Office of Public Relations
Missouri Baptist University
One College Park Drive
Saint Louis, Missouri 63141-8698
314.392.2307 / fax 314.392.2265
www.mobap.edu / pr@mobap.edu
For Immediate Release
RE: MBU Bestows Honorary Doctorate to Joyce Pillsbury
MBU Bestows Honorary Doctorate to Joyce Pillsbury
April 30, 2004
Missouri Baptist University conferred undergraduate and graduate degrees to over 370 students at the thirty-second commencement exercises held in St. Louis on April 24. For the first time in fourteen years, MBU awarded an honorary degree during commencement. This year, President R. Alton Lacey presented the distinguished award to long-time philanthropist, Mr. Joyce S. Pillsbury.
Businessman and humanitarian, Mr. Pillsbury has carried on the legacy of his family’s interest in fostering Christian values. His family established the Pillsbury Foundation in 1944 to support organizations working in the areas of religion, education, and health. Recently, Mr. Pillsbury provided generously from the Foundation and his personal giving to make the Pillsbury Chapel and Dale Williams Fine Arts Center a reality at MBU.
A St. Louis native, Joyce Pillsbury graduated from Clayton High School and entered Washington University where he earned a degree in electrical engineering in 1931. He immediately began work at Century Electric Company, a highly successful business founded by his father at the turn of the century, and held its top position of leadership upon his retirement in 1975.
Pillsbury’s impact on health care in the St. Louis community has spanned fifty-seven years. In 1947, he was elected to the Governing Board of Missouri Baptist Medical Center, and eight years later he was elected Chairman of the Board—a position he held for forty years. After retiring as Board Chair he became Chairman of the Board of the Missouri Baptist Health Care Foundation, a position he held until shortly after his 93rd birthday. From 1970 until 1982 he was a member of the Board of Directors of the Hospital Association of Metropolitan St. Louis.
Educational institutions have been a major beneficiary of the Pillsbury magnanimity. From 1956 until mandatory retirement from the Board at age 70, Mr. Pillsbury served on the Board of Curators of Stephens College, chairing the board from 1960 to 1980. Both Pillsbury-Huff residence hall and the Pillsbury Chapel and Dale Williams Fine Arts Center bear his name for his utmost support and financial giving.
Mr. Pillsbury is an active member of Third Baptist Church and has served as Chairman of the Billy Graham St. Louis Crusade and Honorary Chairman for the Crusade in 2000.
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Missouri Baptist University is a premier Christian university in Saint Louis, offering graduate and undergraduate studies in over thirty specialized fields and nine degrees. MBU's education and fine arts programs are nationally known in addition to business, religion, administration of justice, and more. MBU is one of the fastest growing higher education institutions in Missouri with an enrollment of over 4,500 students at five locations in the bi-state region — West County, Lincoln County, Jefferson County, Franklin County and the new Illinois extension at Lewis and Clark Community College.
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