McKinney High School announces 2006 Distinguished Lions Inductees

by PegNews wire

PRESS RELEASE — The McKinney High School Traditions Committee is proud to introduce the 2006 Distinguished Lions inductees. Honorees this year include Carolyn Pitts Corbin, Carey Cox and Clem Daniels.

Carolyn Corbin, MHS class of 1965, is president of the Center for the 21st Century, which provides speeches, executive briefings, consulting, and organizational training in critical 21st Century issues. As an internationally renowned socioeconomic futurist, author, and speaker, she has been spotlighted in over 400 TV, radio, Internet, and periodical interviews including ABC, CBS, and NBC affiliates, CNN, the Gannett newswire and United Press International throughout the United States, Europe, and Asia.

Among her honors and awards, Carolyn has been named Distinguished Alumna, University of North Texas; Most Impressive American presented by the Toastmasters of Peru; Professional of the Year presented by the American Society for Training and Development; and Texas Role Model for Entrepreneurial Women, named by the Texas Federation of Business & Professional Women’s Clubs, Inc.

Carolyn has written three award winning, best-selling business books and a fourth book, which is her first work in the Christian category. Her third book, Great Leaders See the Future First, has been named to the top five of The Business Success Store’s “best of the best” 2006 Million Dollar Leadership Books from Amazon.com by The Empowered Business. The book has also been named by The Business Book Bookstore & Review as one of the “100 Best Business Books for 2006 from Amazon.com.” Publishing rights have been sold to Great Leaders See the Future First in Korea and China and translated into their respective languages. Great Leaders See the Future First is being used in such graduate schools of business as California State University and in universities as far away as the University of Zululand, South Africa.

Carolyn is the daughter of the late Ben and Orene Pitts of McKinney and has been married for thirty years to Ray W. Corbin, Jr.

William Carey Cox, MHS class of 1958, was a civic and education leader in Collin County. One of three who identified the need for a community college in Collin County, Carey co-chaired the committee whose task was to gather the necessary signatures to call for an election to create a college district. He was a founding member of the Collin County Community College Board of Trustees, serving as Chairman for fifteen years until his death. He also chaired the McKinney Education Foundation from 1995-1998 and under his leadership an excess of 2 million dollars was raised to form the foundation that currently presents annual scholarships to graduating seniors from MISD high schools. He was also a founding member of the McKinney-Ex Students Association.

His civic achievements and honors include being a Paul Harris Fellow and past president of Rotary International, chairman of the Greater Dallas Board of Realtors, recipient of the prestigious Stemmons Service Award honoring a member who best exemplifies the highest standard of commercial real estate and community service, chairman of the Collin County United Way, and honorary chairman for the Heard Museum Gala and Red Cross fund raisers. He was an active volunteer for Boy Scout Troop # 303 and a faithful member of First United Methodist Church of McKinney. In 2001 the McKinney Chamber of Commerce honored him as Citizen of the Year, and in December of that year he was privileged to carry the Olympic torch on its way to the Winter Olympics.

Carey Cox was a devoted husband, father of five and grandfather of nine.

Clem Daniels, Doty High School class of 1955, played professional football for nine seasons. Daniels was a high school football coach when he joined the Dallas Texans in 1960 as a reserve defensive back. After being released by the Texans, he signed as a free agent with Oakland in the middle of the 1961 season. Clem was inserted into the Raider lineup late in the 1961 season and blossomed as an offensive halfback. In his seven year time span wearing the silver and black, he was able to make quite a name for himself in Raider history: he’s third all-time in career rushing yards (5,103); he led the Raiders in rushing six straight years (1962-67). He still holds the Raiders single-game record for best average gain per catch at 57.3 (he caught three balls for 172 yards v. Buffalo, 09/15/1963). His 14 career 100-yard rushing games are second only to Marcus Allen (22). He was named to the AFL All- Star team five times from 1963-1967. In 1963, Sporting News named him the Most Valuable Player in the American Football League. He led the AFL in rushing that year with an average of 5.1 yards per gaining 1099 yards. Clem became the first thousand-yard rusher in Oakland Raiders’ history; he was the all-time leading rusher in the American Football League, and he was selected to the All-Time All-AFL Team.

At Prairie View A&M, Clem earned All-Conference honors his sophomore and junior years, and captained the NAIA National Championship team his senior year. Clem graduated with honors from Prairie View A&M in 1959 and is currently the National Alumni President. He was voted into Prairie View's Hall of Fame in 1992 and the California Black Athletic Hall of Fame in 1993.

Clem Daniels established many entrepreneurial ties in Oakland before retiring from football. He quickly came to the forefront of the business community when he became the state president, on three separate occasions, of the Cal Pac Trade Association that includes all of the beverage stores, bars and restaurants owned by African Americans in California and Nevada. Clem was a driving force behind the establishment of and the raising of $1.6 million in funds for the Cal Pac State Scholarship Fund, which helps inner-city students in California. He has over thirty-eight years experience in business management, marketing, and development.

This year’s Distinguished Lions were inducted at halftime of the MHS/Frisco Centennial football game on Nov. 10. The school also unveiled memorabilia from each honoree at the high school.

For more information about the McKinney High School Distinguished Lion contact Kathy Livezey at McKinney High School at 469-742-5700 or by e-mail at klivezey@mckinneyisd.net.