The North Carolina Restaurant and Lodging Association honored Trustee Emeritus Maurice Jennings '57 with its Lifetime Achievement Award during the organization's 2020 Stars of the Industry Awards.
Trustee Emeritus and Elon Medallion recipient Maurice Jennings ’57 has been honored with the North Carolina Restaurant and Lodging Association’s Lifetime Achievement Award.
Jennings, founder of the successful Biscuitville restaurant chain, was one of 16 members recognized during the NCRLA’s 2020 Stars of the Industry Awards on Feb. 3 at the Raleigh Marriott City Center. He was one of two to receive the Lifetime Achievement Award.
Jennings founded Biscuitville Inc. in 1975 and led the company for more than 20 years before turning over leadership to his son and Elon Trustee Maurice “Burney” Jennings, Jr. ’87. Biscuitville has now grown to include more than 60 locations in North Carolina and Virginia.
Jennings has also played an important role in Elon’s story. He chaired the Presidential Board of Advisers in the mid-1970s before joining the Board of Trustees in 1978. Jennings was later elected trustee emeritus in 1998.
As a trustee, Jennings helped lead important campus initiatives, including fundraising campaigns for the Center for the Arts and the Elon University School of Law, of which he is a founding donor with his late wife, Linda, as well as Burney and Dina Jennings. Together, the family made a gift to endow the Jennings Professor of Law professorship to support the school’s mission of enhancing civic engagement and leadership in the legal profession. The Jennings family also made a major gift to Schar Center in 2016, providing a new gathering space in the 5,000-seat arena and convocation center.
For his service and commitment to Elon, Jennings received the university’s highest honor, the Elon Medallion, in 2006.