Clemson to Recognize Alumni Entrepreneurs

CLEMSON, SC – March 23, 2009 –  Executives from Sirius XM Radio Inc. and Mansfield Oil Co. will be recognized at the fourth annual Celebration of Clemson Alumni Entrepreneurs on Tuesday, April 14, at the Madren Conference Center at Clemson University. A reception begins at 5:30 p.m. and the presentation at 6:30 p.m.

Gary Parsons, a 1972 graduate of Clemson in computer and electrical engineering, is chairman of Sirius XM Radio Inc. Parsons founded XM Satellite Radio in the mid-1990s and served as chairman there until the merger of Sirius and XM Radio last year. Sirius XM Radio is the second-largest radio company in the country, based on revenue, with more than 18.5 million subscribers.

Following his graduation from Clemson, Parsons began his career as an engineer with BellSouth. He was one of the principals of Telecom USA, the nation’s fourth-largest fiber-optic long-distance carrier, which was acquired by MCI in 1990. Parsons went on to serve as executive vice president of MCI Communications.

Doug Haugh, a 1994 Clemson graduate in chemical engineering, is executive vice president and chief information officer of Mansfield Oil Co., a nationwide provider of fuel, distribution logistics and delivery services. With more than $5 billion in sales in 2008, Mansfield was ranked by Forbes as the 66th largest private company in America.

Previously, Haugh co-founded FuelQuest Inc., a company that provides supply-chain management and tax-automation solutions across the downstream energy industry with more than 750 clients, including Walmart, Shell, UPS and ExxonMobil. Haugh and co-founder Rich Cilento won the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year Award for Energy Technology in 2006.

The event is free but registration is required at http://business.clemson.edu/Spiro/AlumniEnts2009regform.html.

The Celebration of Clemson Alumni Entrepreneurs event is a Clemson Renaissance Center activity and is sponsored by the Spiro Institute for Entrepreneurial Leadership at Clemson.