HBCU Honorees
Edwin Moses
Dr. Edwin C. Moses, born on August 31st 1955 in Dayton Ohio, is an Olympic Champion, sports administrator, diplomat and businessman. He attended Morehouse College on an academic scholarship and participated on the track team.
Morehouse College did not have a track, so Moses trained for the 1976 Olympic Trials on Atlanta public high school tracks. At his first Olympics, the 1976 Montreal Games, Moses won the 400 meter hurdles in an Olympic and World Record time of 47.63. Moses then won 122 straight races between August 1977 and May 1987. That winning streak remains unbeaten and still stands in the Guinness Book of Records.
Moses contributed immensely to the sport as an administrator where he developed and championed policies against the use of performance enhancing drugs. In 1989, together with a few other athletes, he made a public stand against performance enhancing drugs and pioneered the development, administration and implementation of random in-competition drug testing systems.
In 1994, Moses received a Masters in Business Administration from Pepperdine University. In 2000, he was elected as the inaugural Chairman of the Laureus World Sports Academy in London, and held the position for 16 years. In 2009, the University of Massachusetts conferred upon Edwin the distinguished degree of Doctor of Science in recognition of his lifelong contribution to ensuring the integrity of amateur sports and his leadership of the Laureus World Sports Academy.
Juanita Baranco
Juanita Baranco, raised in Shreveport, Louisiana, is
Co-Founder and COO of Baranco Automotive Group. She earned her BS and JD degrees from Louisiana State University. With her JD degree, she had a successful law career and served as the Assistant Attorney General for Georgia.
She would eventually switch from law to business when she and her husband, Gregory, started a car dealership in 1978. They were one of the first African-American owned car dealerships in Atlanta.
Juanita also served on the Board of Directors for Georgia Power Company and as Independent Director of Southern Company.
In addition to being a lawyer and business owner, Juanita has also been heavily involved in education. She served from 1985-1991 on the Georgia State Board of Education and served as Chairman of the Dekalb County (GA) Education Task Force.