Mari Hulman George

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Mari Hulman George, born Mary Antonia Hulman on December 26, 1934, in Terre Haute, Indiana, is the daughter of the late Anton "Tony" Hulman and Mary Fendrich Hulman, prominent Indiana philanthropists and business owners. She is the current chairman of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway and Hulman & Co.

[edit] Family

Mari was the Hulmans' only child, but from the age of eleven she was often surrounded by the families of Indianapolis 500 drivers, whom she befriended. Perhaps it would come as little surprise that she would marry one such driver, Elmer George, on April 29, 1957. At 22 years of age, she became stepmother to Elmer's children from his first marriage, and the couple would go on to have four children together: three daughters, Nancy, Josie and Kathi; and one son, Anton Hulman George, who, like his namesake grandfather, would be better known as "Tony."

Elmer George, who met with little success as a driver, retired from racing in 1963, later becoming a Speedway vice-president and head of the IMS Radio Network.

For most of the couple's marriage, they owned a farm outside of Terre Haute, but spent much of their time at their 1,300-acre (5 km²) ranch in Wyoming.

[edit] The Chairman

After the death of Tony Hulman in 1977, Mary Fendrich Hulman assumed the chairmanship of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway and Hulman & Co., the family's primary businesses. When Mrs. Hulman's health began to deteriorate, she retired and passed the chairmanship of the companies to her daughter in 1988. Mari Hulman George retains both positions today.

Like her father and mother before her, since 1997, Mari officially starts the Indianapolis 500 and Allstate 400 at the Brickyard races with the command, "(Lady/Ladies and) gentlemen, start your engines!"

[edit] Philanthropist and lover of animals

Like her parents, Mari Hulman George is well-known throughout Indiana for her generosity to institutions of higher learning, with her alma mater, St. Mary-of-the-Woods College in West Terre Haute, Indiana among the top recipients of her monetary gifts. The college maintains the Mari Hulman George School of Equine Studies, founded in part due to her love of horses.

In 2001, the Indiana Department of Homeland Security renamed their search-and-rescue training area at Camp Atterbury the Mari Hulman George Search and Rescue Training Center, in recognition of her contributions to the care of animals displaced and otherwise affected by disasters. She has also been active in the rescue and adoption of racing greyhounds.