CMU President Dr. George Eugene Ross to Speak Saginaw Future Annual Awards Luncheon

Saginaw, MI, February 13, 2014 --(PR.com)-- Saginaw Future Inc. (SFI) will be celebrating its 22nd Annual Awards Luncheon that will feature Dr. George Eugene Ross, president of Central Michigan University. He will highlight CMU’s growing presence and leadership in Saginaw County, the Great Lakes Bay Region and across the state.

Dr. George Eugene Ross became the 14th president of Central Michigan University in 2010. Dedicated to student success and academic excellence with a commitment to transparency, Dr. Ross brings a strong financial and educational background; a thorough understanding of CMU’s financial resources, operations and cultural environment; and a vision to enhance the growth, rich tradition and student-centered focus that have been CMU’s hallmark for more than 120 years. Central Michigan University is one of the 100 largest universities in America, yet still delivers a small-campus environment and student services.

Prior to assuming the CMU presidency, Dr. Ross served as President of Alcorn State University, founded in 1871 as the nation’s first public historically Black land-grant university. Before his appointment as president, he held the positions of Vice President for Finance and Administrative Services at Central Michigan University, Executive Vice President at Clark Atlanta University and Executive Vice Chancellor at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga.

The Saginaw Future 22nd Annual Awards Luncheon will be held on Friday, February 21, 2014 at TheDow Event Center - Unity Hall, 303 Johnson Street. Registration begins at 11:00 a.m. with a lunch and program to follow at 11:30 a.m. Tickets are available for $40.00 per person. To register please email sgray@SaginawFuture.com, call 989-757-2109 or go to http://event.celebrations.com/saginaw-future.

Saginaw Future will be honoring 30 projects from 2013 valued at more than $186 million that created and retained more than 1,100 jobs. These projects represent significant clusters of economic growth in several communities and include new investment across Saginaw County.

Established in 1992, Saginaw Future Inc. (SFI) is a public-private alliance of local businesses, the County of Saginaw, City of Saginaw, 14 local municipalities and the Saginaw County Chamber of Commerce. SFI’s strategic partners also include education, labor and government. Since its beginning, SFI has remained dedicated to fostering quality job creation through expansion of local industry and attraction of new business projects to the community. www.SaginawFuture.com

Established in 1892, Central Michigan University, located in Mount Pleasant, was originally founded as a school for teacher and business education. Since then, this doctoral research university has grown to become one of the nation’s 100 largest public universities and the fourth largest in Michigan, with more than 21,000 students on its Mount Pleasant campus and another 7,000 enrolled online and at more than 60 locations worldwide.

CMU offers 200 academic programs at the undergraduate, master’s, specialist and doctoral levels, including nationally recognized programs in entrepreneurship, journalism, music, audiology, teacher education, psychology and physician assistant. CMU’s unique offerings also include the only meteorology major in Michigan and the only bachelor’s degree concentration in microscopy in the nation. CMU also has established a College of Medicine, which opened in 2013. www.cmich.edu