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Millard Fuller
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SPRINGFIELD, Ohio – Determined to make a difference in the world, millionaire businessman Millard Fuller said goodbye to his fortune in 1976 to found what former President Bill Clinton called “the most successful continuous community service project in the history of the United States,” Habitat for Humanity International.
At 5 p.m. Friday, Feb. 9, members of the Wittenberg University and Springfield communities will have the opportunity to learn more about Fuller’s journey when he presents a special talk in Hollenbeck Hall’s Ness Family Auditorium on campus.
Sponsored by the Wittenberg chapter of Habitat for Humanity, Clark County Habitat for Humanity, Wittenberg’s Office of the President and the Pastor’s Office, the presentation will highlight Fuller’s life of service to humanity. A graduate of Auburn University and the University of Alabama School of Law at Tuscaloosa, Fuller initially founded a marketing firm with a friend while in school. His business expertise and entrepreneurial drive made him a millionaire by age 29, but his marriage, health and integrity were compromised as a result of his success.
Desiring to change the course of his life, Fuller and his wife Linda decided to sell all their possessions and seek out a new path for their life together. Their search eventually led them to establish Habitat for Humanity International, a non-profit organization, which has become a world leader in addressing the issues of poverty housing. Since 1976, Habitat volunteers have helped to build more than 150,000 homes around the world with families in need. Fuller also recently founded the Fuller Center for Housing, which raises funds for housing efforts around the globe.
The recipient of numerous awards, including the Martin Luther King Humanitarian Award and the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest award bestowed upon a civilian, Fuller has also authored nine books about his life’s work, including The Theology of the Hammer, Love in the Mortar Joints and Building Materials for Life.
By:Karen Gerboth '93
019-07
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