RICHMOND, Va., Jan. 19, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Dominion, one of the nation's largest energy producers, will honor six renowned African Americans selected for their accomplishments and leadership through its 22nd annual Strong Men & Women: Excellence in Leadership educational series. The awards ceremony is today at 7 p.m. at the Richmond Marriott Hotel.

Strong Men & Women highlights the accomplishments of selected African-American role models and tells their stories in an educational series distributed during Black History Month to more than 3,000 schools across Dominion's natural gas and electric franchise service areas in Virginia, northeastern North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania and West Virginia.

"For the youth who dream about being a fighter pilot, an Olympian, an elected city leader or an educator, we have provided the role models for them," said Thomas F. Farrell II, Dominion president and chief executive officer. "The men and women we are honoring have reached those achievements and are living examples for the next generation of strong leaders."

The 2012 honorees are:

• Jean Murrell Capers* – first African-American female elected to the city council of Cleveland, Ohio.
• Christopher B. Howard – first African-American president of Hampden-Sydney College, Hampden, Va.
• Dwight C. Jones – Mayor of Richmond, Va.
• Shawna Rochelle Kimbrell* – first African-American female fighter pilot, U.S. Air Force, Nellis Air Force Base, Nev.
• Carl B. Mack – executive director of the National Society of Black Engineers, Fort Washington, Md.
• Debi Thomas – first African-American athlete to win an Olympic medal in figure skating, Richlands, Va.
  
   *Attending the Cleveland, Ohio, ceremony Feb 3.

High school juniors and seniors in North Carolina, Ohio and Virginia participated in the Strong Men & Women: Excellence in Leadership student writing contest. The students were invited to write essays about an African-American leader featured in the Strong Men & Women series.

The winners each will receive a notebook computer, and their schools each will receive a $1,000 cash award.

This year's essay winners are:

• Sam Bosley – Langston High School Continuation Program, Arlington, Va.
• Michael Holloman – Granby High School, Norfolk, Va.
• Tianna O'Neal – Charles F. Brush High School, Lyndhurst, Ohio
• Serenity Sanders – SuccessTech Academy, Cleveland, Ohio
• Meagan Swortzel – Turner Ashby High School, Bridgewater, Va.
• Kierra Washington – Thomas Dale High School, Chester, Va.
• Mikel Zeidenstein – Boardman High School, Boardman, Ohio

More information about Strong Men & Women is available on Dominion's website at http://www.dom.com/about/education/strong/index.jsp; a portrait of the individuals being honored is available at http://goo.gl/aWLQG. The winning essays are available online at http://goo.gl/vIk9.  

News editors: Downloadable video b-roll will be available Friday Jan. 20 at http://www.dom.com/about/media-downloads.jsp.   

Dominion (NYSE: D) is one of the nation's largest producers and transporters of energy, with a portfolio of approximately 28,000 megawatts of generation. Dominion operates the nation's largest natural gas storage system and serves retail energy customers in 15 states. For more information about Dominion, visit the company's website at www.dom.com.

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SOURCE Dominion