Crisp named Friend of the University

Harry L. Crisp II, chairman and chief executive officer of Pepsi MidAmerica, has been named the 2005 Friend of the University by the Southeast Missouri University Foundation.

The award will be presented Saturday at the annual President's Council foundation dinner at the Show Me Center.

The award recognizes those who support the plans and programs of the university, foundation officials said. It is the highest honor bestowed by the foundation.

Crisp's Pepsi-Cola bottling company in Marion, Ill., is one of the largest privately owned Pepsi bottling and distributing operations in the nation.

Crisp is a charter member of the foundation board of directors. He and his wife, Rosemary, are also charter members of the President's Council, the foundation's organization to recognize major donors. Crisp chaired the council for more than a decade.

Last year, the Crisps made a seven-figure donation to help fund future construction of the Southeast Missouri Regional Museum at the River Campus.

Dr. Ken Dobbins, university president, said the Crisp family has long been a major supporter of the school. The Crisps made a six-figure contribution to Southeast in 1984 to expand and renovate the building that houses the nursing program.

The Crisp family donated a former bottling plant in Malden, Mo., to Southeast in 1987 for development of the Crisp Bootheel Education Center.

"Harry L., like his predecessors, has demonstrated an unrelenting commitment and interest in Southeast Missouri State University, its programs and mission," Dobbins said.