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2 <br /> ORANGE COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS <br /> PROCLAMATION RECOGNIZING AND HONORING <br /> DR. HAROLD RUSSELL <br /> AS AN ORANGE COUNTY COMMUNITY TREASURE <br /> WHEREAS, Dr. Harold Russell was born in Hillsborough in 1934 and lived in Orange <br /> County until 1960; and <br /> WHEREAS, 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 <br /> States Health Department office located in Chapel Hill; and <br /> WHEREAS, Dr. Russell was subsequently transferred to the Center for Disease Control <br /> (CDC) office in Atlanta, Georgia where he worked for nine years; and <br /> WHEREAS, Dr. Russell and his wife, Margaret Martin Russell, left Atlanta and moved to <br /> Ithaca, New York where Dr. Russell furthered his education at Cornell University with a <br /> Master's degree in immunochemistry as well as a doctorate; and <br /> WHEREAS, Dr. Russell returned to the Center for Disease Control in Atlanta and invested <br /> an illustrious career of 37 total years with the CDC; and <br /> WHEREAS, while at the CDC, Dr. Russell specialized, among many things, on antibody <br /> tests to determine if a person had developed antibodies against a specific antigen as a <br /> component of a virus, and developed the first diagnostic test for Lyme disease, and also <br /> worked on a vaccine for Pneumococcal pneumonia, including inventing a specific <br /> component of the vaccine; and <br /> WHEREAS, during his career at the CDC, Dr. Russell secured two patents as the inventor <br /> and three other patents as a co-inventor; and <br /> WHEREAS, after retirement, Dr. Russell returned to Orange County with Margaret and <br /> they live in Efland on property that has been in his family since 1871; <br /> NOW, THEREFORE, we, the Orange County Board of Commissioners, do hereby <br /> recognize and honor Dr. Harold Russell as an <br /> Orange County Community Treasure <br /> and encourage the residents of Orange County to join with us in expressing gratitude to <br /> Dr. Russell for his work in science and for his dedicated service to the health and well- <br /> being of people worldwide. <br /> This the 15' Day of October, 2024. <br /> Jamezetta Bedford, Chair <br /> Orange County Board of Commissioners <br />