This year’s IVAN ALLEN CLUB SERVICE AWARD was presented to STEPHEN R. HENNESSY.  He has been active member of the club since joining in 2000.

In 2007-08 Steve served as Vice President of Club Service. The next year he chaired the Membership Committee and this year the Program Committee.  Under his leadership both committees raised the bars to new levels.  You can see him at almost every Monday meeting making sure everything is running smoothly.

For many years has Steve has made sure that Hennessy Automobiles has sponsored every event held by the Club from our Prayer Breakfast in the fall to our Spring Outing, usually held at Brookhaven.

The 2010 FRED HOYT HOSPITALITY AWARD recipient is ROBERT E. HOPE.  Bob is president of Hope-Beckham, and a 40-year veteran of the public relations and event marketing industry.  Since joining the Rotary Club of Atlanta in 2007 and he has jumped in and embraced our mantra “never say no” and he always says it with a big smile.  He personifies “southern hospitality”.

Bob headed up the committee selecting our Legends Award recipients this year.  He served on our Program Committee, assisted with planning and implementing our Rotary International site visit for the 2017 international convention.  Next year he will be serving as the Host family for our Georgia Rotary Student.  He serves on our International Committee and Troop Support. 

Bob can be seen weekly in the lobby before meetings greeting, shaking hands and talking to members and guests alike as they come in. 

J. NEAL PURCELL was presented with this year’s MARION COLLIER ROSS LEADERSHIP AWARD.  This award, named after our deceased member, General Marion Collier Ross, is presented to the member exhibiting the highest moral and ethical leadership.

Neal has been a member since 1987, is a past president and board chair, and has served several terms on the board.  This past year he served on the Club’s board, as a Trustee of our Charitable Foundation of the Rotary Club of Atlanta and was a member of our 2017 International Convention Bid Committee.  He also served as Co-Chair of the Oversight Committee for our 2013 – 100^th Anniversary Committee.

Neal, retired Vice-Chairman of KPMG, serves as a director for the Southern Company, Synovus Financial Corporation and Kaiser Permanente.  He is also a charter member of Georgia Gov. Sonny Perdue's Commission for a New Georgia, a small group of business leaders who were asked by the governor to develop new processes and procedures to improve efficiency in state government. In that capacity, he chaired a special task force the governor appointed to review and make recommendations to improve the transportation system in Georgia.