Last updated on: 5/11/2009 | Author: ProCon.org

Dan Ponder, Jr. Biography

Title:
Former Georgia State Representative (R)
Position:
Pro to the question "Is Sexual Orientation Determined at Birth?"
Reasoning:

“To those that would say that this [hate crimes] bill is creating a special class of citizen, I would say… [w]ho would choose to be a class of citizen or who would choose to be gay and risk the alienation of your own family and friends and co-workers? We are who we are because God alone chose to make us that way.”

Floor Speech, Georgia House of Representatives, Mar. 16, 2000
Involvement and Affiliations:
  • Member, Board of Directors of CKE Restaurants (parent company of Hardee’s, Carl’s Jr., La Salsa, and Green Burrito restaurant chains), 2001-present
  • President and Chairman of the Board, Ponder Enterprises, Inc. (Hardee’s), 1983-present
  • Feature radio essay presenter, Boeing Advertising, 2005
  • Recipient, John F. Kennedy Profile in Courage Award, 2003
  • Former Georgia State Representative, Georgia House of Representatives, 1996-2001
  • Awarded Citizen of the Year, Seminole County, GA, 1995
  • Former County Commissioner for Seminole County, GA, 1990
Education:
  • BS, summa cum laude, Agricultural Economics, Auburn University, 1976
  • HS diploma, Dothan High School (Alabama), 1971
Other:
  • None Found