Release date: May 16, 2003
Contact: Deb Hammacher, Associate Director, University Media Relations,
at 404-727-0644 or dhammac@emory.edu

Leadership and Service Net $20,000 Award for Emory Graduate

Service and leadership have defined the college career of Emory University senior and past student government president Christopher Richardson. His dedication and hard work did not go unnoticed by the university, which named Richardson the 2003 McMullan Award recipient – $20,000, no strings attached.

The Lucius Lamar McMullan Award, endowed by Emory alumnus William L. Matheson in honor of his uncle, is given to a graduating senior who exhibits "outstanding citizenship, exceptional leadership and potential for service to his or her community, the nation and the world." The donor’s intention is to allow a student to do something he or she wouldn’t otherwise be able to do.

"I have had an incredible, wonderful experience at Emory, and I am humbled to have received one of the university’s greatest honors," says Richardson, who hasn’t yet decided what he’ll do with his award.

As president of Emory’s Student Government Association the 2002-03 school year, Richardson oversaw a 14-person cabinet, a three-person staff and $1.7 million budget, and represented 11,000 students to the university community and administration. He also served as Emory College Council president his junior year.

In keeping with his community service and campus leadership, Richardson was a member of the inaugural class of the Kenneth Cole Fellowship for Community Building and Social Change, a rigorous year-long program designed to prepare students to be effective community leaders.

"The Kenneth Cole Fellowship built upon what I learned in other courses, and put it into action, making me even more committed to working on issues of community building and social change for the greater good," Richardson says. So committed, in fact, that Richardson will work with low-income cancer patients in Atlanta for the next year with former Georgia Gov. Roy Barnes and Atlanta Legal Aid. To do so required giving up a Bobby Jones Scholarship, one of Emory’s most coveted awards for a full scholarship for a post-graduate year abroad at the University of St. Andrews in Scotland, Emory’s sister institution.

Since arriving on campus as a freshman, Richardson says he has worked to take advantage of the many opportunities available at Emory. Majoring in both history and political science, Richardson has accrued numerous academic and community service awards. This past year, he was a Rhodes Scholar state finalist, and last year he was named a Truman Scholar and received one of Emory’s Humanitarian Awards, which recognize undergraduate and graduate students who embody the spirit of volunteerism and sense of community – both on campus and off.

A survivor of bone cancer, Richardson has been active with the American Cancer Society and Camp Happy Days and Special Times, serving as a counselor to children with cancer, as well as a fund-raiser and spokesperson for the organization.

He also is a member of the Society of African-American Leaders, a group for high achieving students with leadership potential, and is a member of the presidential search committee that will find a successor to Emory President William M. Chace, who is retiring to the faculty.

Richardson is the son of Catherine Richardson-King and Richard King of Charleston, S.C. (29412), and a graduate of James Island High School.

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