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William Aramony

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William J. Aramony (July 27, 1927 – November 11, 2011) was CEO of United Way of America for more than twenty years. He helped build United Way into the largest charitable organization in the United States. He retired in 1992 amid a scandal that led to criminal charges of fraud and financial mismanagement, for which he was subsequently convicted in 1995 and sentenced to prison.

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58-638: Aramony was born in Jewett City, Connecticut . His parents, Russell and Nazley Farrah Aramony, emigrated to the United States from Lebanon , and he was the youngest of their five children. He grew up in Worcester, Massachusetts , graduated from Clark University in 1949 and matriculated at the Boston College Graduate School of Social Work , where in 1951 he earned a master's degree. Aramony married

116-434: A $ 5 million lawsuit against UWA, claiming he was denied earnings and retirement benefits that were due him. UWA counter-sued and a United States district court issued a split decision which both parties appealed. The Second Circuit Court of Appeals reversed a portion of the lower court's decision: United Way of America owed Aramony $ 2.4 million in pension benefits, less UWF's $ 2.02 million award against Aramony. After subtracting

174-411: A 53-count Federal indictment charging that they had defrauded their organization of $ 1.2 million. A secondary issue that was not litigated was the alleged sexual harassment committed by William Aramony. He was accused of pressuring numerous office workers to have sex with him, though no such accusations were ever formally filed. According to the indictment, he propositioned female employees and offered

232-472: A female householder with no husband present, and 44.4% were non-families. 34.2% of all households were made up of individuals, and 11.4% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.27 and the average family size was 2.92. The population in the borough was spread out, with 23.9% under the age of 18, 9.7% from 18 to 24, 34.8% from 25 to 44, 18.7% from 45 to 64, and 12.9% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age

290-523: A graduation gift for LuAnn. Rina Duncan, Aramony's assistant, stated that after Aramony began dating Villasor, "he would run up big bills for airplane flights and entertainment." Ms. Duncan admitted that she had altered Aramony's expense accounts for seven years by substituting the names of clients for Ms. Villasor's name and charging UWA for personal luxury items given to Ms. Villasor. At one point, Villasor threatened to leave Aramony if Duncan continued to work for him. Time magazine notes that Aramony found

348-561: A lease on 21,000 square feet of newsroom and studio space in the Promenade Central building on Peachtree Street, planning to complete its relocation by the end of the year. In 1996, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution was the first newspaper to report on Centennial Olympic Park bombing hero Richard Jewell being accused of actually being the bomber, citing leaked information from the Federal Bureau of Investigation . Even after Jewell

406-642: A lieutenant. Aramony began in 1954 as a staff planner for the South Bend, Indiana Community Chest . Four years later, he was hired as a local executive in Columbia, South Carolina , then Miami, Florida where he was known as a superb fund raiser and enthusiastic promoter for the charities he represented. He was hired as CEO of the national governing body, the United Community Funds and Council of America (UCFCA) in 1970. He began an organizational makeover and

464-413: A northern suburb of Atlanta. In November 2010, the company donated its former downtown headquarters to the city of Atlanta, which plans to convert the building into a fire and police training academy. In February 2024, the newspaper announced it would return its headquarters to midtown Atlanta after nearly 14 years, citing a desire "to be at the beating heart of the city" it is named for. The company signed

522-538: A position "for Duncan at Partnership Umbrella, the U.W.A. spin-off company that he would use to fund his affair with Villasor." According to court documents, Aramony was also seeing another UWA employee between 1987 and 1991. Aramony purchased half ownership of a race horse, Stylish Affair, in her name and was alleged to have spent $ 125,576.92 to purchase a Florida condominium for her use until her retirement in May 1991. He also allegedly used $ 10,000 of United Way funds to furnish

580-628: A settlement there in 1771. According to the United States Census Bureau , the borough has a total area of 0.8 square miles (2.1 km ), of which 0.7 square miles (1.8 km ) is land and 0.04 square miles (0.10 km ), or 4.00%, is water. As of the census of 2000, there were 3,053 people, 1,337 households, and 743 families residing in the borough. The population density was 4,213.9 inhabitants per square mile (1,627.0/km ). There were 1,464 housing units at an average density of 2,020.7 per square mile (780.2/km ). The racial makeup of

638-503: A year. Its equipment was donated to what was then known as Georgia School of Technology , which used it to help launch WBBF (later WGST, now WGKA AM 920) in January 1924. In late 1947, the Constitution established radio station WCON (AM 550). Subsequently, it received approval to operate an FM station, WCON-FM 98.5 mHz, and a TV station, WCON-TV, on channel 2. But the 1950 merger with

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696-489: Is presented for noteworthy and extraordinary service to youth on a national basis. During his tenure, United Way receipts rose from $ 787 million in 1970 to more than $ 3.1 billion in 1990 ($ 1.04 billion in 1970 dollars). Aramony and his wife, Bebe were separated in 1988. In 1990, there were UWA office rumors about Aramony's liaisons with a teenage girlfriend on vacations in Paris, London and Cairo. An anonymous note on UWA letterhead

754-519: Is the result of the merger between The Atlanta Journal and The Atlanta Constitution . The two staffs were combined in 1982. Separate publication of the morning Constitution and the afternoon Journal ended in 2001 in favor of a single morning paper under the Journal-Constitution name. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution has its headquarters in the Atlanta suburb of Dunwoody, Georgia . It

812-516: The Constitution ' s Doug Marlette . Editorial cartoonist Mike Luckovich received Pulitzer Prizes in 1995 and 2006. Cynthia Tucker received a 2007 Pulitzer Prize for Commentary . The Atlanta Journal was established in 1883. Founder E. F. Hoge sold the paper to Atlanta lawyer Hoke Smith in 1887. After the Journal supported presidential candidate Grover Cleveland in the 1892 election, Smith

870-625: The Daily Intelligencer , the only Atlanta paper to survive the American Civil War . In August 1875, its name was changed to The Atlanta Daily Constitution for two weeks, then to The Constitution again for about a year. In 1876, Captain Evan Howell (a former Intelligencer city editor) purchased the 50 percent interest in the paper from E. Y. Clarke and became its editor-in-chief. That same year, Joel Chandler Harris began writing for

928-686: The AJC headquarters were in Downtown Atlanta near the Five Points district. In August 2009, the AJC occupied less than 30 percent of its downtown building, becoming outdated and costly. Later that year, the AJC consolidated its printing operations by transferring the downtown production center to the Gwinnett County facility. In 2010, the newspaper relocated its headquarters to leased offices in Dunwoody,

986-520: The Atlanta Daily Opinion which they renamed The Constitution , as it was originally known, was first published on June 16, 1868. Its name changed to The Atlanta Constitution in October 1869. Hemphill became the business manager, a position he retained until 1901. When Styles was unable to liquidate his holdings in an Albany newspaper, he could not pay for his purchase of the Constitution . He

1044-812: The Concorde , used chauffeur -driven town cars and alleged that he had lavished expensive gifts on friends. After receiving multiple requests for information from the media, the United Way of America's board of governors hired outside investigators in December 1991. The auditors were instructed to review the books and examine accounting procedures within the agency. According to The Washington Post , their investigation "found sloppy record-keeping, inattention to detail, and accounting problems," but no direct "evidence that Aramony had enriched himself". In fact, all of Aramony's travel expenses were supposed to be reviewed before approval by

1102-461: The Journal required major adjustments. Contemporary Federal Communications Commission "duopoly" regulations disallowed owning more than one AM, FM, or TV station in a given market, and the Atlanta Journal already owned WSB AM 750 and WSB-FM 104.5, as well as WSB-TV on channel 8. WCON and the original WSB-FM were shut down to comply with the duopoly restrictions. The WCON-TV construction permit

1160-591: The Sunday Atlanta Journal-Constitution was available. Due to the downturn in the newspaper industry and competing media sources, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution contracted distribution dramatically in the late 2000s to serve only the metro area. From Q1 of 2007 to Q1 of 2010, daily circulation plunged over 44%. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution has its headquarters in Perimeter Center , an office district of Dunwoody , Georgia. Previously

1218-472: The poverty line . 12.7% of those under the age of 18 and 12.2% of those 65 and older were living below the poverty line. Jewett City was featured on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart after being at the center of a church bell controversy. The episode, which aired on March 6, 2007, held a segment called "Sam on Your Side" with the main focus on the ringing of the Jewett City bells. The borough, along with

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1276-490: The 17-year-old Lori, the 59-year-old Aramony began pursuing her. Lisa Thomas, outraged, told Aramony that she "didn't want him contacting me or Lori at all". Aramony arranged for a UWA subsidiary to purchase an expensive New York City condominium and furnished it lavishly with $ 459,000 Partnership Umbrella dollars. Aramony claimed that it was a better deal for UWA than the apartment that had been rented for almost 20 years. However, he also used it for his romantic trysts. Aramony

1334-680: The UW campaign. Over his career, he helped develop numerous United Way leaders. Some of these new leaders, Ralph Dickerson Jr., at United Way of New York City; Oral Suer and Norman O. Taylor from United Way of the National Capital Area, were later involved in expense report scandals. Aramony was awarded the Silver Buffalo Award in 1988 by the National council of the Boy Scouts of America . It

1392-452: The United Way and in 1975, helped push donations above $ 1 billion for the first time. Aramony helped develop a core strategy, which emphasizes an annual community-wide campaign in the Fall. United Way provides assistance to employers, who provide a payroll deduction option to encourage workers to contribute to United Way. Agencies that receive United Way funding agree not to solicit donations during

1450-454: The United Way's board of directors, whose chairman was Robert E. Allen, then the CEO of AT&T. The auditor's biggest criticism was that documentation was lacking to distinguish business expenditures from personal charges. The outrage from local United Way organizations across the country was overwhelming. Scores of offices disaffiliated themselves and/or discontinued their 1% "contribution" of dues to

1508-612: The West Coast and served as editor of the San Francisco Examiner . Celestine Sibley was an award-winning reporter, editor, and beloved columnist for the Constitution from 1941 to 1999 and wrote 25 fiction and nonfiction books about Southern life. After her death, the Georgia House of Representatives named its press gallery in her honor as a mark of affection and respect. From the 1970s until he died in 1994, Lewis Grizzard

1566-600: The amount Aramony owed UWA from the New York state attorney general's judgement against him, applicable income tax withholdings and attorney's fees, Aramony received $ 7,871. Aramony married again in 2002 to Gail Manza. According to The New York Times , Aramony devoted a great deal of his time during the 2000s to an initiative for Middle East Jewish, Muslim and Christian communities to encourage fellowship, mediation services and visitor exchange. He died in late 2011 at his son's Arlington, Virginia home. The cause of Aramony's death

1624-405: The borough was 92.07% White , 2.46% African American , 0.88% Native American , 1.44% Asian , 0.07% Pacific Islander , 1.11% from other races , and 1.97% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 2.85% of the population. There were 1,337 households, out of which 29.2% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 34.8% were married couples living together, 15.7% had

1682-499: The condominium. On April 3, 1995, after a three-week trial, Aramony was convicted in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia on 23 counts including conspiracy to defraud, mail fraud, wire fraud, transportation of fraudulently acquired property, engaging in monetary transactions in unlawful activity, filing false tax returns and aiding in the filing of false tax returns. Money laundering charges were dismissed. He

1740-599: The former Bebe Ann Nojeim, and the union produced three children, William, Susan and Robert. Son Robert was at one time president of Sales Service/America Inc., a for-profit subsidiary of UWA. Aramony served in the Medical Service Corps of the United States Army , treating soldiers returning from the Korean War with posttraumatic stress disorder . He was assigned to a Texas military hospital from 1951 to 1953 as

1798-582: The group was renamed, United Way of America (UWA), and moved from New York City to Alexandria, Virginia in 1971. A common stated purpose and standard name (United Way of ...) was established for local affiliates. Next, he formed a partnership with the National Football League in 1973, whereby "players and coaches made public service announcements about their involvement with United Way chapters" which were broadcast during NFL games at no charge. "[T]hese associations brought widespread attention" to

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1856-456: The merger, both papers planned to start TV stations: WSB-TV on channel 8 for the Journal , and WCON-TV on channel 2 for the Constitution . Only WSB got on the air, beginning in 1948 as the first TV station in the Deep South . It moved from channel 8 to WCON's allotment on channel 2 in 1951 to avoid TV interference from the nearby channel 9. ( WROM-TV since moved, leaving WGTV on 8, after it

1914-547: The mission or the people we serve. The following day, after an avalanche of calls from local chapters demanding his ousting, senior vice president Alan S. Cooper was named acting president. The Washington Post and Regardie's magazine each wrote stories about Aramony, and the FBI , Internal Revenue Service , and United States Postal Service investigated. Later that year, Aramony was charged, along with CFO Thomas J. Merlo and Partnership Umbrella President Stephen J. Paulachak, in

1972-702: The national office. During a teleconference on February 27, 1992, Aramony announced his retirement with full pension benefits as soon as a successor was chosen. Until then, he would continue to receive his $ 390,000 salary and $ 73,000 in other compensation. When Jay R. Smith, publisher of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution and an active volunteer at United Way of Atlanta asked Aramony if he felt that they were not owed an apology, Aramony said: Well, Jay, you absolutely are. I do apologize for any problems that my lack of sensitivity to perceptions has caused this movement. I do it happily and gladly to you and everyone else. I would never do anything at all that hurt local United Ways,

2030-691: The novel. In 1922, the Journal founded one of the first radio broadcasting stations in the South, WSB . The radio station and the newspaper were sold in 1939 to James Middleton Cox , founder of Cox Enterprises. The Journal carried the motto "Covers Dixie like the Dew". Cox Enterprises bought the Constitution in June 1950, bringing both newspapers under one ownership and combining sales and administrative offices. Separate newsrooms were kept until 1982. Both newspapers continued to be published for another two decades, with much of

2088-451: The paper. He soon created the character of Uncle Remus , a black storyteller, to recount stories from African-American culture. The Howell family eventually owned full interest in the paper from 1902 until 1950. In October 1876, the newspaper was renamed The Daily Constitution before settling on the name The Atlanta Constitution in September 1881. During the 1880s, editor Henry W. Grady

2146-507: The rest of Griswold Town, is in Griswold School District . 41°36′24″N 71°58′51″W  /  41.60667°N 71.98083°W  / 41.60667; -71.98083 The Atlanta Journal-Constitution The Atlanta Journal-Constitution ( AJC ) is an American daily newspaper based in metropolitan area of Atlanta , Georgia . It is the flagship publication of Cox Enterprises . The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

2204-434: The same content except for timely editing. The Journal , an afternoon paper, led the morning Constitution until the 1970s when afternoon papers began to fall out of favor with subscribers. In November 2001, the two papers, once fierce competitors, merged to produce one daily morning paper, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution . The two papers had published a combined edition on weekends and holidays for years previously. Before

2262-511: The stories on banks and others had ruffled feathers in Atlanta and among corporate leadership, some of whom complained of a "take-no-prisoners" editorial approach. In 1993, Mike Toner received the Pulitzer Prize for Explanatory Reporting for When Bugs Fight Back , his series about organisms and their resistance to antibiotics and pesticides . Julia Wallace was named the first female editor of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution in 2002. She

2320-534: The women "financial benefits" if they had sex with him and transferred or suppressed the careers of "those who rebuffed him." Rina Duncan, Aramony's former secretary, testified that she had had an affair with Aramony beginning shortly after she was hired in 1982 and lasting until 1985. During trial, the court admitted testimony from several UWA female employees who testified that they had sexual relationships with Aramony, and from two UWA employees who rejected Aramony’s sexual advances in 1985. When Lisa Villasor Thomas

2378-616: Was 22, she met William Aramony on an airplane. He got her a job at UWA and their affair began in July 1986. They traveled together to San Francisco , New York City and other locations for business. Everything was fine until he "met someone he liked even more: her kid sister." Lori Villasor graduated from high school in Macclenny, Florida in 1986. She was unsure what to do with her life, so she accepted her older sister’s invitation to move to Alexandria, Virginia and share an apartment. Soon after meeting

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2436-406: Was 34 years. For every 100 females, there were 98.1 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 95.5 males. The median income for a household in the borough was $ 42,318, and the median income for a family was $ 45,826. Males had a median income of $ 31,919 versus $ 22,463 for females. The per capita income for the borough was $ 19,083. 9.2% of the population and 8.8% of families were below

2494-426: Was a popular humor columnist for the Constitution . He portrayed Southern " redneck " culture with a mixture of ridicule and respect. The Constitution won numerous Pulitzer Prizes . In 1931, it won a Pulitzer Prize for Public Service for exposing corruption at the local level. In 1959, The Constitution won a Pulitzer Prize for Editorial Writing for Ralph McGill's editorial " A Church, A School... " In 1967, it

2552-434: Was a spokesman for the " New South ", encouraging industrial development as well as the founding of Georgia Tech in Atlanta. Evan Howell's family would come to own The Atlanta Constitution from 1902 to 1950. The Constitution established one of the first radio broadcasting stations, WGM , which began operating on March 17, 1922, two days after the debut of the Journal's WSB. However, WGM ceased operations after just over

2610-480: Was accused. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution has four major sections daily. On Sundays, it has additional sections. The main section usually consists of Georgia, national, international, and business news. The Metro section includes major headlines from the Metro Atlanta area . The Metro section usually reports the weather forecast. The Sports section reports sports-related news. Before social media became popular,

2668-447: Was alleged to have siphoned thousands of charity dollars through Partnership Umbrella to spend on fancy meals, trips and gifts, to keep Villasor as his mistress. Lori Villasor testified that she had received compensation of $ 27,500 for two consecutive years as a UWA employee for working on a real estate deal which actually required only "an hour or so" of her time. Aramony also flew Villasor and her younger sister LuAnn to Las Vegas as

2726-573: Was also used by WLWA-TV, now WXIA-TV 11.) This was also necessary to satisfy Federal Communications Commission (FCC) rules preventing the excessive concentration of media ownership , preventing the combined paper from running two stations. In 1989, Bill Dedman received the Pulitzer Prize for Investigative Reporting for The Color of Money , his exposé on racial discrimination in mortgage lending, or redlining , by Atlanta banks. The newspapers' editor, Bill Kovach , had resigned in November 1988 after

2784-450: Was awarded another Pulitzer Prize for Eugene Patterson 's editorials. (Patterson later left his post as editor over a dispute over an op-ed piece.) In 1960, Jack Nelson won the Pulitzer Prize for local reporting by exposing abuses at Milledgeville State Hospital for the mentally ill. The papers were published in independent editions even after newsrooms were combined in 1982. In 1988 the Pulitzer Prize for Editorial Cartooning went to

2842-554: Was bone cancer, which developed following prostate cancer in the early 1990s. Jewett City, Connecticut Jewett City is a borough in New London County , Connecticut , in the town of Griswold . The borough is part of the Southeastern Connecticut Planning Region . The population was 3,328 at the 2020 census , down from 3,487 in 2010. The borough was named for Eliezer Jewett , who founded

2900-560: Was canceled, and WSB-TV was allowed to move from channel 8 to channel 2. To standardize with its sister stations, WCON-FM's call letters were changed to WSB-FM. Ralph McGill , editor for the Constitution in the 1940s, was one of the few southern newspaper editors to support the American Civil Rights Movement . Other noteworthy editors of The Atlanta Constitution include J. Reginald Murphy . "Reg" Murphy gained notoriety after being kidnapped in 1974. Murphy later moved to

2958-462: Was cleared of any accusations by the FBI, the AJC refused to issue an apology and remains the only paper to have not retracted their story by Kathy Scruggs and Ron Martz falsely accusing him of terrorism. The court case regarding this has been dropped after the death of both Richard Jewell and the initial reporter. Jewell died not long after from diabetes due to poor eating habits that escalated after he

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3016-449: Was forced to surrender his interest in the paper to Anderson and Hemphill, who each owned one half. In 1870, Anderson sold his one-half interest in the paper to Col. E. Y. Clarke. In active competition with other Atlanta newspapers, Hemphill hired special trains (one engine and car) to deliver newspapers to the Macon marketplace. The newspaper became such a force that by 1871 it had overwhelmed

3074-402: Was formerly co-owned with television flagship WSB-TV and six radio stations, which are located separately in midtown Atlanta ; the newspaper remained part of Cox Enterprises, while WSB became part of an independent Cox Media Group . In 1868, Carey Wentworth Styles , along with his joint venture partners James Anderson and (future Atlanta mayor) William Hemphill purchased a small newspaper,

3132-665: Was named Editor of the Year 2004 by Editor & Publisher magazine. Mike Luckovich won the Pulitzer Prize for editorial cartooning a second time in 2006. He had first received it in 1995 under The Atlanta Constitution banner. The paper used to cover all 159 counties in Georgia and the bordering counties of western North Carolina , where many Atlantans vacation or have second homes. In addition, it had some circulation in other bordering communities, such as Tallahassee, Florida , where

3190-521: Was named as Secretary of the Interior by the victorious Cleveland. Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist Margaret Mitchell worked for the Journal from 1922 to 1926. Essential for the development of her 1936 Gone with the Wind was the series of profiles of prominent Georgia Civil War generals she wrote for The Atlanta Journal ' s Sunday magazine, the research for which, scholars believe, led her to her work on

3248-464: Was on probation for three additional years. Aramony consistently denied any wrongdoing. He appealed his convictions and sentences; nearly all of his appeals were denied. "Aramony's lawyer says his client's judgment was impaired because of brain atrophy" and noted "that Aramony had a cancer that led to surgical castration" while he was seeing Lori Villasor. Lori Villasor ended her affair with Aramony in 1992. While still incarcerated in 1996, Aramony filed

3306-435: Was sent in late 1990 to UWA's chairman, Edward A. Brennan , who was the chairman of Sears, Roebuck & Company . The letter alleged that the charity was being looted by its president, who was romancing a young woman. When Aramony was questioned about the allegations, he denied any wrongdoing. His divorce became final in 1991. Late that year, a source at the national office revealed that Aramony flew first class, sometimes on

3364-538: Was sentenced to 7 years in prison, fined $ 300,000, and served time at the Federal Prison Camp at Seymour Johnson Air Force Base , near Goldsboro, North Carolina with BOP number 40569-083. Upon appeal, the $ 300,000 fine was vacated by the United States Court of Appeals, Fourth Circuit based on Aramony's inability to pay. He was released from prison on September 28, 2001 after six years of incarceration and

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