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News Release

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
October 25, 2001

Lumina Foundation names senior program director

INDIANAPOLIS — Lumina Foundation for Education announces the appointment of Samuel D. Cargile as senior program director. Cargile, who joined the Foundation in October, will help lead the grant-making program of the Foundation.

In announcing the appointment, Martha D. Lamkin, Foundation president and chief executive officer said: "Sam's unique combination of experience in education and philanthropy matches the Foundation's mission to improve access to postsecondary education.  We are honored to have someone of Sam's caliber join the Lumina Foundation team.  He will serve as a valuable resource, keeping his finger on the pulse of current trends and helping develop grant-making policy at the Foundation."

Cargile joins Lumina Foundation after a four-year stint with Wallace-Reader's Digest Funds in New York City, where he supervised a $50 million grant portfolio.  He brings with him a decade of grant-making  experience and extensive contacts in higher education developed during his 30-year career.  He has held numerous administrative positions for higher education-related organizations, including the U.S. Department of Education and The American College Testing Program.  He served as a program director to Lilly Endowment in the early 90s before accepting an assignment to help build a community college system in the northern cape province of South Africa.

"Lumina Foundation has a great opportunity to address the most pressing issues affecting access to education beyond high school for all Americans," Cargile said.  " I look forward to working with new colleagues at the Foundation and in postsecondary education to implement a grants agenda that will have a significant impact far beyond the activities and institutions we directly support."

Cargile holds a doctorate in educational psychology from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee and master's and bachelor's degrees from the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh.  He also served as an education policy fellow for the Institute for Educational Leadership at George Washington University from 1980-81. Cargile and his wife Dr. Diane Cargile, live in Terre Haute, Ind.

Lumina Foundation for Education, a private, independent foundation, strives to help people achieve their potential by expanding access to an education beyond high school.  Through research, grants for innovative programs and communication initiatives, Lumina Foundation addresses issues surrounding financial access, educational retention and degree or certificate attainment, and opportunities for underserved students. The Foundation bases its mission on the belief that postsecondary education remains one of the most beneficial investments that individuals can make in themselves and that society can make in its people.

For more information, contact Sara Murray-Plumer, director of communications at (317) 951-5493 or splumer@luminafoundation.org.