Communication Leaders Inducted into UA’s C&IS Hall of Fame

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — Four distinguished leaders were inducted into the College of Communication and Information Sciences Hall of Fame at The University of Alabama on Oct. 2, 2003.

Established by the C&IS Board of Visitors, the Communication Hall of Fame was created in 1998 to honor, preserve and perpetuate the names and accomplishments of communication personalities who have brought lasting fame to the state of Alabama. This year marked the sixth class of inductees into the Hall of Fame. These honored individuals include:

Morris S. Dees, Jr. (1936 – )
Lawyer and founder/creator of the Southern Poverty Law Center

Robert B. Ingram, Jr. (1926 – )
Political reporter, columnist and author

James T. Stephens (1936 – )
Benefactor, champion of libraries and CEO of EBSCO Industries Inc.

Margaret DeBardeleben Tutwiler (1950 – )
U.S. Ambassador to Morocco

The individuals have brought lasting fame to the state of Alabama through the disciplines that comprise the College. Each class of inductees has a special quality that unites them across their various callings. This year that tie is “taking what others have done and doing it better.”

“This group of inductees forms a special class indeed, individuals who started at different points in life and took different directions, but all wound up at the top,” said Dr. E. Culpepper Clark, dean of the UA College of Communication and Information Sciences.

Morris Dees combined the conscience of a crusader with the acumen of an entrepreneur to make life unpleasant for hate groups.

Bob Ingram became a one man fourth estate in Montgomery, placing Alabama’s state capitol under a journalistic light that left no place to hide.

Jim Stephens took the trail blazed by his parents in industry and community service and expanded the role of EBSCO Inc., as a giant of the information industry and an asset to this state. No library or university can access and retrieve the information it needs without the services of EBSCO.

U.S. Ambassador to Morocco Margaret Tutwiler was America’s voice during the first Gulf War and now shapes messages that will define America’s role in the world to come.

“Because of the paths each took, they have made Alabama, the nation, and the world better for their efforts,” Clark said. “Their lives and accomplishments are an inspiration for generations to come.”

2002 College of Communication and Information Sciences Hall of Fame Inductees

MORRIS S. DEES JR.
(1936 – )

Morris Dees is best known for his ground-breaking legal work battling the Ku Klux Klan and other hate groups and for the creation of the Southern Poverty Law Center, a nonviolent organization dedicated to seeking justice. However, this Shorter native’s first accomplishments were in communication, and his skills as a communicator play a large part in the success of the Southern Poverty Law Center.

An incredibly enterprising student at The University of Alabama, Dees sold birthday cakes for classmates through a mail marketing campaign directed at their parents. Along with partner Millard Fuller, he published a student telephone directory that grew four-fold in two years. It was the beginning of a national publishing company that Dees sold to the parent company of The Los Angeles Times.

His publications included Off to College, a nationwide magazine for college-bound students that still is in circulation; Above and Beyond, a 21-volume aerospace encyclopedia created in cooperation with NASA and the Smithsonian; a four-volume sex education series still in print and sold in syndication through World Book Encyclopedia, “My Weekly Reader” and other major publishers in the family field; “The Cookbook Collectors Library;” and the “Favorite Recipe” series.

In addition to serving as chief legal counsel for the Southern Poverty Law Center and arguing its most challenging cases against hate groups and supremacist organizations, Dees uses his communication expertise to direct the Center’s educational division. That includes the publication of Teaching Tolerance, a free magazine sent to more than 600,000 K-12 teachers; distribution of free kits to more than 75,000 schools that include one Oscar-winning documentary and three others that have received Oscar nominations; Tolerance.org, a Web site that takes tolerance education beyond the classroom; Intelligence Report, a magazine that reports on hate groups for law enforcement; and a nationwide capital punishment program for lawyers who do death penalty work called Building Team Defense.

Dees holds two degrees from The University of Alabama and has received numerous humanitarian awards and honorary degrees from colleges and universities throughout the country.

Dees used his direct mail expertise to help fund the presidential campaigns of George McGovern and Jimmy Carter, and he has been inducted into the Direct Marketing Hall of Fame for using the mail for business, political and human rights purposes.

As no other, Dees combines the spirit of the entrepreneur and the humanitarian. By targeting hate groups, he has been a target all of his professional life.

ROBERT B. INGRAM JR.
(1926 – )

The stories he can tell about Big Jim Folsom alone would fill a book. Big Jim cutting a birthday cake in the Governor’s Mansion with a ceremonial sword … Big Jim hallooing him awake at 6 o’clock in the morning in a Russellville boarding house … an aircraft carrier take-off that won a hearty, loud and profane endorsement from Big Jim.

Bob Ingram has witnessed so much Alabama history, recorded it and interpreted it, that he is regarded as an institution by those who love the story of this state. He was born in Centre, graduated from Cherokee County High, and served in World War II as a radio operator/gunner aboard the USS Panamint, a vessel that endured numerous kamikaze attacks in the Central and South Pacific.

In 1949 he graduated from Auburn University (then Alabama Polytechnic Institute), and put his English major and history minor to good use working for The Cherokee County Herald, The Gadsden Times and The Montgomery Advertiser.

As a capitol reporter and political columnist for 15 years, he had a unique vantage point to witness many of the state’s extraordinary events, from the Montgomery Bus Boycott to the rise and fall of George C. Wallace.

He was not always on the outside looking in. Governor Albert Brewer appointed Ingram state finance director in 1968. He would later write about those experiences, which included picking up a $100,000 political donation from a Nixon lawyer and having a ringside seat in 1970 to one of the most contentious and disheartening elections in the state’s history.

For 13 years Ingram published ALABAMA magazine in which he reported on the inner workings of the state’s government. He has written a weekly syndicated column published in more than 30 small daily and weekly papers for more than 40 years. He won numerous awards as the longtime editorial directors and political analyst for WSFA. Ingram is the author of two books on Alabama politics: “That’s the Way I Saw It” and “That’s The Way I Saw It II.” In 1998, the communications department of Auburn University in Montgomery established the Robert Ingram Lecture Series, which brings to campus people who have distinguished themselves in the field of communication.

Alabama is richer for Bob Ingram’s keen eye, sharp pen and legendary objectivity. And that’s the way we see it.

JAMES T. STEPHENS
(1936 – )

EBSCO Industries Inc. is the largest subscription agency in the world and the world’s largest manufacturer of fishing lures — a model success story for resourcefulness, imagination, initiative and creativity. It is a reflection of the innovative and enterprising leadership of James T. Stephens, one of Alabama’s most gracious and generous business leaders.

Born and raised in Birmingham, Stephens is a product of the public schools. Among the profound experiences of his childhood are the lessons from his parents, Elton and Alys. “Their example taught a mix of commitment, fairness, determination, patience, integrity, kindness, loyalty and sheer hard work,” says F. Dixon Brooke Jr., vice president and general manager, EBSCO Industries Inc.

Stephens also was deeply affected by his experiences as a Boy Scout, and it is only one of many organizations that has profited form his wise leadership and generous support. He is past president of the board of trustees of Altamont School and Highlands Day School; board member of The University of Alabama Health Services Foundation finance committee; and a member of the board of trustees of Birmingham-Southern College.

A member of the American Library Association, Stephens served as chairman of a very successful campaign in the mid-1990s for the School of Library and Information Studies at The University of Alabama.

Stephens received his undergraduate degree from Yale and an M.B.A. from Harvard. In 1970, after service in the Army and eight years working in the family business, he was named CEO of EBSCO Industries Inc., a complex business organization with a diverse mix of companies. He was only 30 years old, but his remarkable talents helped EBSCO become the second largest privately owned business in Alabama with 22 companies, 75 profit centers, 4,500 employees and annual sales in excess of $1 billion. The company never has had a “loss” year.

EBSCO’s Information Services has two divisions that provide vital resources to libraries. The Subscription Services Division provides 47,000 libraries with subscription services from its title database of 265,000 serial publications. The Publishing Division authors 100,000 abstracts for journals each month; optically scans and makes electronically searchable 62,000 articles a month; and delivers 50 million page views over the Internet.

“My main hobby is probably my work and trying to meet the challenge of making things work in an organizational environment. That puts you with people. It provides the challenge of whatever organizational mission you are connected with, and that’s a pleasure,” Stephens says.

And indeed for lovers of libraries and information the world over, it is a pleasure to recognize Jim Stephens by induction into the Communication Hall of Fame.

MARGARET DEBARDELEBEN TUTWILER
(1950 – )

Just saying her name — Margaret DeBardeleben Tutwiler — is an Alabama history lesson, bringing to mind one of the state’s industrial giants and its most famous champion of education and reform.

As Ambassador to Morocco, Tutwiler has created her own history through passionate and thoughtful service to her country as a key player in the administrations of three U.S. presidents and having worked for a fourth.

During President George H.W. Bush’s administration, Tutwiler served as assistant secretary of state for public affairs and State Department spokesperson from 1989 to 1992. She traveled extensively in the Middle East and North Africa and dealt on a daily basis with the issues and policies that faced the region.

Nearly every night on the evening news she spoke with candor, aplomb and authority on behalf of the State Department. Some journalists contended she was one of the most powerful women in Washington and that her voice and face were as recognized around the world as the president’s.

Tutwiler told The New York Times she was not powerful — it was only the position that was powerful.

She began her rise during the Regan administration where she served in the White House as an assistant to Chief of Staff James Baker III and as a deputy assistant to the president for political affairs. In President Regan’s second term she served in the Treasury Department as assistant secretary for public affairs. Recently, Tutwiler served as a special envoy to the U.S. Office in Iraq to direct media relations during the post-war reconstruction, after which she returned to Morocco.

She has received numerous awards for public service and is the youngest person ever to be inducted into the Alabama Hall of Honor.

Tutwiler grew up in Birmingham and graduated from The University of Alabama. She told The Birmingham News that she is reminded of home at her diplomatic post, because Moroccans are like Southerners.

“They are very family-oriented, gracious people who invite you into their homes. Manners are important there.”

Tutwiler’s manners, command of the language, and passion for public service have made her an indispensable government servant.

President George H. W. Bush put it best when he said, “When I was president, her service at the State Department with Secretary Baker had no limits. She was wonderful. She’s been an outstanding ambassador in Morocco. She’s been strong and represented our country with honor in tough times.”

Editor’s Note: Inductee biographies are attached. For e-mailed inductee photo sketches, contact Elizabeth Smith in University Relations at 205/348-3782 or esmith@ur.ua.edu.