March 21, 2005

Malugen, Morris to speak at annual Helen Keller Lecture at Troy University

Movie Gallery Chief Executive Officer Joe Malugen and Dr. Robert Morris, president of the Helen Keller Foundation for Research and Education, will deliver the 10^th annual Helen Keller Lecture at Troy University April 5.

The lecture is scheduled to begin at 10 a.m. in the Claudia Crosby Theater on the Troy Campus. There is no charge for admission and the public is invited to attend.

The Keller lecture is designed to promote awareness of people who excel in their chosen fields despite physical limitations. The lecture is sponsored by Troy University , the Alabama Department of Education, the Alabama Institute for the Deaf and Blind, the Alabama Department of Rehabilitation Services and the Helen Keller Eye Research Foundation. Others who have presented the lecture include Erik Weihenmayer, the first blind person to climb Mt. Everest; Heather Whitestone, the first Miss America with a disability; and former U.S. Sen. Howell Heflin, a friend of the Keller family.

Malugen, a native of Bonne Terre , Mo. , serves on the Board of Directors of the Helen Keller Foundation.  He co-founded Movie Gallery, Inc. in Dothan in 1985, and today, the company owns and operates 2,400 video stores in 50 states, Canada and Mexico .

Malugen was selected 1995 Retail Entrepreneur of the Year in the Southeast United States by Ernst and Young, Merrill Lynch and Inc. magazine. He holds a bachelor’s degree in business administration from the University of Missouri , a juris doctorate degree from Cumberland School of Law at Samford University and master of laws degree in taxation from New York University School of Law.

Dr. Morris, a board certified ophthalmologist, is recognized nationally for treatment of severe eye injuries and surgery of the macula, the center of vision. A graduate of Purdue University and the University of Alabama School of Medicine, Dr. Morris went on to complete a residency at The Eye Foundation Hospital/University of Alabama in Birmingham . He later completed retina fellowships at the University of Cologne, West Germany and the Bascom Palmer Eye Institute in Miami , Fla.

Dr. Morris holds seven patents related to eye care and is co-founder of the Retina Research Foundation of Alabama, The Eye Injury Registry of Alabama, the Helen Keller Eye Research Foundation and the United States Eye Injury Registry. In 1995, he received the Migel medal from the American Foundation for the Blind for greatest voluntary contribution by an individual to the field of blindness. Dr. Morris is currently president o the International Society of Ocular Trauma and serves as professor of ophthalmology at UAB.

In addition to the lecture, a forum for parents of children with disabilities will be held at 7 p.m., April 5. The forum, which is designed for parents of children ages birth to 21, will be held in the Raines Auditorium of the Tine W. Davis Field House. Guest speakers for the event will be Jimmy Mathews, director of special education for the Troy City Schools, Jim Chance, special education teacher for Troy City Schools and Karen Berry, director of special education for Pike County Schools.

Various activities designed to enhance awareness of the disabilities are also scheduled from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Wednesday, April 6, near the Trojan Center .