Hospitality Professional to be Inducted into UA Hall of Fame

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — A Vestavia Hills resident whose distinguished career in the convention and meeting industry includes a stint as president and CEO of the industry’s international professional association will be inducted into The University of Alabama’s Hospitality Hall of Fame Feb. 23.

Roy B. Evans Jr., former president and CEO of the Professional Convention Management Association, will be inducted during the ceremony beginning at 10:45 a.m. in the Child Development Research center on the UA campus.

Evans will become the third hospitality professional inducted into the Hall of Fame that was established in 2010 and created to honor individuals:

• who demonstrate outstanding leadership in the hospitality profession 
• who emulate the six exemplary characteristics of leadership: model the way, inspire a shared vision, challenge the process, kindle the heart, enable others to act, and believe in oneself
• who have established a strong, supportive relationship with The University of Alabama
• who have participated in the Shila Bowron/Red Diamond Leadership Series

In 2002, UA began a leadership series bringing hospitality leaders to campus to provide students in its restaurant, hotel and meetings management program with additional perspectives on their chosen industry. In 2010, the series was renamed the Shila Bowron/Red Diamond Leadership Series in honor of the mother of Red Diamond president, William A. Bowron Jr.

During Evans’ 20-year career with the Southern Medical Association, he rose to the rank of executive director. His background includes extensive experience in medical publishing and medical television production, and he has spent more than 40 years in the business of meeting planning and continuing medical and adult education.

He served as the initial publisher of Convene, the journal of the Professional Convention Management Association.

Honored with the “Spirit of Hospitality” award from the International Association of Convention and Visitor’s Bureaus in 1998, Evans was also named by the Meeting News as one of the 25 most influential people in the meetings industry.

In 2000, the New York Society of Association Executives presented Evans with the Joel Dolci, CAE Inspiration of Excellence Award.

A principal in the Augusta Groups, a hospitality industry advisory group based in Dallas, Evans has served as an associate publisher of Meeting Mentor magazine since 2007.