TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – Five of the state’s leading business and civic leaders will be inducted into the Alabama Business Hall of Fame Thursday, Oct. 12 at the Bryant Conference Center on The University of Alabama campus.
This year marks the 33rd anniversary of the Hall of Fame, sponsored by the Board of Visitors of UA’s Culverhouse College of Commerce and Business Administration. The five inductees exemplify hard work and determination as well as a commitment to excellence and the betterment of their community.
More than 115 prominent business leaders have been inducted into the business hall of fame, and their likenesses are embossed on plaques that line the walls of the Hall of Fame Room in Bidgood Hall on The University campus. (http://v2.cba.ua.edu/giving/hall_of_fame/)
The black-tie event will feature dinner and a keynote address by G. Kennedy (Ken) Thompson, chairman, president and chief operating officer of Wachovia Corp.
Last year’s speaker was James J. Padilla, president and chief operating officer of Ford Motor Co. Other past speakers include Don Logan, chairman of Time Warner’s Media and Communication Group, author and lecturer William F. Buckley, U.S. Sen. John Tower, U.S. Sen. John Glenn, Senator and former Secretary of Transportation Elizabeth Dole, former Vice President Dan Quayle, John Sununu, chief of staff for former President George Bush, Leo Mullin, former chairman and CEO of Delta Air Lines and Samuel DiPiazza, Jr. global chief executive officer for PricewaterhouseCoopers.
Hall of Fame inductees for 2006 are:
- Ambassador William J. Cabaniss of Birmingham
- The late Dr. Paul R. Flowers of Dothan
- Mayer Mitchell of Mobile
- M. Eugene Moor Jr. of Birmingham
- Harvey F. Robbins of Muscle Shoals
John Cooper, chairman of the Culverhouse College of Commerce Board of Visitors, said each of the inductees demonstrated a deep commitment to public service and betterment of their community, state, nation and world.
“These are individuals with vision, individuals who acted with conviction and determination to make this world a better place to live,” Cooper said. “Each has shown a deep concern for their fellow citizens, and each has lived a life dedicated to the betterment of mankind.”
Short biographies of the inductees follow:
William J. Cabaniss is U.S. Ambassador to the Czech Republic. Cabaniss has been a leader in the Birmingham business and civic community for years. He served in the Alabama House of Representatives from 1978 to 1982 and the Alabama State Senate from 1982 to 1990. He graduated with a Bachelor of Arts from Vanderbilt University in 1960 and served as an Airborne Ranger First Lieutenant in the United States Army. After his service in the armed forces, Cabaniss worked with the Southern Cement Co. Division of Martin Marietta Corp. before acquiring the assets of Precision Grinding Inc. in 1971. He built that company into a successful steel plate processing and metal machining business.
Cabaniss has served on the boards of directors of numerous companies including AmSouth Bank, Birmingham Steel Corp. and the Southern Company. Civically, he has been involved with the Kings Ranch, Boy Scouts, Birmingham Rotary Club and many other community activities.
The late Dr. Paul Flowers founded Flowers Hospital in Dothan, a 235-bed facility that serves the healthcare needs of the tri-state area of south Alabama, southwest Georgia and northwest Florida. Under his leadership, the hospital has been a catalyst for change and prompted the development of healthcare as a leading employer for that area.
In 1968, Flowers also established the Olympia Spa, a-100 room facility that includes a country club surrounded by an 18-hole championship golf course. He was also an original investor in Channel 4, WTVY-TV that brought television to Dothan and the surrounding areas. Flowers died Dec. 16, 2000.
Mayer Mitchell founded The Mitchell Company, a residential and commercial real estate development firm, in 1968. His company built single family homes and apartments, as well as shopping centers. The firm grew rapidly and became one of the largest in the Southeast. The company’s management approach was critical to its rapid success and steady rise. Their success, according to Mitchell, hinged on respect, trust and an understanding of the ever-changing harmony of residential and commercial real estate.
After serving as chairman and chief executive officer of The Mitchell Company for nearly three decades, Mitchell sold his interest in 1986. His brother did likewise. The firm’s final tally under the oversight of the Mitchell brothers was prodigious: 25,000 single family homes, 20,000 apartments, and 175 shopping centers built throughout the Southeast. Indeed the modern-day Mitchell Company that descended from a partnership of brothers remains the largest private firm in Mobile and among the top 40 in Alabama.
Although he was born in New Orleans, Mitchell grew up in Mobile. He earned his Bachelor of Science in economics with Beta Gamma Sigma honors at the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School of Finance in 1953. He served as an Army first lieutenant in the Korean War earning a commendation ribbon with medal pendant for meritorious service.
Mitchell’s fight with Hodgkin’s lymphoma at the early age of 36 shaped his life and the future of the Mobile region as he developed a keen sense of public purpose. As he sought experimental cancer treatments in Rochester, N.Y., Mitchell vowed to make sure Mobile had its own cancer center in the future. Through the generosity of the Mitchell family, Mobile is graced with a state-of-the-art cancer research institute at The University of South Alabama which provides care to people in the Gulf Coast region. The cancer center was recently named the “Mitchell Cancer Institute” in the family’s honor. He has been a tireless proponent of education and health care. He has been a philanthropic leader to Alabama Power Co., Leukemia Society of America, AmSouth Bank, University of South Alabama and The University of Alabama to name just a few.
M. Eugene Moor Jr. has left a legacy of dedication to banking and its customers with AmSouth Bank and the same legacy of dedication with Blue Cross Blue Shield of Alabama. Although retired from his position of vice chairman of the board for AmSouth Bank, he continues to serve as chairman of the board of Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Alabama, a position he has held since 1968.
After serving as a flight instructor in World War II and graduating from Auburn University with a degree in industrial management, Moor worked in the coal industry until 1950 when he began his legendary banking career at First National Bank of Birmingham which later became AmSouth Bank. Quickly working his way through the business ranks in numerous positions within AmSouth, Moor was promoted to assistant vice president in 1957, vice president in 1959 and senior vice president in 1967. In 1968, he was named executive vice president, president in 1972 and then vice chairman of the board for AmSouth Bank in 1978. His dedication to banking and his customers was unsurpassed, and he continued to assist AmSouth for four years after his retirement in 1988.
Currently serving as chairman of the board of Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Alabama, Moor has been instrumental in the growth and success of the company.
Since he became chairman, the company’s membership has grown from less than one million members to 3.6 million members. He was instrumental in the establishment of Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Alabama’s Alabama Child Caring Foundation, a non-profit organization that provides medical coverage for disadvantaged and uninsured Alabama children. Since its inception in 1987, the program has served over 50,000 children.
Moor has served on numerous civic and leadership positions. He has served on the United Way, Girl Scout Board, United Negro College Fund, Boy Scouts Board, Community Chest and the Birmingham Post Office Postal Customers Council, just to name a few.
Harvey F. Robbins founded Applied Plastics in Tuscumbia in 1960 and has assumed a major role in the revitalization of downtown Tuscumbia. His company, Robbins Property Development, employs local craftsmen, and Robbins is proud of the fact that all of their projects are completed with the use of local workers.
Born in Dayton, Ohio in 1932, Robbins’ family moved to Tuscumbia where he graduated from Deshler High School. He attended the University of Florida and the University of North Alabama. In 1957, Robbins co-owned National Floor Products Co. Inc. with his father. In 1960, he founded his own company, Applied Plastics. The company developed unique product innovations that helped other companies with their manufacturing processes. The business is still in operation today.
He became president of Nafco in 1978 and, in 1994, sold the company to a Canadian firm, Domco Industries. In 1995, he started Doublehead Resort and Lodge on Wilson Lake. He also founded Robbins Property Development and served as its president.
In the late 1990’s his company began the revitalization of downtown Tuscumbia. His first project was the Palace Drug Store and that, along with Spring Park, has become the cornerstone of the revitalization of Tuscumbia. After completion of these projects, he went on to purchase approximately 10,000 square feet of space in old buildings, renovated the buildings and brought numerous businesses into the community, such as retail shops, offices, apartments and restaurants.
Robbins was the catalyst not only for the development of the Shoals area but also for the development of the Robert Trent Jones Golf Course. He was also instrumental as chairman of the board in organizing Valley Federal Bank from a mutual company to a publicly traded company that was sold to Union Planters. He has served on numerous corporate and philanthropic boards.
Note to editors: Drawings or photos of the inductees are available electronically by phoning Bill Gerdes at 205/348-8318.
Contact
Bill Gerdes, UA Business Writer, 205/348-8318, gerdes@cba.ua.edu