include Dr. Theodore P. Leonard, 1983; Enoch A. Goodman, 1984; Clifford A. Peeler, 1985; James F. Hurley, 1986; Ralph W. Ketner, 1987; Elizabeth C. Stanback, 1988; Roy E. Leinbach, Jr., 1989; Frances H. Johnson, 1990; Patricia P. Rendleman, 1991; Mariam Cannon Hayes, 1992; Tom E. Smith, 1993; Claude S. Abernethy, Jr., 1994; Millard F. Wilson, 1995; Fred J. Stanback, Jr., 1996; Paul E. Fisher, 1997; Daniel E. Kirk, 1998; Mary O. Dearborn, 1999; Wilson L. Smith, 2000; Marion M. Richard, 2001; J. Fred and Bonnie Corriher, 2002; William C. Stanback, 2003; Jacqueline C. Leonard, 2004; Charles Taylor, Jr., 2005; Newton O. Fowler and C.A. Junie Michael III, 2006.