MassMutual Announces Multicultural Scholarship Winners

SPRINGFIELD, MA--(Marketwire - September 2, 2009) - Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Company (MassMutual) today announced the winners of a new national multicultural scholarship program totaling $60,000 in scholarships and potential internship opportunities in financial services to outstanding multicultural college students. Students residing or going to school in the San Francisco Bay Area, Atlanta, Houston and Los Angeles were eligible for the program.

Winners of the $5,000 individual scholarships in the San Francisco Bay Area are: Nikolette Sphar, an Hispanic senior at Mills College in Oakland; Alyssa Whitwell, an Asian Pacific Islander senior attending UCLA; and Ranieka Meadors, an African American junior at Cal State Sacramento.

Nikolette Sphar lives in Oakland and is a transfer student to Mills College. She is the first of her family to go to college and is studying economics and business administration. Alyssa Whitwell, from Novato in Marin County, is studying mathematics and economics at UCLA while participating in numerous community service and extracurricular activities as well as working during the school year. The third Bay Area winner, Ranieka Meadors from Vallejo, is concentrating on business administration studies at Cal State Sacramento where she is working on building a solid foundation in accounting, finance, management, marketing and economics.

"We are very happy to be participating in this scholarship program, helping to encourage minority students who deserve merit scholarships," stated Robert Fakhimi, CEO of the San Francisco Bay Area Insurance Agency.

Students of African-American, Asian/Pacific Islander, or Hispanic descent residing in the Atlanta, Houston, Los Angeles and San Francisco metropolitan areas were eligible to apply for one of the twelve $5,000 college scholarships. These students were required to have concentrations in the fields of accounting, business, economics, finance, marketing, math or statistics.

MassMutual is collaborating with its local general agencies in the aforementioned cities to provide these scholarships to local students. Three scholarships are being awarded in each of the metropolitan areas. The program was administered by the Hispanic Scholarship Fund (HSF).

"MassMutual consistently looks for ways to encourage education and diversity, as well as promote those courses of study that are most important to the financial industry," says Nick Fyntrilakis, Assistant Vice President, Community Responsibility, MassMutual. "This program extends our efforts to more effectively reach and serve a customer base that is increasingly diverse, and enables our local agencies to become even more directly involved with our educational endeavors in these communities. It is our hope that the best and brightest students in these cities will take advantage of this unique opportunity, and they will come to appreciate and strive for a rewarding career in financial services."

"We are grateful that MassMutual is collaborating with HSF," said Frank D. Alvarez, HSF President and CEO. "With this program, MassMutual recognizes that an investment in youth pays measurable returns for the communities where we live and work. We salute MassMutual for expanding opportunities for more students and increasing diversity at more college campuses."

About MassMutual

MassMutual's Retirement Services Division has been serving retirement plans for more than 60 years. It offers a full range of products and services for corporate, union, nonprofit and governmental employers' defined benefit, defined contribution and nonqualified deferred compensation plans. It serves approximately one million participants.

Founded in 1851, MassMutual is a leading mutual life insurance company that is run for the benefit of its members and participating policyholders. The company has a long history of financial strength and strong performance, and although dividends are not guaranteed, MassMutual has paid dividends to eligible participating policyholders every year since the 1860s. With whole life insurance as its foundation, MassMutual provides products to help meet the financial needs of clients, such as life insurance, disability income insurance, long term care insurance, retirement/401(k) plan services, and annuities. In addition, the company's strong and growing network of financial professionals helps clients make good financial decisions for the long-term.

MassMutual Financial Group is a marketing name for Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Company (MassMutual) and its affiliated companies and sales representatives. MassMutual is headquartered in Springfield, Massachusetts and its major affiliates include: Babson Capital Management LLC; Baring Asset Management Limited; Cornerstone Real Estate Advisers LLC; The First Mercantile Trust Company; MassMutual International LLC; MML Investors Services, Inc., member FINRA and SIPC; OppenheimerFunds, Inc.; and The MassMutual Trust Company, FSB.

About the Hispanic Scholarship Fund

Founded in 1975 as a not-for-profit, the Hispanic Scholarship Fund (HSF) is the nation's preeminent Latino scholarship organization, providing the Latino community more college scholarships and educational outreach support than any other organization in the country. During the 2007-2008 academic year, HSF awarded almost 4,100 scholarships exceeding $26.7 million. In its 33-year history, HSF has awarded in excess of 86,000 scholarships, worth more than $250 million, to Latinos attending nearly 2,000 colleges and universities in all 50 states, Puerto Rico, Guam and the U.S. Virgin Islands. For more information about HSF, please visit: WWW.HSF.NET.

Contact Information: Contact: Erica Zeidenberg 925-631-0553