Alan Horton is 2015 Humanitarian of the Year

Hodges University has selected retired newspaper executive and community leader Alan M. Horton as its 2015 Humanitarian of the Year. The award will be presented during a luncheon event on Thursday, March 12, 2015, at The Ritz-Carlton Beach Resort, Naples.

“The Humanitarian of the Year Award Luncheon has become a highly anticipated, respected and celebrated event,” said Philip M. Memoli, Vice President of University Advancement for Hodges University. “This annual award recognizes those citizens who exemplify the spirit of benevolence and public service in the Naples community. This is the 19th year in which Hodges has bestowed the award upon a local individual or couple.”

Alan Horton

A native of Delaware, Horton has held leadership roles with several important civic organizations in Naples. He is immediate past chair of the Community Foundation of Collier County and immediate past president of the Yale Club of Southwest Florida. He also is a past president of the Forum Club of Southwest Florida Inc. and was a founding director and past Chairman of the Education Foundation of Collier County, now known as Champions for Learning. He also chaired the ConnectNow steering committee. Horton also previously served on the boards of the local YMCA and David Lawrence Center.

In 2012, Horton and his wife, Beverly, were recognized with the Heart of the Apple Award from the Education Foundation for their tireless efforts to help local students.

Horton also was honored in 2013 as the Naples Daily News Outstanding Citizen of the Year, which is presented each year at the Greater Naples Chamber of Commerce banquet.

Horton is a prize-winning newspaper reporter, editor, publisher and Washington correspondent and is a member of the Indiana Journalism Hall of Fame. Horton most recently served as senior vice president of newspapers for The E.W. Scripps Co., the Cincinnati-based parent company of the Naples Daily News. Prior to that, he served as editor of the Daily News from 1987 to 1991, helping to guide the community during rapid and challenging growth. Also during Horton’s tenure, the local newspaper switched from an afternoon to morning publication and became a major metropolitan daily. Horton began his newspaper career as a student at North Central High School in Indianapolis.

During the summer months of his high school and college years, he worked at five papers in the state. Upon graduation from Yale in 1965, he joined the Cincinnati Post to begin an association with Scripps that would last for more than 30 years. After coming to the Daily News in 1987, the American Society of Newspaper Editors named the Daily News one of the nation’s top 10 newspapers with circulation less than 50,000.

Horton was a member of the boards of the Newspaper Association of America (NAA), the American Press Institute and the Foundation for American Communications. He also is a past chairman of the American Society of Newspaper Editors Ethics Committee. He also was chairman of the NAA’s Board Committee on Industry Development with the principal mission of horizon watching for threats to and opportunities for the industry.

Upon his retirement in 2004, Horton served three and a half years as chairman of the Scripps Howard Foundation, the corporate foundation of The E.W. Scripps Company.

“As evidenced by his extensive career and local community service, Alan M. Horton is deeply committed to education and the betterment of youth in our community,” said David Borofsky, interim president of Hodges University. “We are delighted to recognize him for all these years of service by naming him as our 2015 Humanitarian of the Year.”

Horton joins a growing list of local business and community leaders selected by a committee comprised of prior Humanitarian of the Year recipients to receive the award. Previous award recipients include J. Dudley Goodlette (2014), John R. Wood (2013), William and Nancy Lascheid (2012), Dolph and Sharon von Arx (2011), Juliet C. “Judy” Sproul, Katherine “Katie” Sproul and Jennifer Sproul Sullivan (2010), Terry and Christine Flynn (2009), Jerry and Arlene Nichols (2008), Truly Nolen (2007), Michael Watkins and Ellin Goetz (2006), Clyde Butcher (2005), Peter Thomas (2004), William Schoen (2003), Frances Pew Hayes (2002), Earl Hodges (2001), Corbin Wyant (2000), Jack
Humphrey (1999), Myra Janco Daniels (1998), and Lavern Norris Gaynor (1997).

For his enduring support of the local community, for fostering hope in those afflicted by despair, for proving that the promise of tomorrow’s future never means forsaking the past, and for demonstrating the degree to which a family can make a positive difference when times most demand it, Hodges University is pleased to recognize Alan M. Horton as its 2015 Humanitarian of the Year. Horton will be formally recognized at an award luncheon event on March 12, 2015, at 11 a.m. at The Ritz-Carlton Beach Resort, Naples.

The Humanitarian of the Year Award Luncheon is being generously underwritten by Baird, an employee-owned, international wealth management, capital markets, private equity and asset management firm with offices in the United States, Europe and Asia.

“Baird is delighted to be the presenting sponsor of this prestigious event, which aligns well with our longstanding tradition of giving back to the communities in which we live and work,” said Mike Prioletti, Senior Vice President and Branch Manager of Baird’s Naples office.

“We join Hodges University in recognizing the valuable contributions of Alan M. Horton and the many generous community citizens honored
before him.”

Individual tickets cost $175 per person. For more information on ticket reservations or sponsorship opportunities, call Adrianna Buitrago
at 239.598.6235 or www.hodges.edu.