Three picked for S.C. Business Hall of Fame

South Carolina Business Journal, Nov 01, 1998

Ingram Industries chairman Martha Rivers Ingram, entrepreneur George Dean Johnson, and the late McKesson & Robbins executive, William J. Murray Jr., have been named to the South Carolina Business Hall of Fame. They will be honored at the Business Hall of Fame's 15th annual banquet May 27 at the Adam's Mark Hotel in Columbia.

The Business Hall of Fame honors South Carolinians who serve as champions of free enterprise and role models for tomorrow's business leaders.

Ingram, a Charleston native, heads Nashville-based Ingram Industries and is a major shareholder in 812 billion Ingram Mirco, the largest computer wholesaler in the world. Ingram grew up in Charleston, graduated from Vassar and worked for her father's radio station, WCSC, prior to her marriage to the late Bronson Ingram.

A Spartanburg resident, Johnson is founder and president of several businesses, among them Extended Stay America, the fastest growing company-owned and operated lodging chain in American history. He was also president of Blockbuster Video, chairman of the State Development Board and president of the South Carolina Chamber of Commerce.

A Columbia native, Murray was president of his family's Murray Drug Co. when it merged with McKesson & Robbins. He joined McKesson & Robbins in New York as vice president, was promoted to president and then to chairman and chief executive officer. He was director of General Foods Corp. and International Paper Co. After retiring in 1964, he returned to Columbia. He died in 1972.