Helen Of Troy CEO Named 2009 Sun Bowl Legend

El Paso, Texas – For more than 25 years, Gerald J. Rubin has made sure Sun Bowl participants left El Paso with more than memories of the city’s hospitality, great food, and pictures of its legendary sunsets.

He didn’t give them cowboy boots or a sombrero. He gave them the gift of good hair – or at least a tool to help get good hair. When players and coaches received their Sun Bowl swag, one of their gifts was a hairdryer from Rubin and his company.

Rubin, the founder, chairman and CEO of Helen of Troy, has had a greater impact than player’s good hair. Since 2003,he and his company became the title sponsor for the Sun Bowl when the game lost its sponsor.

For all his efforts to help make sure the game continues to be a vital part of the community, Rubin has been named the 2009 Legend of the Sun Bowl.

“If you look at what kind of impact that Jerry Rubin has had on this game and this Association, you will see that his service both to the community and the Sun Bowl have earned him the honor of Legend of the Sun Bowl,” said Frank Bates, president of the Sun Bowl Association in a news release. “He really stepped in and made an impact and for that we cannot thank him enough.”

For the first two years of the sponsorship, the game was the Vitalis Sun Bowl, promoting Helen of Troy’s newly acquired men’s hair care product line.

The game’s name changed to the Brut Sun Bowl in the 2006, when Rubin and Helen of Troy extended the sponsorship through the 2009 edition of the game.

Rubin is the 26th member of the Sun Bowl Association’s Legends of the Sun Bowl, but the first member who is not a former player, coach, CBS Sports personnel or game administrator.

“Jerry’s association with the Sun Bowl dates back to the 1980s, well before he became the game’s title sponsor,” added Bernie Olivas, executive director of the Sun Bowl Association. “He has always tried to make Helen of Troy a good corporate citizen – one that gives back. If you look at how Helen of Troy has given back to this community just within his last six years as title sponsor of the Brut Sun Bowl, it is amazing.”

During Helen of Troy’s six years as title sponsor, the game has been at 99 percent capacity and secured three sellouts. The period serves as the highest average six-year attendance total in Sun Bowl history.

But his personal contribution to the game goes back more than 25 years, as he has seen that every player during that span has left El Paso with one of his trademarks – the hairdryer.

Rubin formed Helen of Troy in 1968, originally as a seller of hair wigs, but the company has evolved into one the world’s leading distributors and marketers of consumer and personal care products. Helen of Troy’s products include hairdryers, curling irons, straighteners, clippers and other electrical hair – care products sold under such well-known names as Revlon, Vidal Sassoon, Sunbeam and Bed Head. The company also sells a number of products to the professional hair-care trade. He has also added OXO to the product mix.

In the 1980s, Rubin’s daughter Kari was named the Association’s Sun Queen. It was not long after that Rubin began providing hairdryers for the team gift packages for the Sun Bowl and it has been a staple ever since. Over 6,000 players and coaches have left El Paso with a Helen of Troy made hairdryer for more than 25 years.

For years, Helen of Troy has donated to more than 400 charities each year.

Previous inductees have included the following: Charley Johnson, Harrison Kohl and Bill Stevens (1994); Johnny Majors (1995); Tony Dorsett (1996); Tom Brookshier and Pat Summerall (1997); Jesse Whittenton (1998); Hayden Fry and Jimmy Rogers, Jr. (1999); Vince Dooley and Derrick Thomas (2000); John H. Folmer and Barry Switzer (2001); Thurman Thomas (2002); Ken Heineman (2003); Pat Tillman and Alex Van Pelt (2004); Terry Donahue and Verne Lundquist (2005); Grant Teaff and Tony Franklin (2006); Don James and Cornelius Bennett (2007); and Priest Holmes and Craig Silver (2008).