Two business leaders will be named “Georgia Trustees” on June 5 at an annual award from the Georgian Historical Society and the governor’s office.

David Abney, former CEO of United Parcel Service of America, and Juanita Baranco, co-founder of Baranco Automotive Group, are this year’s recipients.

The original trustees were the governors of the colony of Georgia, a group named by the King of England George II in 1732 and operating under a Latin motto translated as “Not for oneself, but for others”. The term “Trustees” was reactivated in 2008 by GHS to an annual price during a gala following the Georgia History Festival, an educational program for students from Kindergarten to Grade 12.

The Georgia Trustee Award, according to the GHS, is “a means of recognizing modern-day Georgians whose achievements and community service reflect the high ideals of the founding body of trustees.” The winners have largely been business and institutional leaders, as well as figures such as baseball great Hank Aaron, University of Georgia football coach Vince Dooley and former US Senator Sam Nunn. .

Abney is also a past president of the Metro Atlanta Chamber and is now executive chairman of the board of directors of UPS based in Sandy Springs.

Baranco and her husband Gregory co-founded Buckhead-based car dealerships, some of the first owned by an African-American woman. She continues to act as Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer of the company. Baranco is also a lawyer who previously served as Georgia’s Deputy Attorney General. She is a past chair of the Georgia Board of Regents, which oversees the state’s university system, and has served on numerous boards.

Governor Brian Kemp to induct Abney and Baranco into the Georgia Trustee list in a ceremony on June 5 at 8 p.m. which will be broadcast on the GHS YouTube channel and Public broadcast in Atlanta.