New Hospitality Scholarship Honors Inman Hodges
The Parker College of Business is excited to announce the creation of the L. Inman Hodges, Sr. and Mary Sue Lovell Hodges Endowed Scholarship to support students majoring in hospitality management. A group of Mr. and Mrs. Hodges’s friends and family, led by their son Greg, established the scholarship to honor the memory of Statesboro business leader and restaurant pioneer, Inman Hodges.
A native of Statesboro, Hodges and his wife, Mary Sue, launched their company by purchasing a small restaurant across from the Georgia Southern campus that became The Paragon. An early franchisee for Kentucky Fried Chicken, Mr. Hodges travelled to Kentucky to personally meet with Col. Sanders and sign the deal. The couple eventually built a restaurant firm with more than 35 locations of national brands including KFC, Taco Bell, Pizza Inn and Dairy Queen.
Inman and Mary Sue Hodges not only fed countless Georgia Southern students, they also provided jobs for many of them, including current Parker College Dean, Allen Amason, who worked at Pizza Inn on South Main Street as an undergraduate.
“When I was a student at Georgia Southern, Inman Hodges not only gave me the job I needed but also provided me a hands-on education in how to run a business. So, it’s fitting and appropriate that Inman and Mary Sue will continue to support future students through the creation of this scholarship,” said Dean Amason.
To learn more about the Hodges Scholarship or other giving opportunities, contact Chris Osborne at wosborne@georgiasouthern.edu.
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