Alabama Academy of Honor

The Alabama Academy of Honor recognizes one hundred living Alabamians for outstanding accomplishments and services to Alabama and the United States.[1] By act of the Alabama Legislature,[2] only one hundred living people may be members at any time. Up to ten additional members per year are elected by current members when honorees pass away,[3] by majority vote in order of highest vote total. Any Alabama citizen or Academy member may nominate people for election. Living present and past governors of Alabama are automatically members of the Academy and do not count against the 100-person maximum. At any time, no more than twenty-five percent of the Academy's members may be politicians.[4]

Supreme Court Justice Hugo Black was the only person to ever decline membership in the Academy, after a vow to refuse all honors.[1]

Establishment

The Alabama Academy of Honor was created by the Alabama State Legislature on October 29, 1965, through Act 15 of the Third Special Session of the 1965 Legislature of Alabama.[5] The Academy was intended to honor notable living Alabama citizens, since several organizations already existed in the state for posthumous recognition.[1]

On March 10, 1965, Missouri native and Alabama citizen Emmett Bryan Carmichael wrote to Alabama Governor George C. Wallace to suggest modeling an Academy after Missouri's "Academy of Squires". The idea was postponed until Governor Albert P. Brewer revived interest in the legislation. On October 25, 1968, a committee appointed by Governor Brewer and chaired by Emmett Carmichael selected the first ten members (as well as four governors). On a somewhat annual basis, later elections selected several new Alabamians until the 100-person cap was reached.[1]

Members by election year
This list is incomplete; you can help by adding missing items with reliable sources.

Source:[6]

2016
  • Jack Hawkins, Jr.
  • Claude B. Nielsen

2015

2014
  • Judy Bonner, university president
  • Tim Cook, businessman
  • John Croyle, businessman and football player
  • Jim Hudson, businessman
  • Margaret Porter, mayor
  • Nick Saban, football coach
  • Jeff Sessions, United States Senator and U.S. Attorney General
  • Edgar Welden, businessman[7]

2013
  • John D. Johns, businessman
  • Fournier J. "Boots" Gale III, lawyer
  • Seth Hammett, businessman, college president, and Alabama Speaker of the House

2009

1988

    1987

    • Thomas Alva Bartlett (1930- )--educator, former Chancellor of the University of Alabama System (1982-1987)
    • Edward M. Friend, Jr. (1912-?)---lawyer (Birmingham)
    • Joseph Lanier, Jr. (1933- )---business leader, former president of Alabama/Georgia Manufacturing Company
    • Ernest Going Williams (1915-2001)---business leader/banker/University of Alabama trustee
    • J. Claude Bennett (1933- )----Professor of Microbiology, University of Alabama
    • Guy Hunt (1933-2009)--Governor of Alabama (1987-1993)
    • James C. Lee, Jr. (1919-2009)---former chairman, Buffalo Rock

    2002
    • Ann Bedsole (b. 1930), politician, community activist, and philanthropist[9]

    1986
    • Tom Bevill (1921-2005)---U.S. Representative (4th & 7th districts) of Alabama (1967-1997)
    • Dr. Ira Lee Myers (1924-2008)---Alabama State Health Officer (1963-1986)
    • Louis J. Willie, Jr. (1923-2007)---Insurance executive
    • Wallace Davis Malone, Jr. (1936- )----CEO SouthTrust Bank
    • Thomas Edward Rast (1920-2003)----Real estate executive

    1985
    • Joseph Sam Bruno (1912-1996)----Founder of Bruno's grocery store chain
    • Emil Carl Hess (1918-?)----owner of the Parisian apparel chain
    • William Jackson Edwards, III (1928- )---U.S. Representative (1st District), from AL (1965-1985); 1st Republican from this district since Reconstruction Era.
    • William David Sellers, Jr. (1913-1990)---Business executive & philanthropist

    1984
    • Wallace R. Bunn (1923-2011)---CEO of Bellsouth Corp.
    • Joseph McConnell Farley (1927-2010)---Birmingham attorney, president of Alabama Power (1969-1989)
    • John Witherspoon Woods (1931-2002)---Banking executive
    • Oliver H. Delchamps, Jr. (1933- )---Director, U.S. Chamber of Commerce; heir to Delchamps grocery store chain
    • Henry Calvin Goodrich (1920-2011)----Business executive; pres. of Southern Natural Resources

    1983
    • Charles Albert Boswell (1916-1995)---insurance executive, blind professional golfer, AL Commissioner of Revenue
    • Harry B. Brock, Jr. (1925-2015)-----Financier and philanthropist
    • John Key McKinley (1920-2014)---CEO of TEXACO
    • Frank Arthur Plummer (1912-1987)---Banking executive.
    • Frank Brooks Yeilding, Jr. (1904-1992)---Banking executive
    • Thomas E. Bradford, Sr. (1909-2002)----Chairman, Bradford Gipin Food Brokers
    • Joseph Lamar Lanier (1906-2000)----Noted textile manufacturer
    • William Flynt Nichols (1918-1988)---U.S. Representative, 3rd and 4th Districts (1967-1988)
    • Joab Langston Thomas (1933-2014)---President of the University of Alabama

    1982
    • Young Jacob Boozer, Jr. (1912-2000)----Business leader and college baseball star (UA)
    • Kenneth R. Daniel (1913-2008)--Business and railroad executive (inducted also in 2009)
    • Glenn Ireland II (1926-2015)---Business executive. Alabama Commissioner of Mental Health.
    • Prime Francis Osborn III
    • Howard Earle Skipper (1915-2006)---Noted American oncologist
    • Dr. Buris Raye Boshell (1926- )---Noted physician in the area of diabetes research.
    • Jeremiah Andrew Denton, Jr (1924-2014)---U.S. Senator, Alabama (1981-1987); the first Republican to be popularly elected in Alabama since the direct election of U.S. Senators began in 1914, the first Republican senator since Reconstruction to represent Alabama in the U.S. Senate, and the first Catholic to be elected to statewide office in Alabama.
    • Kirkman O'Neal (1890-1988)---founder of Oneal Steel.
    • Dr. James Allen Pittman, Jr. (1927-2014)---dean of UAB Medical School.
    • Mary George Jordan Waite (1917-1990)---president of Farmer's and Merchant's Bank of Cherokee County.

    1981
    • Travis Massey Bedsole (1913-2011)---Mobile, AL attorney for 60 yrs
    • Charles Trueheart Clayton (1911-?)---President, Liberty National Insurance
    • William Houston Blount (1922-2011)----Philanthropist, president of Vulcan Materials
    • Conrad Murphree Fowler (1918-2007)----Probate Judge of Shelby County, special prosecutor for "Phenix City Cleanup" (1954)

    1980
    • Dr. John M. Chenault (1914-1992)----President of Decatur General Hospital
    • William Hulsey (1901-1985)---Investment banker and art collector
    • Kench Lott, Jr. (1920-1995)----President of Merchant's Bank (Mobile, AL)
    • Frank Samford, Jr. (1921-1986)----President of Liberty National Insurance
    • Arthur Shores (1904-1996)----American civil rights attorney; Alabama'a "Drum Major For Justice".
    • John Harbert III (1921-1995)---Founder and CEO of Harbert Construction
    • Dr. Thomas N. James (1925-2010)---World renowned cardiologist
    • James Mills (1900-1998)----Editor, Birmingham Post (1950-1967)

    1979
    • Robert Bamberg, Jr., Alabama Commissioner of Agriculture & Industries (1959-1962)
    • Neal Berte, president of Birmingham–Southern College (1976-2004)
    • Walter Gewin (1908-1981), federal judge (1961-1981)
    • James Hardin (1917-1998), director of State Department of Finance; director of State Department of Mental Health
    • Joseph McCorquodale, Jr., state representative (1959-1983); state Speaker of the House (1971-1983)
    • Forrest H. James, governor of Alabama (1979-1983, 1995-1999)
    • Frank M. Johnson, Jr. (1918-1999), U.S. federal judge (1955-1999) responsible for several landmark civil rights decisions
    • Charles P. Rather, president of Southern Natural Gas
    • Fran McKee (1926-2002), 1st female to hold rank of Rear Admiral in the U.S. Navy
    • William Rushton III, insurance executive; CEO of Protective Life Corp.(1969-1992)

    1978
    • William D. Arant, Birmingham attorney
    • Glen Brock, president of Gulf, Mobile and Ohio Railroad
    • Alfred Delchamps, founder of Delchamps supermarket chain
    • George LeMaistre (1911-1994), attorney/bank executive; chairman, FDIC (1977-1978)
    • Seybourn Lynne (1907-2000), federal judge who decided Vivian Malone and James Hood civil rights cases
    • John F. McRae, Mobile, community leader; responsible for helping to bring Senior Bowl to Ladd Stadium in Mobile
    • Pelham J. Merrill (1907-1991), Associate Justice, Alabama Supreme Court (1953-1976)
    • Bernard Monaghan (1916-1987), U.S. General Counsel of the Army (1952-1953) and CEO, Vulcan Materials (1959-1981)
    • Armistead Selden, Jr. (1921-1985), U.S. Congressman, (1953-1969); U.S. Ambassador to New Zealand (1974-1979)
    • Fred Sington (1910-1988), football player, Crimson Tide (1929-1930), professional baseball player (Brooklyn Dodgers/Washington Senators)

    1977
    • Ralph W. Adams (1915-1998), educator; president of Troy University
    • John G. Galbraith (1914-1996), neurosurgeon
    • John W. Bloomer, newspaper executive (Columbus Ledger); won Pulitzer Prize for coverage of clean-up of Phenix City
    • Thomas B. Hill, Jr., Montgomery attorney
    • John A. Cadell, attorney
    • Robert E. Jones (1912-1997), U.S. Congressman, (1947-1963, 1965-1977)
    • Walter W. Kennedy, Birmingham bank executive
    • Emory Cunningham (1921-2000), publisher of The Progressive Farmer
    • Carl Elliott (1913-1999), U.S. Congressman (1949-1965)
    • Walter Frommeyer (196-1979), physician

    1976
    • Ehney Camp Jr. (1907-2009), Liberty National Life Insurance Company executive and banking expert
    • R. Hugh Daniel (1906-1983), founder and CEO of Daniel International Org.
    • John A. Hand, leader of the Alabama banking community for over 40 years
    • Ruth Hanson (1900-1983), pioneer in the fight against diabetes in Alabama
    • George Mattison, Jr., Birmingham industrialist and philanthropist
    • Robert Parker, pediatrician
    • Nell Rankin (1924-2005), operatic mezzo-soprano with Metropolitan Opera (1951-1976)
    • Barrett Shelton (1903-1984), editor of The Decatur Daily (1924-1984)
    • William M. Spencer, attorney; one of the founders of the Birmingham Museum of Art
    • Jack W. Warner, president of Gulf States Paper; noted art collector

    1975
    • Rucker Agee
    • James Browning Allen, U.S. Senator and 17th and 20th Lieutenant Governor of Alabama
    • Joseph Linyer Bedsole
    • Ben Screws Gilmer
    • Milo Barrett Howard, Jr.
    • Charles A. McCallum, Jr.
    • Earl Mason McGowin
    • George Mosley Murray, bishop who worked for civil rights and racial integration
    • Julia Walker Ruseell
    • William James Rushton

    1974

    1973
    • Emmet Bryan Carmichael, biochemist
    • Paul Grist, YMCA worker
    • Forrest David Mathews, university president and 11th US Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare
    • Thomas Dameron Russell, businessman
    • Frank Edward Spain, businessman
    • Mervyn Hayden Sterne, businessman
    • Ernest Stone, university president and Alabama Superintendent of Education
    • Joseph F. Volker, university president
    • Leslie Stephen Wright, university president

    1972

    1971

    No induction held.

    1970

    No induction held.

    1969

    References
    1. Coley, C. J. (Spring 1976). "History of the Alabama Academy of Honor". Alabama Historical Quarterly. Archived from the original on August 18, 2014. Retrieved January 2, 2015. .
    2. Alabama Code Title 41, Chapter. Alabama Academy of Honor.
    3. 2007 Congressional Record, Vol. 153, Page E23985 (September 7, 2007)
    4. "Alabama Academy of Honor". Alabama Department of Archives and History. February 24, 2012. Archived from the original on August 10, 2016. Retrieved August 24, 2016.
    5. "Establishment of the Alabama Academy of Honor". Alabama Department of Archives and History. February 24, 2012. Archived from the original on August 18, 2014. Retrieved January 2, 2015. .
    6. Alabama Academy of Honor. Academy of Honor Inductees by Year.
    7. Roop, Lee (October 24, 2014). "Huntsville biotech leader Jim Hudson joining Nick Saban, Apple CEO Tim Cook, five others in Academy of Honor". Huntsville Times. Retrieved January 2, 2015.
    8. "Donald James". Alabama Academy of Honor. Retrieved April 15, 2018.
    9. "Ann Smith Bedsole". Encyclopedia of Alabama. Archived from the original on September 26, 2020.
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