The 2008 speaker at Torchnight, 1981 finance graduate Ron Frieson, had a significant career with BellSouth. When TechSouth, the company for which he worked, was bought and integrated into BellSouth’s Advertising and Publishing Group in 1985, Frieson became a BellSouth employee. In 1989 he was named the operations manager for the group and was subsequently named group vice president. He led the international expansion of advertising and publishing in Latin America and directed the online Yellow Pages effort. In 1999 he joined the consumer services division as vice president and general manager for Kentucky and Tennessee, and in 1990 he was appointed vice president and general manager of the New Product Implementation Group for Consumer Services. He was named the company’s first chief diversity officer in 2001. Under his leadership, BellSouth became a sponsor of a Gay Pride Parade, extended insurance benefits to same-sex partners, and formed “networking groups” based on race, ethnicity, gender, and sexual orientation. He was next named vice president of Transition and Strategy for Consumer Services, and then was promoted to president of Georgia operations for Bellsouth. Frieson voluntarily retired when BellSouth and AT&T merged. Following retirement he and his wife, Belinda Stubblefield, established a franchise of Winestyles wine shops in Atlanta and also Landen’s Restaurant. He soon found himself working as interim president of the Atlanta Urban League and, following a successful tenure in that post, became senior vice president for external affairs at Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta. He and his wife established a $300,000 endowment in the Black Cultural Center honoring his grandfather, Charlie Lemmons, an International Harvester employee, who was a major influence in his life. The Charlie Lemmons Endowment supports programs that engage university students to become aware of their heritage and inspire their future.