• Ray LaHood was born December 6, 1945. He is the grandson of an immigrant from Lebanon and the son of a restaurant manager. LaHood worked his way through high school and college attending Spalding High School, Canton Junior College, and Bradley University from which he graduated in 1971 with a B.S. degree in Education and Sociology. He taught junior high students in Catholic and public schools for six years, served as the Chief Planner of the Bi-State Metropolitan Planning Commission and Director of the Rock Island County Youth Services Bureau, and as District Administrative Assistant for Congressman Tom Railsback.
• After serving in the Illinois State House of Representatives in 1982, Ray worked for U.S. House Republican Leader Robert Michel as District Administrative Assistant and, for four years, Chief of Staff. Ray succeeded Mr. Michel upon his retirement in January of 1995.
• Among the awards Ray has received are: the Ellis Island Medal of Honor; the Chamber of Commerce's Spirit of Enterprise award; the Farm Bureau's Friend of Agriculture award; the Guardian of Small Business award from the National Federation of Independent Business; the Thomas Jefferson Award from Food Distributors International; the Guardian of Medicare Award from the United Seniors Association; and the Tax Fighter Award from the National Tax-Limitation Committee.
• Ray's service activities include the Board of Trustees of Gallaudet University; Congressional Board of Advisors for the Congressional Youth Leadership Council; the presidency of the Spalding Institute and Notre Dame High School Boards; service on the boards of Children's Hospital, Peoria Area Retarded Citizens, and the Central Illinois Chapter of the American Red Cross; former president of the Bradley University National Alumni Board; the Peoria Area Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors; the Economic Development Council Board of Directors; a founding member of the Heartland Water Resources Council; a member of the Illinois River Strategy Team; the ITOO Society; and the Downtown Rotary Club of Peoria.
• Ray is married to Kathy, and they have four children: Darin, Amy, Sam, and Sara. The LaHoods are members of Holy Family Catholic Church in Peoria.

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Mitchell, George   ex- United States Senator

• George Mitchell's career has been an American success story. He was born on Aug. 20, 1933, in Waterville, Maine, the fourth son of George Mitchell, a day labourer, and Mary Saad, his Lebanese immigrant wife.
• He progressed steadily though college and law school, studying at night and working as an insurance adjuster by day. After receiving his bachelor's degree from Bowdoin College in 1954, he served as an officer in the U.S. Army Counter Intelligence Corps until 1956. In 1960 he earned a law degree from Georgetown University. Mitchell later became U.S. Senator (D-Maine)1980--1995, Senate Majority Leader 1989-1995 and Special Advisor on Northern Ireland since 1995.
• He gained nationwide attention as one of six Democrats on a special Senate committee investigating the Iran-Contra affair during the Ronald Reagan administration, facing down the telegenic mastermind of the scandal, Oliver North.
• His political career, includes his 1974 gubernatorial campaign, as senator from Maine, six years of service as Senate majority leader, and his work in disarmement in Northern Ireland.
• A liberal Democrat from Maine who became leader of his party in the Senate in 1988, he stunned his colleagues in March 1997 when he announced he would not seek re-election.

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Moore, Sam   Owner of Thomas Nelson Publishers

• In 1950, a poor Lebanese teenager, 19-year-old Sam Moore, immigrated alone to America. His English was as broken as his prospects for the American Dream. Eventually, Moore would purchase one of the oldest and most respected publishing companies in Britain, Thomas Nelson Publishers. Under his direction, Thomas Nelson would become one of the leading Bible publishers in the world and would contribute to the developing successes of such best-selling nonfiction authors as Robert Schuller and Zig Ziglar. Watching his company being listed in 1995 on the New York Stock Exchange, Moore was many smiles and tears from Idlewild Airport in New York City -- just across town -- where he first entered the country in 1950 with only $600 to his name. Moore can testify loudly that the American Dream is neither myth nor fact. It is opportunity.
• In his book "American by Choice, The Remarkable Fulfillment of an Immigrant's Dream" (Thomas Nelson Publishers, $14.99), you can feel his driving nature : "They did not know how hard I worked and the amount of hours and sweat I put out during the summer, the dogs that jumped on me, the doors that were slammed in my face. But that was nothing compared to the joy and rewards I found in what I had been able to achieve."

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Mouawad, Robert   World Class Jeweler and Entrepreneur

• The story of the House of Mouawad is the tale of an empire built on glittering jewels, superlative craftsmanship and an appreciation for a unique aesthetic.
• After 20 years travelling the US to study the most modern working methods of watchmaking, goldsmithing and jewelery, David Mouawad returned to his native Lebanon to set up his own jewelery boutique in Beirut. His son, Fayez, continued the work of his father, expanding the business into Saudi Arabia.
• Grandson Robert Mouawad, an inspired jeweler and acute businessman in his own right, has created an empire built on the foundations of the family tradition. In a mere 30 years, he has succeeded in transforming a family story into an internationally successful group in some of Europe and the world's most prestigious addresses, associating Mouawad with the great names of late 20th century jewelery.

Mouawad Jewelers means 16 offices across the globe, 8 factories, 16 showrooms in the Middle East, 37 in Asia and 1,400 employees.

The name also means some of the most prestigious addresses in Europe; Geneva, Paris, St. Jean Cap Ferrat and Munich. It stands for 107 years of history which have given soul to a range of products which transcend all borders. Following the Mouawad family's generous donation of 6.8 million dollars, the new world headquarters of the Gemological Institute of America (GIA) in Carlsbad, California, has been named The Robert Mouawad Campus.

Partly a tribute by the three Mouawad brothers, Fred, Alain and Pascal, to their father, it was also their recognition of the institute's contribution to the world of gemology. Two of the brothers studied there and know that the GIA is an international benchmark in the world of precious stones and offers the best possible training in the field.

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