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1 <br /> ORANGE COUNTY <br /> BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS <br /> ACTION AGENDA ITEM ABSTRACT <br /> Meeting Date: October 15, 2024 <br /> Action Agenda <br /> Item No. 8-k <br /> SUBJECT: Proclamation Recognizing and Honoring Dr. Harold Russell <br /> DEPARTMENT: Board of Commissioners <br /> ATTACHMENT(S): INFORMATION CONTACT: <br /> Proclamation Thomas C. Jepsen, Treasurer, Chapel <br /> Hill Historical Society, 919-929-1793 <br /> PURPOSE: To approve a proclamation recognizing and honoring Dr. Harold Russell as an <br /> "Orange County Community Treasure". <br /> BACKGROUND: Dr. Harold Russell was born in Hillsborough in 1934 and lived in Orange County <br /> until 1960. While in high school, Dr. Russell developed a passion for science and carried that <br /> interest with him to North Carolina Central University and subsequently on to the United States <br /> Health Department office located in Chapel Hill. Dr. Russell was subsequently transferred to the <br /> Center for Disease Control (CDC) office in Atlanta, Georgia where he worked for nine years before <br /> attending Cornell University and securing a Master's degree in immunochemistry as well as a <br /> doctorate. <br /> Dr. Russell returned to the Center for Disease Control in Atlanta and developed the first diagnostic <br /> test for Lyme disease, and also worked on a vaccine for Pneumococcal pneumonia, including <br /> inventing a specific component of the vaccine. Dr. Russell ultimately secured two patents as an <br /> inventor and three other patents as a co-inventor while at the CDC. <br /> After retirement, Dr. Russell returned to Orange County with his wife, Margaret Martin Russell, <br /> and they live in Efland on property that has been in his family since 1871. Dr. Russell has served <br /> as a member of the Orange County Board of Social Services, and currently serves as a board <br /> member for the Friends of the Passmore Center. <br /> The Chapel Hill Historical Society has requested a Board proclamation recognizing and honoring <br /> Dr. Russell as an "Orange County Community Treasure". Commissioner Jean Hamilton is <br /> scheduled to present the proclamation to Dr. Russell at the Historical Society's annual Community <br /> Treasures celebration on Saturday, November 9, 2024 from 2:00-4:00 pm at the Seymour Center <br /> on Homestead Road in Chapel Hill <br /> FINANCIAL IMPACT: There is no financial impact associated with consideration of the <br /> proclamation. <br /> ALIGNMENT WITH STRATEGIC PLAN: There are no Orange County Strategic Plan Goals <br /> applicable to this item. <br /> RECOMMENDATION(S): The Manager recommends that the Board approve and authorize the <br /> Chair to sign the proclamation recognizing and honoring Dr. Harold Russell as an "Orange County <br /> Community Treasure". <br />