Former UA Athletes to be Recognized with Bryant Alumni-Athlete Award

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – The University of Alabama National Alumni Association will present its 2001 Paul W. Bryant Alumni-Athlete Award to Dr. Andrew D. Burch Sr. of Mobile and Jack L. McKewen of Birmingham.

The awards will be presented on Sept. 1 at the Alabama vs. UCLA football game at Bryant-Denny Stadium in Tuscaloosa.

The award recognizes former UA athletes who have had outstanding accomplishments since leaving the University.

Burch, a 1956 graduate and former UA golfer and football player, became the first member of his family to graduate from college, obtaining his undergraduate degree in three years. He attended Tulane Medical School in New Orleans after graduating from the University. He moved back to his hometown in Mobile after earning his medical degree and completing his general surgical residency and his thoracic and cardiovascular fellowship in New Orleans. He has spent the past 35 years running his private practice in general, thoracic and laparoscopic surgery.

During his medical career, he has performed more than 20,000 operative procedures, providing health care to individuals in need regardless of their ability to compensate for the services, and he has worked with children as an elementary school sports coach and a team physician for McGill-Toolen High School sports.

His church, community and civic involvement include the following: founding presidents of the Parochial League Coaches Association and the McGill Club; past president of the board of directors of the Red Elephant Club; former member of the McGill-Toolen school board; member of the Mobile chapter of the American Red Cross board of directors; and co-founder of the Yellow Jackets Club.

“Andrew Burch was a gifted athlete and a terrific competitor,” said Vince Dooley, University of Georgia athletics director and former head coach of the Bulldogs. Dooley and Burch were football teammates at McGill-Toolen High School. “He is an accomplished surgeon, a devoted family man and a fine individual.”

Burch and his wife of 45 years, Mary Hassell Burch, who also graduated from UA in 1956, have nine children, eight of whom are UA graduates.

McKewen, a veteran of World War II and the Korean War, entered the life insurance business in 1948.

He has been active in his community in the Birmingham area. He is past president of the Jefferson County alumni chapter of the NAA, Homewood YMCA, the Birmingham chapter of the Chartered Life Underwriters and Shades Valley Athletic Association and the Birmingham Association of Life Underwriters.

He helped establish the Jack L. McKewen Endowed Scholarship Fund for the UA Culverhouse College of Commerce and Business Administration through gifts donated by the Fidelity Mutual Life Insurance Co. to commemorate his 1978 selection as president of the Million Dollar Roundtable.

Bobby Tom Jenkins, who graduated from UA in 1945, a longtime friend of McKewen and fellow WWII veteran, credited McKewen with organizing a group of football players who fought in WWII who meet annually, most recently in Birmingham in February. “Without doubt, Jack is one of the most devoted alumni I have ever known.”

McKewen and his wife, Ruth Peeples McKewen, have one son, twin daughters and seven grandchildren.

The Bryant Award selections are based on attributes such as character, contributions to society, professional achievement and service to fellow man. The award has been given since 1988. Last year’s winners were former UA basketball player Wendell Hudson and former football player Joe Kelley.

The following are past recipients of the Paul W. Bryant Alumni-Athlete Award: 1988 – John Croyle, 1989 – Young Boozer, 1990 – Charlie Boswell, 1991 – Fred Sington, 1992 – Hoyt “Wu” Winsett, 1993 – Holt Rast, Tom Rast, 1994 – Bart Starr, 1995 – Bud Moore, 1996 – Ozzie Newsome, 1997 – Jerry Duncan, 1998 – Dwight Stevenson, 1999 – Lee Roy Jordan, 2000 – Wendell Hudson, Joe Kelley.