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 Legislature, 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,[2] 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.[3]
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.[4] 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
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
- Edgar Welden, businessman[5]
2013
- John D. Johns, businessman
- Fournier J. "Boots" Gale III, lawyer
- Seth Hammett, businessman, college president, and Alabama Speaker of the House
2012
- Dr. Jay Gogue, Auburn University
1975
- Rucker Agee
- James Browning Allen, US 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
- Clinton Jackson Coley
- Donald Comer, Jr.
- Luther H. Foster
- Howell Thomas Heflin, US Senator and Chief Justice of the Alabama Supreme Court
- Samuel Richardson Hill
- John Webster Kirklin, surgeon
- Thomas Seay Lawson
- J. Craig Smith
- Hudson Strode, author and university professor
- Luther Leonidas Terry, 9th US Surgeon General
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
- Tinsley R. Harrison, physician and author
- Ralph Jordan, football coach
- John C. Persons, US Army General and businessman
- Harry M. Philpott, university president
- Albert M. Rains, United States Representative
1971
No induction held.
1970
No induction held.
1969
- Winton M. Blount, United States Postmaster General
- Albert Preston Brewer, 47th governor of Alabama
- Paul W. Bryant, football coach
- James E. Folsom, 42nd governor of Alabama
- A.G. Gaston, businessman who worked for civil rights and racial integration
- Lister Hill, United States Senator
- Thomas H. Moorer, US Navy Admiral and chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff
- John Patterson, 44th governor of Alabama
- Frank A. Rose, university president
- Frank P. Samford, businessman and civic leader
- Bertha Smolian, philanthropist and civic leader
- John Sparkman, United States Senator
- Wernher von Braun, space scientist
- George C. Wallace, 45th, 48th, and 50th governor of Alabama
External links
References
- 1 2 3 4 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. .
- ↑ 2007 Congressional Record, Vol. 153, Page E23985 (September 7, 2007)
- ↑ "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.
- ↑ "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. .
- ↑ 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.