Posted by Mary Wimberley on 2006-02-15

Lexmark International, Inc., founder Marvin Mann received Samford University School of Business' first Ethics-in-Business Award Tuesday (FEB. 14).

Mann accepted the award from Samford School of Business Dean Dr. Beck Taylor at a breakfast gathering of the Birmingham chapter of the Samford Business Network at the Birmingham Museum of Art.

In the future, the honor will be named the Marvin Mann Ethics-in-Business Award.

The award, said Taylor, will recognize individuals who embody professional achievement and personal integrity, who display an uncommon commitment to leadership through service, and who have left their marks of influence on institutions and industries without compromising Christian virtue or charity.

Mann, a Birmingham native and 1954 Samford graduate, worked 32 years with IBM before helping to found Lexmark in 1991. After leading the company as CEO and chairman until 1999, he continues as chairman emeritus. He is also chairman of the Independent board of Directors of Fidelity Mutual Funds.

"He has gained a reputation among his peers as one who has consistently demanded honesty and accountability from co-workers and managers in his work at IBM, Lexmark and Fidelity," Taylor said of Mann.

Lexmark is a developer, manufacturer and supplier of printing solutions to customers in offices and homes worldwide. In 2005, the company reported $5.2 billion in revenue.

The presentation was repeated later Tuesday morning during a student convocation on the Samford campus.

Mann and his wife, Frances, also a Birmingham native, live in Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla.

 
Samford is a leading Christian university offering undergraduate programs grounded in the liberal arts with an array of nationally recognized graduate and professional schools. Founded in 1841, Samford is the 87th-oldest institution of higher learning in the United States. Samford enrolls 5,791 students from 49 states, Puerto Rico and 16 countries in its 10 academic schools: arts, arts and sciences, business, divinity, education, health professions, law, nursing, pharmacy and public health. Samford fields 17 athletic teams that compete in the tradition-rich Southern Conference and ranks 6th nationally for its Graduation Success Rate among all NCAA Division I schools.