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Lonnie S. McMillian, Jr. (born 1928) is an entrepreneur and philanthropist who was co-founder and Sr. Vice President of Engineering at ADTRAN, co-founder and Chairman Emeritus of the HudsonAlpha Institute for Biotechnology and President of the Alpha Foundation.

Early life and Education

Lonnie S. McMillian, an entrepreneur and philanthropist, was born on July 27, 1928 in Clinton, S.C. to Mr. Lonnie S. McMillian, Sr. and Mrs. Emily Phillips McMillian. He graduated in 1950 from Presbyterian College in Clinton, where he earned a degree in Business Management. In 1955, Lonnie received an Electrical Engineering degree from Georgia Tech.

Career, investments and philanthropy

Lonnie's first job out of college was at Radiation Inc. (later acquired by Harris Corporation) in Melbourne, Florida. In 1967, Lonnie moved to Huntsville, AL, where he took a job at SCI. In 1986, he joined Mark C. Smith and the team that founded ADTRAN, where he served as VP of Engineering until his retirement in 2001. Lonnie, along with his daughters and wife, Helen, founded the Alpha Foundation in ____. The foundation provides grants to human health, scientific and other charitable organizations. In 2005, he co-founded the HudsonAlpha Institute for Biotechnology with Jim Hudson. Through the Alpha Foundation, Lonnie donated $80 million to help create the nonprofit genomic research institute. To honor his contributions, the HudsonAlpha Board of Directors created the Lonnie McMillian Inspiring Excellence Fund, raising $2.5 million in about one year. The money was raised to help establish a research talent fund at HudsonAlpha. Lonnie, a lifetime entrepreneur, has invested in many start-up companies, including HudsonAlpha-based EGEN, Serina Therapeutics and

Family

On July 2, 1955, Lonnie married Emily Phillips. They had three daughters, Barbara McMillian Fisk, Emily McMillian Robertson and Susan McMillian Whitehead.

References

Bloomberg BusinessWeek, Executive Profile Alpha Foundation http://www.alphafoundationhsv.org/ Huntsville Times Donors give $2.5 million to Lonnie McMillian Inspiring Excellence Fund, 4/26/13 Birmingham Business Journal Big Biotech Deals 12/25/05